by Chinwe Okafor
Two years into the show and AMVCA has managed to gather an interested crowd en mass, but the irony of that is so soon would they lose it because these lot were only pulled into interest by a factor. If you want to keep a crowd going you must come up with new antics everytime. It’s how comedy shows do it, it is how most awards do it.
That is why with every edition there is something new to look forward to, be it from the host, to the performance to the choice of presenters and performers. And that is one thing the organisers of AMVCA haven’t been able to figure out.
Every year, since its inception, the show has always been of the same format, script. Everything goes by the book. The only one interesting and successful stereotype break the show has had is its ability to stick to time. Once they declare it is going to begin for a certain hour, they ain’t messing around. They would and would equally finish at the hour the show was slated to end. A huge achievement I must add that has been consistent for the past three years and one that is highly commendable. But you see, it doesn’t serve any good if people can’t wait to get out even if they know it would end early enough to still make it home. Why? Because the show is boring.
The AMVCAs lack creativity. From the invites to the organisaton of the show, it is the same thing that happens, the same format for the show to be run. I for one was hoping they would take a cue from the international counterparts. Take for instance the Oscars. Neil Patrick Harris was the one that sold it for me and why I put key interest into seeing the antics that would be pulled by him during the show and he proved it- especially when he came out with just his underwear. The hosts for AMVCA do the same damn thing every year- stand at the corner of the stage, make lame jokes and change clothes. Even the Golden Globes that had two women were far better than what we were dished last night by Vimbai and IK.
There was no special perfomance during the show. Just to state before an excuse arises that the show is live and therefore timed, The Channel O Music Video Awards is equally timed and televised live for the South African audience, they start early, same as the AMVCAs and they end just when they say they would and yet they boast of one of the best perfomances during an award show. It is all about planning and having the right creative team to come up with something catchy every edition.
I heard one person openly say “the show is boring I didn’t even want to watch it on TV much less come for the event.”
The stage setting, carriage, everything is just the same.
Take a cue from a Dare Art-Alade’s ‘love like a movie’ show. Since I saw women suspended from the ceiling as part of the performance for the night and for three consecutive years that he comes up with such surprises, I’ve been glued to the expectations of further editions because I know it would be different.
The organisers of AMVCA need to put a little more effort into the production of the show so as to keep their audience entertained or else they lose them and that also means you don’t give a hoot about what their audience wants or expects. It’s either their way or the highway.
Bring something different to the show- let’s see a Neil Patrick Harris or a Tina Fey as host for the next edition or better collaborated performances and not the one the Mavin crew came to mock us with or you know, something different!
Until then, the AMVCAs is boring to say the least. For time management though, A for effort.
