2014 entertainment: The year that was�
Nnasaretha Kgamanyane | Thursday December 18, 2014 12:27
For instance, leading rapper, Atlasaone ‘ATI’ Molemogi of Ke Lekhete fame’s arrest on charges of kidnapping and assault spread like wildfire on various media networks in early January.
The young and talented artist spent most of the year doing court appearances and all the while his fans supported him.
Moreover, fans celebrated when his case was dismissed after the prosecution failed to present evidence and attend court regularly and on given days. The fans’ excitement was very short lived after the prosecution dragged him back to court where his case is still to continue. Now ATI fans are still anxiously waiting for ‘judgment day’, which is only expected next year. Troubled as the star is he still managed to perform on stages and get in the studio to produce one of the hottest tracks this year, O Tsididi. The highly anticipated and popular 48 Hours Music Festival that was scheduled for September 26 to 28 at Lion Park Resort near Gaborone flopped after Nigeria super band P Square pulled out of the event.
The organisers from Bandleng Entertainment said that negotiations to bring the Chop my money hit makers fell through at the late minute. Bringing in South Africa’s Black Motion could not save the situation as only a small crowd of people attended the event.
Another high profile event that promised sparks, but failed to deliver was Dan Tshanda’s 50th Birthday Bash at the National Stadium on November 22. Despite bringing together many stars of yesteryear such as Senyaka, Zizi Congo, Thiza, Sox, Mercy Phakela and Sidney Mogopodi the show only drew less than satisfactory attendance.
The poor sound system also made matters worse making the bash out to be less than what Tshanda’s fans expected. Another disappointing event was the annual Beach Party, which turned into a ‘grass party’, which was much less than a beach theme on December 6.
Revellers who had come in their swimming suits in anticipation of the promised artificial pools had to stash them in their car boots and bags. The event, which was moved from Lion’s Park to an under-development venue in Tlokweng seemed troubled from the onset.
Batlokwa tried blocking the event from taking place in their region, which prompted the organisers to seek legal recourse. After a long stand off in the course of the day, the event was finally staged amid less excitement and a smaller crowd.
But lack of water source or the beach was not the only fallacy about the event. Celebrated South African musicians Cassper Nyovest and The Dream Team, who had been billed to perform at the show, failed to pitch. When youth radio broadcaster Yarona fm announced plans to host their own music awards, few expected them to put up such a stunning display.
The Yarona fm Music Awards or YAMAs as they came to be known are still hot on the lips of industry players as well as fans.
The success of the YAMAs raised expectations for the annual Botswana Musicians Union (BOMU) Awards. However, the BOMUs lacked both in zeal and style raising an alarm on social media since the beginning of this week. Batswana took to social media to expressed their displeasure at the below par event, which has always been riddled with controversy since its inception six years ago. It was poet Berry Heart who perhaps provided the only spark when she climbed to the podium with a body-revealing glamour dress that has had many talking days after the event.
Although some saw her fashion statement as provocative and disrespectful to women, the poet had surely brought life to the rather dull event with her unique sense of style.
The music scene this year also saw the emergence of an energetic traditional troupe Mafitlhakgosi Cultural Dance. The group, made up of children from Old Naledi has played a very positive role in their lives.
They have been consistently featuring in many high profile events including the independence celebrations. They have attracted attention from many high profile acts like K-Boss and ATI. The cherry on top was that the youthful group recently toured China where they were reported to have made a good impression.
Meanwhile, South African celebrity and socialite Nonhle Thema left a bitter taste in many Batswana’s mouths after she allegedly called local women ‘skinny, ugly and AIDS infected’. The news went viral and in a matter of days the anger was expressed in neighbouring countries. On a positive note Botswana’s most celebrated kwaito artist Vee Mampeezi’s Super Natural Volume II album launch was simply superb.
By 8:00 pm the venue was packed to the rafters as the audience enjoyed music from Team Distant, Kast, Naak Musiq and Cassper Nyovest. The man of the day Vee also spoiled his fans with his usual energetic performances.