Last night the Born n Bred Video Awards happened after being pushed forward a couple of times. It was being televised live on ZNBC at 20hrs so I took my nap right after work and I was fresh and awake for it. Of course I live-tweeted my way through it but before we dive in I just want to ask something. How were the Born n Bred Awards before the ZMAs started? Do you remember? Anyway I won’t give you a step by step account of what happened, I’m just here to say what I thought of it.

Red Carpet

Red carpet was not jaw-dropping. There were a few standouts but no one’s attire followed me to my dreams. I noticed that a lot more artists came with their significant others. I don’t know if it has always been like this. Or artists’ partners signed agreement among each other to be present because of the rachetness demonstrated at this event in the past years. Some of these partners and artists gave us a few laughs when they were interviewed. We even got to learn new words like “Haterage” from Brisky.

There were a few hairs that stood out for me; Nyemba’s blond ‘up-do’ was an immediate favorite. It might even make it into my dreams one of these nights. Meyer’s blue/green hair was another that drew my positive attention. It didn’t look too shabby on her and while I wouldn’t do it, I like it when people colour their hair and they don’t look like they tried too hard.

The Refunders

Do artists get paid to perform at this event? If they do then some people need to give the organisers a refund. DJ Cosmo shouted through his whole song and even the shouting was off key, it takes a special talent to do that. I love his song but what he did on that stage was something he should never put on his CV.  So many others did wack performances that I was even starting think it was all on the Sound guys (Sound was pretty bad too though). The tribute to PJay was quite sad, I almost cried because of just how horrible their singing was. And obviously the organisers had no qualms about replicating the scene at the ZMAS with the all-white getup even though it was very clear that the quality of deliverance was several levels below.

Performances I liked

Of course not everything was horrible. The newly wed Chileshe Bwalya came on stage and sang and it sounded nice. Her choir even won an award later on. I also J-Rox’s performance though it came when I was already so exhausted and all I wanted was my bed. Ruff kid came on with his usual crazy antics this time on a wheelchair. I’m not really sure how I feel about the wheelchair and dedicating his performance to the disabled people but the energy and the way he jumped about on the stage was too contagious to ignore. He is one of the few Zambian artists that I think takes time to plan his performances well in advance.

Acceptance Speeches

I noticed how everyone delivered their acceptance speeches in English no matter how uncomfortable they are with the language. I am learning not to laugh at people that don’t speak good English because that only means that they are more proficient in another language. But I wish people did the acceptance speeches in the language they are comfortable with. So I was so excited to hear Wilz accept his award in Chewa.

Theresa Ng’ambi

I first heard Theresa’s singing on Wednesday night. We got her album and it’s what we’re listening to in the car. So when I saw her on stage at the awards I was really stoked. I love her music. She has an authentic sound that is so indigenous and beautiful. She makes me romanticize how village life would be.

Dorica (Bob Nkosha)

S/he was the closing act. I thought his dancing during the “Dorica” song was funny especially when she was attempting to pout or whatever that was. Then he did his skit after the song was done. Honestly, I don’t know how I feel about her/him. I think the skit went on just a bit too long because he kept repeating some things but if people like him then he must be funny, right?

All in all, the event needs a lot of improvements. The organization wasn’t seamless. There were long awkward pauses, we could hear what the presenters and producers were saying in the background and the presenters looked like they did not have scripts.  There was a lot to complain about but there were a number of good acts. In the end I was just glad I finally had Zambian content to live tweet after all those South African shows I watch every weekend. Now if we could have a few more shows please?

I live tweeted a lot more things, you can see my tweets about the event here

What were your highlights? What made you laugh out loud, grimace or give a side eye? Any thoughts on how the organizers can improve this event? I would like to hear from you.