ALL AFRICA MUSIC AWARDS (AFRIMA) OUT WITH FINAL 2015 NOMINEES LIST

As music lovers show readiness and excitement to begin voting on August 21

It was a phenomenal moment for all music lovers across Africa as the International Committee of All Africa Music Awards, AFRIMA, in partnership with African Union Commission, AUC, announced the nominees for the 2015 edition of the All Africa Music Awards (AFRIMA) at an international media conference which took place on Friday, August 14,, 2015 at Victoria Crown Plaza Hotel, Victoria Island, Lagos, Nigeria.

Nominees are contending for the coveted AFRIMA 23.9 karat gold-plated trophy in 33 categories divided into the regional and continental categories and including the AFRIMA Legend Award and music/entertainment journalist of the year award. Well-known sensational African music names on the AFRIMA nominees list include: Amr Dab (Egypt) 1 nomination, Olamide (Nigeria) 2 nominations, Davido (Nigeria) 4 nominations, Diamond Platnumz (Tanzania) 4 nominations, Psquare (Nigeria) 3 nominations, Charlotte Dipanda (Cameroon) 5 nominations, Sauti Sol (Kenya) 3 nominations, Sakordie (Ghana) 3 nominations, Yemi Alade (Nigeria) 5 nominations and Casper Nyovest (South Africa) 2 nominations. The budding music acts to earn nominations include: Kiss Daniel (Nigeria) 2 nominations; Wiyaala (Ghana) 3 nominations; Patoranking (Nigeria) 1 nomination; Joy Gitau (Kenya) 2 nomination, Ruby Gyang (Nigeria) 2 nominations and THT (Madagascar) 1 nomination, among others.

Ace music video director, Clarence Peters (Nigeria) made it into the the Africa video of the Year category for the video of the song ‘Golibe’ by Flavour and ‘Shekini’ by Psquare alongside other great music video directors like: Enos Olik (Kenya) for ‘Sura Yako’ by Sauti Sol and Stanley Ajjetey (Ghana) for ‘Africa’ by Wiyaala, John Njaga Demps & Unlimited L.A (Senegal & Nigeria) for “Time is now” by J. Martins, featuring Youssou N’dour and Gyo Gyimah (Ghana) for “The One” by Edem featuring Sway.

Jury members and AFRIMA International Committee were present to unveil the nominees after a rigorous six day screening exercise which started on Sunday, August 9 and ended on Friday, August 14. Also present at the conference were media practitioners, artistes’ managers, label owners, artistes and other stakeholders who were all excited and expectant as the nominees were being announced.

Giving insight into the criteria by which the nominees list was reached, AFRIMA juror and BBC Radio 3 presenter, Rita Ray explained that the jury panel adhered strictly to the entry submission requirements while being guided by AFRIMA’s core values of FACE IT –Fairness, Authenticity, Creativity, Excellence, Integrity and Transparency. she also went further to explain the voting process which is scheduled to begin on the Friday, August 21, 2015 and also said the AFRIMA voting online platform will open for an 11 week voting process, while encouraging the public, fans and followers of African music to visit the AFRIMA website, www.afrima.org, to view the nominees in the 29 (open for public voting) categories of the award and vote for their favourite artiste (s).

Revealing programmes of AFRIMA 2015 event, the President/Executive Producer of AFRIMA, Mike Dada said: “Recipients of the AFRIMA Legendary Award and the Africa Entertainment/Music Journalist Award will be decided by the International Committee of AFRIMA and revealed at the main awards ceremony on Sunday, November 15 while songwriter and producer of the year will be wholly decided by the academy.

He added that: “The five star awards ceremony will be preceded by the AFRIMA Music Village between November 13 and 14, a two-day festival style outdoor concert of non-stop music, funfair and exhibition from countries in Africa and performances by African artistes. There will also be an African Music Summit on November 13, themed “Reviving the Business of Music in Africa”. The one-day conference will be a platform for the music industry stakeholders to engage and deliberate on how the industry can be nurtured and be a major contributor to national and continental economies.”

“AFRIMA in partnership with the African Union Commission is aimed at celebrating the rich musical heritage of the African continent. We want to use AFRIMA as a pedestal to explore the power of music as a tool of integration and prosperity in Africa despite the challenges it faces” Mr Dada concluded.

AFRIMA will be held in Nigeria to be broadcast to 84 countries on 109 television stations across the world with the support of its media partners.