2017 Northern Ghana Entertainment Awards launched in Bolga

The 2nd Edition of the Northern Ghana Entertainment Awards (NEA) was launched on Friday, January 27th, 2017 at Akayet Hotel in the Upper East region of Ghana.

Northern-Ghana Entertainment Awards is an initiative put together by Smile Multimedia in collaboration with the various stakeholders in the entertainment arts, tourism and culture to recognize and honor some distinguished personalities who have positively contributed to the steady growth of the entertainment industry in Northern Ghana.

The annual event that started in 2016 saw many Northern Musicians including Fancy Gadam as the Overall Artist of the year, Film makers, Sports and Media personalities picking up awards in the various categories of the award scheme. Addressing a fully packed hall of Musicians, Movie Producers, Actors and Actresses, Sports personalities, Media Personal, the Board Chairman of he Northern Ghana Entertainment Awards, Alhassan Abdul Latif disclosed a 15 member selection committee, a nine member board and a 37 member academy with representation across the three regions of the north will consult and nominate persons to be honored and awarded in 17 Music Award Categories, 7 Film Award Categories, 8 Media Categories, 3 Sports category and 6 Merit Awards.

He gave a breakdown of the 2017 Northern Ghana Entertainment Awards Categories as follows;

Music Category

Overall artiste of the year Artiste of the year-NR Artiste of the year-UE Artiste of the year-UW Best Female vocalist of the year Overall Most popular song of the year Most popular song of the year-NR Most Popular song of the year-UE Most Popular song of the year -UW Best collaboration song of the year Best Traditional song of the year Best Music Group of the year Best music video of the year Discovery of the year Best Rapper of the year Best Ghanaian Artiste of northern origin (Honorary award) Music for development of the year (Honorary)

Movie Awards category

Overall Best actor of the year Best comedian of the year Best Movie Director of the year Best Movie of the year-Northern Region Best movie of the year-Upper East Region Best movie if the year-Upper West Region Best producer of the year

Media Awards

Overall presenter of the year Best DJ of the year Best radio station of the year-Northern Region Best radio station of the year-Upper East Best radio station of the year-Upper West Best sports presenter of the year Best entertainment show of the year Entertainment blogger of the year

Sports Category

Best footballer of the year (merit) Best International footballer of northern origin Best sports personality of the year (Honorary)

MERIT MUSIGA Merit Award NEA Film Academy Merit Award RFA Merit Award NSA Merit Award Ghana Tourism Authority Merit Award Best Northern Entertainment Entrepreneur of the year Media personality of the year Lifetime achievement award Most influential northern personality of the year

The Chief Operations Officer of Smile Multimedia Ghana said the major competitive Awardees under the Music, Film, Media and Sports Categories shall be awarded with plaques whiles the Merit Award categories shall be honored with citations.

In sharing the activities of the awards scheme in the three regions of the North, Mr. Alhassan notes “the Nominees Jam for the Northern Ghana Entertainment Awards is expected to take place is the Upper West regional capital, Wa whiles the main awards night ceremony will take place in Tamale at the Radach Conference Center on Saturday 1st of April 2017 at 8:00pm.” He also made a clarion call on all interested participants of the 2017 NEA to pick up their nominations forms at the offices of Smile Multimedia Agency in Tamale, those in Bolgatanga at the office of Moab Events Media Ltd and in WA at Siltra Events or visit www.smilemultimediaonline.com to download the form for free.

Participants at the launch expressed their satisfaction in the Awards ceremony but however made an appeal to the organizers to ensure transparency in choosing a winner for each category.

The 2017 Northern Ghana Entertainment Awards is proudly brought to you by Smile Multimedia Agency with support from the Musicians Union Of Ghana, Ghana Tourism Authority, National Sports Council, The Center for National Culture, SGS as the event statistician, Moab Events and Media Ltd (MEM) in Bolga, Siltra Events in Wa and other major stakeholders in the northern entertainment industry including the Major Media houses in the three regions of the north.