Changes in 24th VGMAs will not favour gospel musicians – Journalists

Broadcasters Caleb Nii Boye of 3FM and Nana Romeo of Accra FM have stated that changes made by the organizers of the Vodafone Ghana Music Awards (VGMA) towards their voting procedures will not favour some gospel musicians.

The public’s attention was drawn to the changes made by the board of VGMA towards its new voting processes in respect of votes assigned to the eligible voters.

According to the organizers, the board of the award scheme will have 40 percent of the votes, the Academy will have 30 percent and the public will have the remaining 30 percent of the votes.

Initially, the public had the majority of vote but with this year’s voting scheme, majority of the votes have been given to the board.

As a result of this change, Caleb Nii Boye and Nana Romeo have asserted on GhanaWeb TV's E-Forum hosted by Abrantepa that, gospel musicians like Piesie Esther, who has landed a nomination in the Artiste of the Year category stood to suffer.

“Are you aware the organizers of VGMA have changed their voting patterns? This time around, they are giving the board 40%, academy will still have their 30%, and the public will get their 30%. But I thought they said the scheme is a popularity-based award so if you’re basing on that, how then do you give the board, who sat down to do everything 40%. This will not favour some people”, Caleb said.

Using VGMA’s Artiste of the Year category which features Piesie Esther, Black Sherif, Joe Mettle, Stonebwoy, King Promise, Camidoh, KiDi and Sarkodie; Caleb mentioned that, if VGMA should have maintained its old voting scheme, then Piesie Esther can win the Artiste of the Year because she is well known by the public. Moreover, Piesie Esther has been in the music industry for some time now.

He said, “With this year, you have reduced the public’s vote by 10%, The board is about to have an additional 10% than the public. This is what I think, when you look at the Artiste of the Year, if we had maintained the 40% for the public, Piesie would have surprised Black Sherif this year”.

The 3FM broadcaster further explained that, Diana Hamilton was able to win the Artist of the Year in 2021 because the public had majority of votes to determine who wins and thus, Diana Hamilton was able to garner a lot of support from the public.

They however suggested that, the best decision the organizers of VGMA should have taken was to give the nominees a prior notice concerning the changes, rather than informing them after the arrangements have been made.

Watch how Caleb and Romeo discussed the effect of VGMA changes on some gospel musicians on E-Forum below.



ED/SARA