Glynis OHara
The Kora Awards ceremony first arrived on our doorstep in a somewhat mysterious fashion last year. Nobody seemed at all clear how the awards were constructed, who chose the winners, what the criteria were, and why everyone was sitting in the Standard Bank Arena watching musicians from Africa perform and walk off with little statuettes and cash prizes ranging from US$2 000 to US$5 000.
Local winners were Bheki Mseleku, Bayete, Denzil Weale and Miriam Makeba. This year, though, theres a lot more information around. By now you may know that Youssou NDour, Papa Wemba, Angelique Kidjo and Kanda Bongo Man are headliners at SABC2s Kora All Africa Music Awards staged by Combined Artists at Sun City tomorrow (October 4).
The show will also be an introduction to some less well-known names down here, such as Les Go De Koteba from Ivory Coast; Poetic Lover, a quartet comprising two young men from Africa and two from the West Indies; Kojo Antwi, from Ghana, described as the Lucky Dube of West Africa; Kassav from the West Indies; Khadja Nin from Burundi, a winner last year; and Lourdes van Dunem from Angola.
South African performances include a duet from Yvonne Chaka Chaka and Ringo, the North West Dance Group, and Sibongile Khumalo. The finale, sung by Wemba, NDour, Van Dunem and including a saxophonist who apparently always wears a mask, called Lagbaja, is a song called Wake Up/So Why composed for the Red Cross by Wally Badarou.
There are 12 categories altogether, including regional ones. Finalists in the one that concerns us most, Best Artist or Group for Southern Africa are: Chicco, Soweto String Quartet, Sabela, Keenia and Mzwakhe, all from South Africa except Keenia, who comes from Swaziland. Other South African nominations include Duma ka Ndlovu and Sizwe Zako for Best Arranger; SSQ, Chicco and QKumba Zoo for Best Video: Chicco for Best Male Artist and Ladysmith Black Mambazo for a Judges Merit Award. The 11 categories, excluding our region, are: best artist or group from North Africa, East Africa, Central Africa, and West Africa respectively, best African arranger, best video, most promising artist, best African album, best artist of the diaspora, best female African artist, best male African artist.
Theres also a judges merit award, and the nominations for that are Ladysmith, Cesaria Evora from Cape Verde and Patience Dabany from Gabon.
The best artist from the diaspora category, which would clearly otherwise be in danger of being overwhelmed by American schlock, has a limitation on entries from the United States. This year, most are from the Caribbean. Other big names to be nominated are Khaled from Algeria; Tarika from Madagascar; Ismael Lo from Senegal; Cesaria Evora; Wemba, from the Democratic Republic of Congo; Kidjo, from Benin; and Oumou Sangare from Mali.
Evora has the most nominations, with four to her name not bad for a grandmother.
The selection process consists of a pre- selection committee to choose the finalists and a different jury to choose the winners on Friday October 3, the day before the event.
The pre-selection committee consisted of specialists in African music and broadcasting – Benins Wally Badarou, musician, producer and composer; Pierre Bedou, video director; Sophie Ekoue, Radio France International (RFI) journalist; Charles Bambara, BBC Africa radio service; Gerry Lyseight, DJ, journalist and broadcaster; Senegals Seynabou Sy, of MCM, an international French cable channel; and Guineas Keletigui Toure, DJ at the Nelson, the biggest African nightclub in Paris, named after Mandela.
The jury for the final awards consists of NDour; Khadja Nin; Wally Badarou; Max Jarret of the BBC; Sylvie Clerfeurlle of RFI; Benin music lawyer Edouard Dossou-yovo and Jacob Desvarieux of Kassav.
* Sponsors and partners include SABC, MCM, Canal France International, RFI, BBC, Red Cross, Air Afrique, Afrique Magazine, French Institute of SA, the North West Arts Council, Givenchy and Satour.