#YNaijaOnTheScene: The goofs, the good and unforgivable moments at the Headies 2015 (LONG READ)

Headies

Another year, another round of organizational mishaps, another level of drama.

The 10th edition of the Headies held on Friday, January 1st 2016 at the newly renovated Landmark event centre.

From the very strange postponement to the Olamide and Don Jazzy infamous stage drama- the Headies 2015 possessed many things an award show needed to avoid.

Adhering to the script of this year’s show, the script was indeed flipped in many ways one couldn’t have imagined, not even in one’s wildest dreams.

Here are highlights from the watery Headies 2015.

The recurring problem of ‘Trial and Error’.

One wonders why the Eko convention center, Eko Hotel and Suites wasn’t used this year. History has it that anytime the awards ceremony is moved to a different venue, things tend to go haywire.

Gaining entry into the event venue was like trying to access Azkaban. One had to take a trip to change invitations to wrist tags and then head back to the venue.

Celebrities weren’t spared from this lousy policy and some of them were embarrassed as they were obstructed from gaining entry into the venue by the overzealous security guards.

One notable incidence was when Nollywood actress, Bukky Wright threatened to leave after finding herself, her son and a friend in such bewildering situation.

She was heard saying vehemently: “This award show is so unorganized. I am leaving”

However, that threat didn’t pan out.

Bukky Wright and her guests were let in after an emergency intervention from the organizers.

Late start, presentation hitches.

Truth be told, the organizers of The Headies can, in fact, be credited, if not for anything else, for being the only show/concert to have started before midnight this award/event season- even though the awards show was slated to begin by 7pm.

One would agree that Nigerian awards should be past minor issues such as late starts, long pauses in between award presentations, delayed visuals, amongst other things.

Performances that shouldn’t have happened.

As if waiting outside, having to travel on a journey to get tickets accredited, having to journey all the way back, and waiting once again to be let into the venue wasn’t enough- the antsy audience were gifted with the first worst performance of the night by Pepenazi and YCee as a follow up.

From the expressions and body language of the attendees, it was obvious the crowd was growing impatient for the show to present better performances or they would call it a night. Bad enough the small hall was still a tad empty at almost 11pm.

Jimmy admits he isn’t a professional.

If you were thinking it, now you have it. OAP, Jimmy may have been a substitute for a quick fix when the real hosts of the show weren’t yet available but you see, we didn’t need to know that.

A well organized event would have made it seem like it was staged. Maybe Jimmy was given the memo- who knows- but he certainly showed he wasn’t such a professional when he announced that ‘it was time for him to hand over to the real professionals.’

Gerald Eze’s Uja performance.

If you couldn’t make it to your hometown this seasonal period, not to worry. The Headies brought the village to you when Gerald Eze came onstage to perform a popular hit song with his native tool, the Uja. Gladly though, the performance was melodic.

Kaffy still dances better than her dancers.

The ‘real professionals’ or hosts of the show finally showed up but it started with a performance by super-dancer Kaffy and after all these years of training her dancers, she still dances better than her dancers on stage.

Bovi pulled a Denrele.

This performance was a breather as for the first time that night, the audience had something to laugh about and get lighthearted and relaxed enough to begin to enjoy the show.

Bovi came onstage after Kaffy’s dance performance on a hover-board with, clad in a spot-on ensemble Denrele would easily don.

Eva’s proposal and what not.

For what it is worth, it may have been a fake proposal and a publicity stunt.

The boyfriend of Eva- whose performance alongside Kimani falls under the ‘shouldn’t-have-happened’ list- made the entire set more interesting or tacky (depending on how you see it) when he hopped on stage and proposed to her on one knee.

If it is real, let us be the first to congratulate her.

Simi as stiff as her lyrics.

We understand the subtle craft of Simi’s genre but she she plays it too safe for a performer.

Perhaps, the organisers especially the stage manager should share the blame for not restricting her movement to just a microphone stand at the center stage.

Such a setting would have aptly suited her.

Rather, she was pitted alongside Ello Bae singer, Falz, whose energy was dulled by her lukewarm performance.

At some point, Simi would have to come out of her comfort zone to survive as a performer in Nigeria’s fledgling music industry.

 

B’banj VS D’banj -Who wore it better?

Bovi may have indeed been the star of the night. His performance even gave life to the show when it needed oxygen.

Guests started looking forward to him making an appearance on stage.

One major highlight of the show was when Bovi came out mimicking D’banj’s infamous towel performance outfit at the 2005 Headies.

The ‘B’banj VS D’banj -Who wore it better?’ stunt was one of the few good moments of the night.

