While Jozi rocks out to Carlos Santana and Eminem this Saturday night, Durban brings out the big South African guns with the 13th annual Metro FM Awards.
Last year the entire weekend was dominated by Kalawa Jazmee when they won four awards and hosted the coolest after party and an even cooler picnic on Sunday.
It was on the Friday night that Mafikizolo unveiled their new sound and the two biggest songs of last year – Khona and Happiness, both of which have been nominated for Song of the Year. Kalawa con- tinued to dominate with another massive hit – Y-Tjukuja by Uhuru, who also produced Mafikizolo’s big hits.
Other nominees in that cate- gory are Mi Casa’s Jika, Zahara’s Phendula and Kalawa’s Heavy K for Wena. Newcomer Naima Kay’s Leilianga is also nominated, as is Lulo Café for Whistling to Bed.
Big Nuz have two nominations in that category – Hawaii and Inazo. All in all Kalawa have nine nominations. But they don’t end there.
Trompies will be performing their new music at the actual award ceremony.
The following day the record company joins forces with Tira’s Afrotainment for a picnic at Berea Rovers. Expect the stable from Kalawa Jazmee and Afrotainment to perform. The picnic runs from 12-12.
This includes Professor, Character, Heavy K and Mahoota vs Vetkuk from Kalawa. Afrotain- ment’s Tira and Big Nuz are also performing.
The Metro FM Awards will take place at the ICC on Saturday night. Red carpet starts at 6.30pm. This will be broadcast live on SABC1’s RGB until 7.30pm. Then at 8pm the show begins. It will be televised live on SABC1.
Metro have also organised a public viewing area at the Moses Mabhida Stadium with big screens. The official after party will also take place there. Expect performances from AKA and Da Les, Big Nuz, Uhuru, Osikdo and Black Motion, to name a few.
As the winners are decided by public voting, it really depends on how much effort the artists put into campaigning for public voting.
AKA and Da Les have conducted an aggressive campaign which also includes a voting party and a series of Instagram videos.
Their sponsors Grey Goose sent out flyers to their database. AKA, therefore, looks set to take Best Hit Single and Best Music Video.
What is bizarre is that Danny K is nominated in Best R&B and Best African Pop Album. In Best R&B he is at home with Press, Lungi Naidoo, GB Collective and Vusi Nova. In Best African Pop he is nominated with Mafikizolo, Zahara, Naima Kay and Ntando. Like, duh, spot the odd one out.
That aside, the Metros look as if they are going to be just as much fun as they always are. That radio station really knows how to do things properly. From its launches to the actual awards, Metro FM is the leader in music radio.