How ‘boring emceeing’ hurt 2023 VGMAs

Everything can be done rightly in terms of preparation for a show but the wrong Master of Ceremonies (emcee) can undermine the whole vibe.

It is often said that emcees set the tone for everything that happens at an event but things go south if the person who controls the flow is just unexciting.

Three emcees hosted this year’s Vodafone Ghana Music Awards (VGMAs), and although this isn’t the first time, it somewhat contributed to the boredom witnessed at the event.

From start to finish, the 24th edition of VGMAs was stirred by the sixth-time host Berla Mundi, actor cum last year’s Red Carpet host James Gardiner, and 2016 co-host, Naa Ashorkor.

There is no doubt that these individuals are all great speakers but their blend, perhaps, was a bad idea.

Last year’s edition was hosted by Giovanni Caleb, Sika Osei, and Berla Mundi, and the vibe on stage was just perfect.

But it appears this year’s selection wasn’t the best and particularly because the hosts did not gel with each other.

At a point, fans even admitted they were not having a good time. This was brought to bear when Berla Mundi inquired whether they were enjoying the show or not.

Berla: Are you enjoying the show?

Audience: No

Berla: Oh why?



These and many more gaffes were captured during the event, and check out more listed below.

The quest to ‘steal’ the spotlight

At a point, it seemed as though the emcees were the stars of the show.

Perhaps, it is as a result of the fact that they are celebrities, but as an MC, it is not your time in the spotlight.

One of their responsibilities is to keep things moving and make sure others (or the award winners) are celebrated.

There were instances where James Gardiner, Naa Ashorkor, and Berla Mundi made their submissions at the same time, in the quest to be heard and noticed.

Emcees acting like speakers and at a point, the event took the shape of a ‘Talk show’

It is often said that being an emcee is different from being a speaker and this involves a different set of skills than giving a speech.

Being a good storyteller and having a great sense of humor would have been an additional trait but it appears that some of the emcees tried so hard to impress the audience that night.

Some instances were spotted where they tried to analyze each of the artistes’ performances rather than moving on to the next line of action.

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A post shared by ????????Berla Mundi (@berlamundi)

Dry jokes

It must be a big mistake to think that a joke, a dry one as such, is the key to putting an audience at ease, especially if you’re not a comedian.

Although humour is important, it is totally okay to be oneself and this was a missing trait among the emcees.

Midway through the show, James Gardiner tried cracking some dry jokes emitting a negative vibe from the audience.

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A post shared by James Gardiner (@jamesgardinergh)

In some reactions gathered on social media after the event, people suggested that a comedian should be considered the next time.








The script wasn’t shortened

One thing worth noting is that patrons do not really care about who wrote the script for an emcee.

On stage at the just-ended VGMAs, too many loose ends were spotted in the emcees’ script and it affected their presentation.

They paid little attention to altering their speech, by failing to create a tighter and straightforward script that couldn’t have ‘bored’ the crowd.

Lack of charisma and proper control over the show

They say actors make good show hosts but this didn’t really perform the magic when two actors (Naa Ashorkor and James Gardiner) and an experienced host (Berla Mundi), combined forces on stage at the 24th VGMAs.

A bubbly and very conversational personality is one that makes a good emcee but these emcees failed to put up these traits and the attraction with the audience was totally absent. Emceeing is an act!

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A post shared by Naa Ashorkor Mensah-Doku (@naa_ashorkor_)

EB/BB