This year the sponsors and organizers of the ZMAs decided to tone it down a bit. The usually huge and glamorous event was trimmed down to just a sizable crowd. It was held at Radisson Blu hotel. It wasn’t even aired live on TV this year. But do not worry because rumor has it that it will be edited and aired on Zambezi magic sometime in the future. I have no idea what prompted the changes and I’m not even sure if they are for the best but what’s done is done. I guess they made up for it by having a huge festival in Livingstone called the “Day of Thunder”  festival. Okay so let’s get on with it.

The Anthem

The anthem was sang by Esther Chungu. I know last year I said Abel Chungu Musuka’s version was the best I had heard, well now it’s the second best I have heard. She sang it so well and with so much passion like Zambia was her child or something. I put up a snippet of her on twitter so if you follow me you might have seen it.

Performances

So because the event was significantly smaller, the performances were also fewer than last year. This year only Roberto, Chef 187, Angela Nyirenda and Nomakanjane performed. After the national anthem, Nomakanjane came on stage and did their thing. Those people are so energetic. They have a tendency of dropping themselves to the ground so hard that there were moments I feared that one of them had definitely broken a bone or two. Angela Nyirenda’s performance was as expected. I had heard that she tends to go off key during her performances but this time she didn’t. Roberto and Chef 187 performed their respective sets decently. The last performance was a collaboration of all four of the acts and they executed it well enough. This time spoken word was added in the mix by some BitterSweet poets.

Awards

The most prominent winner that night was Jay Rox. He won Best Album of the year and Best DanceHall and RnB Album. Kantu surprised me and won Best Female Artist against Cleo Ice Queen who I though would definitely win. Bobby East won Best Hip Hop Album. In his speech he talked about having gone through a lot craziness in the past year and how so many people intruded and condemned his personal life. Chef 187 won Best Male Artist and in his speech mentioned his brother’s absence because of the “ZMA politics”. The Lifetime Achievement award was given to Amayenge Cultural Ensemble. Mumba Yachi won Best Live Recording Album and Wezi won Best Upcoming Artist which makes them an award winning couple (that’s if it’s true that they are dating). There were no extraordinary speeches and no bad behavior. I’m just not sure if that’s a good thing or bad thing.
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The Changes

So as I mentioned, the awards were not aired live on TV. The venue was significantly smaller which in turn meant the stage was smaller. Last year the industry awards were held on a separate day and venue. This year, the Industry awards were presented together with the main awards. Some categories were scraped off this year, e.g Gospel. As expected, some people were not happy with this. I just hope this is not the beginning of the end of the ZMAs.

In the end, the Award show did take place and though it was different, the artists seemed extremely pleased to receive their awards. It was well organised and the performances were well arranged. But I just wasn’t blown away. Maybe my sense of wonder is diminishing or maybe they should just bring back the big extravagant event that they got us accustomed to. I really wish they had televised it live because watching it weeks later won’t just be the same.

Day Of Thunder

The Day of Thunder was an extension of the ZMAs, I guess. A festival with lots of food, drinks and music. The entry fee was K50 which was quite reasonable. The date was quite genius because it was during the labor day long weekend which meant people travelling from Lusaka didn’t have to go back the very next day.  There were lots of performances by the ZMA winners and then some. But the biggest act of the night was South Africa’s Casper Nyovest. R and G organised the event and we all know that they are probably the best party throwers in Zambia, just look at Oktoberfest and all their underground parties.  Over 6 000 people turned out. The surprising thing for me was just how well most of the people knew Casper’s songs. You guys, when do you listen to his songs? Or did you study them when you heard he was coming? And the bonus of the venue was that we all could go see the Victoria Falls, what with it being in the same city and all.

I hope the festival becomes a ‘thing’ and takes place every year. We definitely need more festivals. I had lots of fun in Livingstone and I would want to go back next year.