After being bumped off hosting the show last year, Bovi definitely planned to perform to the best of his abilities and he did that in spectacular fashion.

bovi denrele

M.I fires shots at Olamide.

In an unexpected twist, Mr Incredible may have taken shots at Olamide at the awards show.

M.I, who walked home with the Headie for the best rap album for ‘The Chairman’, during his acceptance speech said that rappers should work at making evergreen songs not just fast food music.

The Sterve Harvey stunt that back fired.

What were the organisers thinking to have planned a Steve Harvey moment during the presentation of a category so volatile and highly coveted like ‘Next Rated’?

Who knows? Maybe the Olamide and Don Jazzy spectacle may just have been avoided if they didn’t joke around?

During the announcement for the Next Rated act, Bovi announced the winner of the category as Reekado Blanks instead of Reekado Banks and for some reason the crowd did not fall for it as they thought he was definitely pulling a Steve Harvey moment because it was widely expected that Lil Kesh would be the winner.

This was a divisive stunt, that fanned the flames of the embers of the Olamide vs Don Jazzy beef.

Majek Fashek still rocks!

The hall of the Headies was set alive when Majek Fashek stepped onto the stage with Timi Dakolo and popular instrumentalist, Kunle Ayo to deliver a fantastic rendition of the legend’s evergreen hit ‘Send down the rain’.

Freshly out of rehab, the reggae virtuoso dazzled the crowd with subtle mesmerizing dance moves that got the crowd on their feet throughout the performance.

Harry Songz

Harry Songz’ rendition and emotional moment.

Harry Songz may have been in a pretty emotional and reminiscing state when he mounted the stage to give his performance.

He took us on a journey of how he started from the bottom and arrived on The Headies stage to perform.

Gladly, after taking the crowd through his grass to grace journey over an amazing high-life live band set up, Harrysongz then performed the song everyone was waiting for- Reggae Blues.

OC, Lilian Esoro, Bez, Munachi Abi and Cobhams’ goof.

OC Ukeje may be the sweetheart of all but he wasn’t so much of that when he came out to present an award alongside the newly married Lilian Esoro.

First off, we blame the scriptwriter that penned the words for these lot to recite, and of course- the presenters themselves.

OC made his first goof when he said ‘let me be the last to congratulate you on your marriage’. As if that wasn’t enough, he went ahead to ask Ubi Franklin, her husband if she can still engage in kissing scenes in movies.

Tasteless.

The rather uneasy Lilian then congratulated OC on his own marriage as a return gesture and OC made it more awkward when he told her he’s been married for over a year.

But those aren’t the only presenters who goofed that night.

Cobhams may have pulled a good one when he made a joke saying that as a blind man, he was called to present the award for the best music video.

Neat.

But then, he went all the way left, when he said he was doing so alongside a beauty queen and he couldn’t tell if she was indeed beautiful.

Oh Lord.

Munachi Abi’s lame joke at making a blind man read out the winner didn’t go by unnoticed either.

Bez, on the other hand cannot be blamed for his goof.

After all, the 2015 edition of the awards was slated for the 30th of December 2015 but for some reason it took place on the 1st of January 2016 and so Bez who had taken a brisk stride into 2016, had difficulties saying ‘the Headies 2015’.

Vector’s moment.

When Vector was announced a winner in a category he was nominated for and couldn’t be found to come on stage for his award, a good Samaritan offered to do so on his behalf but then Vector showed up with a ‘Can i have my award?’ demeanor.

The award must have meant a lot to him.

Best performances of the night.

Reminisce, as usual, gave a rather stellar performance but the best of all was 2face Idibia who kept the crowd on their feet as he happily performed some hit songs from his archives, having just received the Hall of Fame award.

Live performance.

This was one notable thing about the show.

Most performances were done live and this gave hope to the hopeless that indeed, our artistes can actually pull off a live performance but what was most commendable was the coordination of the band.

They played so well you wouldn’t guess it was live.

Kaffy’s many tacky outfits.

Kaffy on a regular day needs a stylist.

But we would imagine that being the host of the show, she would be entitled to a stylist, but we thought wrong.

If there was indeed one- a stylist- then it’s a sad case.

Her entire stage outfit seemed like an experiment you would pull at home if you were giving a mock performance to your family on a given Sunday.

Quality crowd control.

One thing the organizers of the Headies are constantly good with is efficient crowd control.

There was hardly any incident of robbery or violence as the security guards were alert and over-zealous all night.

Bonus.

HipTV presenter- Nancy- left little to behold in her rather thigh high slit dress and she gave the audience at home a lot to feast on, while they waited for the 2015 edition of the Headies to commence.

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