Inter Press Service - December 13, 2003
Ish Mafundikwa

The event, held in the Sandton Convention Centre in Johannesburg on Dec. 6, has over the years grown into the most important platform for African artists to expose their talent. The ceremony is telecast live all over the world.

The awards, named after a West African harp lute, are the brainchild of Ernest Coovi Adjovi, a native of Benin who now lives in South Africa. The award is equivalent to the Grammies in the United States and the Brits in Britain.

National broadcasters and record companies are invited to submit CDs and video clips of their artists to enable them to participate and have a chance to qualify. The clips go through different stages of elimination until they are whittled down to four or five entries in each category. This year there were 27 categories up from 13 for the second awards ceremony. To qualify, the music must have been released during a specified period before the finals.

As a result of the underdeveloped nature of the music industry in most African countries, there are countries that have dominated the awards over the years, while some are still to make their first entries. Adjovi says his organisation can do little to remedy the discrepancy. ?We can only encourage countries to submit entries but we cannot bring the artists here, otherwise we will compromise our impartiality,? he said.

Adjovi has attracted some criticism for keeping the awards in South Africa. But he says while he would love to stage the event elsewhere, South Africa is the only African country with the technical infrastructure and experience to stage an event of the magnitude of the Koras. ?It would involve a lot of costs to move the awards but we will be very happy to hold the event elsewhere if the money is available,? he said.

This year Adjovi was almost forced to move the event outside of South Africa when a sponsor failed to deliver. ?We tried to move the show to Nigeria to get it to coincide with the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting but we couldn?t get a venue,? he said, referring to the gathering which ended on Dec. 8.

The Nigerians suggested it be held at a later date but one of the partners was not agreeable. The result of the lower budget was a leaner ceremony which, however, lived up to the high standards that has come to be expected of the awards ceremony.

A couple of years ago, Adjovi tried to take advantage of the presence of the artists in South Africa to hold an HIV/AIDS concert on the day after the Koras. It did not work as the event did not get enough public support.

Some artists, however, use the Kora platform to remind people of the HIV/AIDS pandemic.

On the stage to collect his miniature Kora for the Best West African male Artists, Ghanian Kojo Antwi said that while the world commemorated World AIDS day on Dec. 1, every day is AIDS Day for Africa, the continent hardest hit by the pandemic. He urged youths to abstain from sex and encouraged condom use when people do have sex.

Artists also see the ceremony as an opportunity to interact with fellow musicians from other parts of Africa. ?It?s great to hang out and chat with other musicians, it certainly raises the possibility of collaborations,? said South African Jeff Maluleke who walked away with the Kora for the Best African Video.

Zimbabwean Oliver Mtukudzi, a winner last year in the Best Arrangement category went a step further this year by scooping the Best Southern African Male Artist and the Lifetime Achievement Award. ?This is a great platform for our music,? Tuku, as he is popularly known enthused, ?it exposes our music to a much wider audience.?

Previous winners of the Lifetime Achievement Awards include former South African president Nelson Mandela and the late Nigerian Afrobeat star, Fela Kuti.

The attempt to expose African music to a wider audience led the Kora organisers to create categories for Africans in the Diaspora. This year there were four categories for African Americans and one for Europe/Caribbean. Mainly South African artists, who charge that African musicians are not part of American or European awards, have criticised the arrangement.

Adjovi says he sees the Koras as an attempt at bringing black people together be they on the African continent or elsewhere. ?Also we are hoping to expose African music to lucrative markets. There is a lot of piracy going on in Africa and musicians lose a lot of money. This will not be the case once their music gets released and sells in the United States, for instance.?

In addition to the 27 categories whose winners were decided by a panel of judges, the Best African and Female Artists were voted for by phone by the television audience during the awards.

This year?s winners were George Okudi and Suzanna from Uganda and Cape Verde respectively. An excited Okudi paid tribute to Uganda: ?This country that has picked itself up from rubble, HIV/AIDS, dictatorship and utmost poverty, my win is an indication of that Uganda is recovering.?

Suzanna is following in the footsteps of barefoot diva Cesaria Evora a previous multiple Kora winner. Unlike the hugely popular Evora who is now in her 60s, she is one of the musicians to watch as she is still in her 20s.(END/IPS/AF/AE/CR/IM/MN/03)

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