Today, Saturday May 3 is the Vodafone Ghana Music Awards’ grand finale and the issue of who emerges the 2014 Overall Best Artiste of the Year is already generating some heat and divided opinion within entertainment circles.
The VGMA board has announced the names of Kwabena Kwabena, Sonnie Badu, Shattta Wale, Sarkodie, Samini and Guru as contenders for the top award and several other celebrated musicians for other categories.
Each of the nominees has embarked on a vote-grabbing campaign to get fans to vote in his favour via text. But with just few hours to the event, it is not clear which of them would grab the big award.
The long held rivalry between Shatta Wale and Samini has further heightened the controversy, as both musicians are contending and either of them would certainly use a win as a bragging right.
Considering the calibre of nominees, it would not be too much of a surprise if the award swerves both Samini and Shatta and goes to Guru, Sarkodie, Castro or Kwabena Kwabena but Sonnie Badu winning Artiste of the Year would certainly be a shocker if not a huge disappointment.
The organisers, Charter House, has said tomorrow’s event would have performances from some three top African musicians and 20 chartbusting Ghanaian acts.
According to internal sources, organizers are planning and working hard behind the scenes to maintain or raise the bar they have already set for themselves.
As at press time Thursday, reports said tickets were fast running out for the event scheduled for the Accra International Conference Centre tomorrow night.