Berry Heart�s nominations irks the public
Spira Tlhankane | Wednesday November 2, 2016 15:28
Berry Heart’s album Kenya has been nominated for Best Female, Best R&B album, Best Newcomer, Best Single, Best Collaboration, and Best-packaged album.
Normally an album has to be released nine months before it can qualify for the awards. Berry Heart’s album has not been officially released yet and most people have not heard the album.
Now people and other industry experts are questioning the criterion because they feel that the public cannot vote for something they have not heard.
One of the former presidents of BOMU who requested anonymity said an album has to be released a year earlier before even being considered for the awards. “It has to be heard on radio because the public cannot vote for something they haven’t heard,” he said.
The source said during their tenure at BOMU, they never overlooked those aspects. He said that certain rules have now changed because these days BOMU even goes to an extent of nominating two artists in a category. He said he has realised that some things have not been done right in this year’s nominations.
However, another former president and veteran musician Alfredo Mosimanegape said there are only two categories being Song of the Year and Album of the Year that can raise questions if a newly released album is nominated in them.
He said any artist can be nominated in any category, but the above-mentioned categories depend mostly on the release date of the album.
Another former BOMU executive who initially refused to comment on matters concerning BOMU said the album has to be nine months old or more. “The album should be in the market,” he said. He said Berry Heart’s Kenya album is not eligible for nomination therefore she should be disqualified. He said BOMU made mistakes when they introduced categories like Best Single. BOMU president, Michael Mmusi said they gave the judges the guidelines, but as a committee they did not change the rules, except to execute their powers because they have a right to do so.
However, secretary general, Pagson Ntsie, said they have waived certain rules with this year’s awards because Botswana was celebrating 50 years of music.
He said, as a committee they decided to be open and not be critical about certain aspects. “The theme is the greatest of all time, therefore any artist was eligible to enter as long as the album has never been nominated before,” he highlighted. He said artists such as Stika Sola got the chance to be nominated. “Even an album from 10 years ago was eligible for nomination,” he said.
Despite her nominations raising concerns, Berry Heart said she has nothing to say about people’s feelings, especially if they do not have a copy of Kenya. “For now I can’t take or react to such. Before BOMU awards nominations, I had two international awards nominations to be announced so people must take a chill pill and enjoy good music,” she said.
Berry Heart said the hard work she invested and money were worth it.
Just like any other artists, Berry Heart, said she submitted her copies to BOMU. “I must admit, I was not shocked at the nominations because I have been listening to Botswana music but only few productions could come close to my Kenya,” she said.
She said she spent sleepless nights at the studio preparing the album.
According to BOMU, all the artists who had never been nominated for the awards were eligible for nomination, but a public announcement was never made to allow every artist to enter.