PR guru Sibu Mabena has penned a lengthy thread on Twitter to save the disgraced South African Music Awards, (SAMAs) following a massive public outcry that this year's ceremony missed the mark.
SAMAs are not strangers to controversy, and this is another year they have dropped the ball. The awards took place over two nights, from Saturday 27 August to Sunday 28 August, and they left social media users with mixed reactions.
It is no secret that before the SAMAs would be held, there used to be a trend leading up to them. If you weren't attending them you would have major FOMO, but this year there was no buzz surrounding them.
On Saturday, many were surprised to learn that the non-broadcast awards were taking place. Among the things that many complained about were artists being a no-show at the awards, and the sound. Not only have viewers expressed their disappointment at the production but artists have called the organizers out for corruption and nepotism.
Sibu Mabena has encouraged them to go back to the drawing board. She said they should do a debrief after two weeks and start working on the next event also noting what went wrong. She also advised them that they should book the venue 11 days prior to the event.
Mabena said the SAMAs should involve artists, promote the awards, involve artists, and get a dedicated team to handle the finances.
I’ve worked on the SAMAS as a creative consultant before (3 times working with 3 different production companies) and here my recommendations on how to fix the SAMAS…
Zakes Bantwini who won the Samro Highest Radio Airplay Composers Award and the Best Collaboration for Osama featuring Kasango, called out the SAMAs in a lengthy post. He pointed that the SAMAs used to be the highest award ceremony in the country but they have fell off.
"For over two decades The SAMAS have been the highest accolade that could be bestowed on South African artists, and have represented a standard of creative excellence, that marked the height of success to those in the creative sector.
"Regrettably the SAMAS have broken our trust, they have devalued the honour and prestige, which the awards once stood for, there is no integrity in the way at which the show is being produced, the planning, the awarding of artists & in extending the basic courtesy of RESPECT TO THE ARTIST!!!" he exclaimed. Image Cred: Twitter
