by Wilfred Okiche

News of the sudden and abrupt departure of M-Net managing director Biola Alabi 2 days before the Africa Magic Viewers Choice Awards almost cast a dark spell on this year’s celebrations prompting M-Net to hurriedly put out a release. The elegant and easily likeable Ms Alabi was not resigning as we had feared. The company was just restructuring and she was moved to another title, managing director, special projects. One that would see her retain jurisdiction over the AMVCAs and other high profile gigs like Big Brother Africa.

Alabi appeared on the red carpet, smiling, posing and not missing a beat. Her presence loomed large and graceful over the night’s proceedings, and there was not a sign that anything was amiss. Either way, time always tells.

Last year’s show was extravagant, splashy, crammed full with stars and nearly bursting at the seams. This year’s was a tad more restrained. Yes, the stars were present, yes there were car prizes and holiday vouchers attached to the winners but there was something modest about last night’s show. The budget may have escalated but the organisers appeared to have learnt control. The result being that at the end of the night, the 3 hour long programme, while it made for interesting viewing in parts, was not as fun or as decadent as last year’s debut.

Which is not to say that organisers did not try. Segments from the musical Kakadu opened and closed the show and even though they had unfortunate sound issues, the troupe still managed to give a good account of themselves.

Davido lip synched two of his biggest hits despite being backed by a live bad that did all the heavy lifting for him and the result was not as good as one would expect.

Flavour fared far better but his set lacked bite. Waje, assisted by Cobhams Asuquo on keyboard was the musical saviour, showing once again her dazzling vocal range as she torched through ‘Higher’ from her self-titled album.

About the award winners. At first it seemed like it was going to be a Kenyan sweep as the film ‘Nairobi half life’ carted away the early trophys, then it seemed like Ghana’s ‘Contract’ and Shirley Frimpong-Manso would be the big winners but then they lost Best Comedy to Elvis Chucks, who has made a total of zero good films his entire career – only to rebound and win the final lap including Best Picture and Best Director for Frimpong-Manso.

There were other illogical moments, like Desmond Elliot winning supporting actor drama for a forgettable performance in ‘Finding Mercy’, Ghanaian director Frank Rajah-Arase winning anything at all that isn’t a Razzie equivalent and then proceeding to give all the glory to Yvonne Nelson. There was also Rukky Sanda’s undeserved nomination for ‘Gold diggin’, the most odious movie to hit the screens this year. The New Era award which went to Rita Dominic for one of last year’s best films ‘The Meeting’ seemed cobbled together last minute to compensate for its missing out on the nominations process.  The mix up of the Hausa and Yoruba indigenous categories made for some cringe-worthy moments for the hosts and credit goes to John Okafor (Mr Ibu) for deflecting some of the tension.

But there were some genuine moments too. Bikiya Graham-Douglas was a fitting winner for her turn in ‘Flower girl’ and the film’s other victories were deserving. Newcomer, Tope Tedela won the Best Actor award to the surprise of everyone including presenter Genevieve Nnaji who could not mask her disappointment that it wasn’t one of her more famous friends’ names on the envelope. Pete Edochie had his lndustry Merit Award- and car gift- presented to him by power couple Olu Jacobs and Joke Silva. Funke Akindele won Best Comedy actress for one of her numerous nominations and while it was great to see her get some recognition, she did take Yvonne Okoro’s rightful trophy.

But then, recall that it is actually a viewers choice award and so it is uncool to quarrel with the popularity vote. They may be biased and have no correlation with quality but they must be respected. It is thus this conundrum that the AMVCA faces now, a crisis of legitimacy that all the glam in the world cannot buy. The primary allure of the show, being one that welcomes viewers as part of the process also serves as a disadvantage, withholding some legitimacy for an awards ceremony that desperately wants to be Africa’s answer to the Oscars.

This ain’t the Oscars.