I’m not much of a fan of award ceremonies. I generally do not participate in the voting and certainly do not complain about the outcome of the votes after – at least not publicly.
That being said, I understand the importance of awards and other recognition ceremonies, and that it is a good thing to recognize people for their accomplishments in their respective areas of expertise. Such recognition often sets standards against which other upcoming professionals measure themselves, and in the case of arts and entertainment, it improves the overall state of the industry.
In Cameroon, however, a lot of people who have no business giving out awards are actively doing so. We, at PoiseSocial have won awards for which we never even heard we were nominated and for which we receive no trophy. And while the industry is full of these mushroom award-organising bodies with dubious motivations and opaque voting systems, Canal D’OR has at least been able to stand out far above the rest, especially by virtue of the finances it pumps into the ceremony and because of the prominent TV network that it is.
That notwithstanding, every Canal2’OR ceremony never lacks controversy. Award ceremonies are generally controversial; even the Grammys get their share of flack. But with the Canal2’ORs the “mistakes” seem so flagrant that one wonders if the nominations were subject to any research at all.
This year it seems the cup has overflown. Adah Akenji has announced that he will not be attending the ceremony (even though) he is nominated, for the simple reason that Magasco has not been nominated in any category. This act of Satyagraha has set tongues wagging and the nominations have come under scrutiny and fire.
No doubt the biggest problem with the Canal D’OR is the fact that it comes up after every two years. This makes no sense at all, especially in our era. We live in the era of consumerism and of popcorn music. Few songs last up to 6 months in popularity and there is so much music released every other day that it is hard to keep up.
Which means that a 24 months award cycle has to take into a consideration, in September 2021, a song that banged from September 2019 to February 2020. I mean, Nyangono’s Foup fap is nominated in the category of “Popular Music” whereas it was released in February 2019! That is two and a half years ago at least!
This format is definitely problematic. Songs have a very short shell life nowadays and 2019 seems like 5 years ago. It is no doubt why people are questioning Daphne’s nomination for best female artist whereas her last singular release was “Doucement,” in July 2019. Her new single released two weeks ago definitely would not be taken into account.
This raises another problem of period. What time period is taken into consideration by the award nomination body? Canal 2’ORs have the weird habit of not having a fixed month. The last edition was held in March 2019. This year it is held in October.
I am sure there is a behind-the-scenes explanation for this and I can bet my little finger that it has to do with financing. But how does one reconcile all these discrepancies into the grander scheme of what is supposed to be Cameroon’s biggest entertainment night? Question for the gods.
And it doesn’t end there. A lot of the nominations raise eyebrows and questions.
In the best Comedian category for example, you find three categories of ‘comedians’ mixed together; web comedy actors like Ulrich Takam, Social media skit comedians like Cabrel Nanjip, and standup comedians like Senior Pastor. This would seem more like a popularity contest than a real reward to comedy as an art given the current dispensation of the genre. Why not break this down into three separate categories?
And one also wonders how Danny Green didn’t pick up a nomination in this category. I am not a fan but one cannot deny how much of a good run he has had over the last 18 months. Is it a lack of research in the Anglophone sector of the entertainment industry?
This theory seems to be validated by the absence of Caro and Copees in the ‘Best Web series’ category. They have been active for a year and their popularity has grown considerably in the Anglophone community and their absence is an aberration.
As far as best new artist is concerned, the bi-annual format of the award ceremony poses problems. Kameni is nominated in this category but it seems like she has been around forever. Everything points to the fact that that nomination should have come last year for her. This would have made space for the likes of Rinyu, and Fhish today. Asaba is blowing up now. By the next edition in 2023, she might be nominated for Best New artist and the cycle will repeat itself because people will cry foul. It’s a real issue at this point.
It doesn’t end there. Diana Bouli and two other TikTokers are nominated for ‘Best web Actress. How they qualify as actress in a category that has Joys Sa’a, an actual actress in a web series is something we cannot explain. Even as a web comedian, she does not make the cut.
Stanley Enow gets nominated (again) for Best Male Urban artist after releasing two lackluster singles and an album that no one had anything positive to say about. The same can be said for Tenor who has been in an imbroglio with his label for months.
In fact, one wonders how Canal 2’OR does not have a specific category for rap music. Many rappers have put out some really good projects over the past year. Minks, Mic Monsta and Jovi are good examples. Even Koppo and Xzafrane have released albums too. There is no reggae/dancehall category either. And at the level at which it is going, Mbole should be a category on its own. To box everything under the Urban Music category is very limiting.
There is also no category for Makossa or Bikutsi or Njang.
For more ranting on the topic, you can go Nabil Fongod’s page.
The Canal 2’OR are the most prestigious and most recognized award ceremony in the country. Last edition, we saw how Roga Roga from Congo-Brazzaville was happy to be honoured at the event. This means that Canal 2’OR needs to be more careful in how it organizes its different categories.
Award shows are an expensive affair and it seems like asking too much. But a middle ground would have to be found.
At the Grammys and BET Awards for example, not all awards are received on the main stage during the ceremony. Winners are announced in this category hours before the event and their trophies are shipped to them. This model can be replicated to cut costs if the categories are further broken down.
We still have a long way to go. But it is not impossible. Work dey!
W.W.