BASS Awards review

The long awaited maiden Reggae Dancehall Awards (Bass Awards) finally took place at the main auditorium of the national theater on the, 6th of July 2013.

Being the first of its kind in the country, the Reggae Dancehall community, fans and artists alike witnessed a mixture of success and low points; with the negatives gaining the upper hand.

One of the low points of the whole event was the absence of the much publicized and promoted Elephant Man, who was supposed to be the main act for the night. This prompted some members of the media and audience who were at the event to see the Jamaican Dancehall legend, to ask questions; to the extent that, Sammy Baah of Flex newspaper, had to ask the whereabouts of the Elephant Man when he (Sammy) came to present an award.

A question which George Quaye of Charter House came to rubbish when it was his turn to present an award.

Starting from the decorations at the venue, it wasn’t clear what the plastic trees with light leaves tried to represent, but it looked like Christmas décor, which was a definite big no for search an event. However, the corridor to the main auditorium was decorated with Bass Awards paraphernalia, which was simple, but right for the event.

The program which was to start at 8:00pm started around 9:30pm, because as at 8:00pm, the auditorium was not ready due to sound and other equipment checks by artists who were to perform at the event.

Audience and celebrities who had paid for the show had to wait outside in the corridor for an hour or more, with the entrance to the main auditorium blocked.

Finally, around 9:30, the entrance to the auditorium was opened for the public to enter. And as you would expect there wouldn’t be setbacks considering the long wait, the program took a worst turn. After two performances, the light supporting the main auditorium and some parts of the stage went off, making it difficult to see the faces of those who came to perform, the MC’s and those who came to give the awards.

But one question, knowing the electric power situation in the country, did the event organizers make provision for a plant or generator as backup, or did it also fail them?

Even though the light went off, the programme continued, with a couple of nominees being awarded their plaques for the categories they emerged winners; till the lights came back on.

Performances

Apart from Knii Lante (who also won the BASS record of the year) who gave a splendid performance, the rest of the performances for night gave the impression they were not well rehearsed. Like that of Black Prophet’s performance, where he had to stop the band and sing acapellas because the band wasn’t playing what he wanted.

Kaaki and Stonebwoy’s performance looked unrehearsed with microphone playing a big factor in their fiasco. Jupiter, after premiering his latest Money Box music video at the event, went ahead to give the worst performance for night. At a point in time, weather it was frustration or overexcitement, he started using uncouth Jamaican words such as; bombo clut, blood clut, referring to the audience to stand up. This attracted mixed reaction from the audience, causing some of the audience who felt offended to walk out.

This raises the question of whether most of our reggae artists really understand what they say in their songs and on stage.

MC’s

Presenters for the night, Chris Attoh and Norkus of Yfm, even though veterans in showbiz did not really fit in with the event. Being a reggae and dancehall event, am very sure there are other competent reggae or dance hall presenters who could do a better job to give the event that Jamaican or Rasta ambiance it deserved.

In all, the turnout of at the Bass Awards 2013 was not encouraging; with the experience and critical nature of the organizers, one would think it could have been better if all the pre-event ingredients were mixed right.

But let’s give them the benefit of the doubt, it’s their first event and maybe they have learnt their lessons, but seriously, it could have been better.

The event was organized by the RACKUS entertainment and powered by Bull house Entertainment and Solid Multimedia.