Africa's audio-visual auteurs and their respective entourages (''Hi, this is my publicist...'') converged on the Sandton Convention Centre Friday night for the Channel O 2011 Music Video Awards that closed out the year's award season and was once again South Africa and Africa's best, and most well-done televised awards ceremony by far.
The Channel O 2011 Music Video Awards, replete with red carpet pre-show and tie-in V Entertainment magazine show, was once again a brilliant example that TV awards shows can be brilliant and be done right. (Don't forget that this show had its own struggles a few years back before it became a shining example for the rest of South Africa and Africa of how to do an awards show, and a music awards show, just right).
Is that possibly why Randall Abrahams, who've taken over as showrunner for the South African Music Awards attended the event Friday night? To get some tips? The insufferable Saftas, the Metro's, the horrificly pathetic Samas and the convoluted MTV Africa Music Awards (oh Mamas) only need to watch the annual Channel O Music Video Awards and learn.
The Channel O 2011 Music Video Awards, this year with a boxing ring theme, disco square bottom lit stage floor (set design by Garrith Castelyn) and a Battlestar Galactica font (staging graphics by Rob Rae for Motion Cult) moved briskly and packed a punch by wrapping up faster than previous years.
Music numbers were enjoyed, thank you's were short and the production efficient and smooth. For an awards show of this scale, broadcast live, the production by Don't Look Down, executive produced by Glenn van Loggerenberg, wasn't completely faultless, but as perfect as you can possibly hope to get it for live television.
Tiwa Savage - her first time in South Africa - would get best dressed if there were such a prize, draped in an elegant, classic and flowing lemon yellow meringue dress that stood out amidst a sea of the usual too-tight, too-short and skanky hooker chic couture from across Africa.
The funniest moment came when, introducing the Most Gifted African East video, Shaa struggled to read the teleprompter. The joke was mostly lost on viewers watching from home but the live audience got it and started laughing. ''I'm sorry. I'm sorry mama,'' she said, while Tiwa Savage helped her out ''It's small. It's small right?'', meaning the teleprompter lettering that scrolled on the opposite wall.
Most embarrassing moment of the evening went to Ice Prince, the winner of Most Gifted Newcomer Video, who started his acceptance speech with ''First of all a big shout-out to myself.'' The audience laughed, but not because it was funny.
The most heartfelt moment came towards the end when co-host Banky W slipped this in: ''If you're watching this, just so you know, none of us are really that special. You can do the same thing if you believe in yourself, if you work hard and if you have the right people - you can do this exact same thing that you're seeing tonight.''
The afterparty was held in the downstairs ballroom, bathed in white and ice blue. Channel O executives were privately peeved about the significant number of nominees, celebrity attendees and South African as well as African artists flown in especially for the awards ceremony who beforehand decided to go to another ''afterparty'' event and in effect snubbed the official afterparty that was planned with great care, effort and cost.
