VGMA should be on merit - OJ

Gospel musician OJ has asked organizers of the Vodafone Ghana Music Awards (VGMAs) to start awarding Ghanaian musicians based on merit rather than on votes from the general public.

Charter House, organizer of the annual VGMAs, has been receiving a lot of bashing over what has been termed as discrepancies in the event’s nomination list.

Speaking to NEWS-ONE in an exclusive interview, Michael Oware Sakyi, as he is otherwise known, noted that “sometimes, giving these awards should be based on merit and not on how rich you are in terms of amassing votes and all that.”

According to the ‘Apor Jesu’ singer some musicians end up picking several awards at the VGMAs not necessarily because their works are good but because they have the strong financial strength to translate money into votes, which in turn places them above others at the music event.

Every year, several musicians, entertainment pundits and industry players among others point out several loopholes in the event and this year, OJ happens to be one of the several players in the industry who have raised genuine concerns about the 15th edition of the VGMAs.

Meanwhile, the ‘Maye Se Mo Pen’ hit maker says he is quite hopeful a lot of good things are going to come out of his nominations at the VGMAs.

OJ was nominated for the Gospel Song of the Year, Best Male Vocal Performance, Gospel Artiste of the Year and Song Writer of the Year categories for this year’s Vodafone Ghana Music Awards (VGMAs).

“Maye Se Mo Pen should be able to win Song Writer of the Year, Gospel Song of the Year and also Male Vocal Performance. The song is a gospel and inspirational one as well because getting to the end of the song, I wrote something about salvation.

“This is how my songs are; I lead you gradually and getting to the end, I introduce Christ into my songs. This year, I see it between myself and Joyce Blessing and a couple of musicians,” OJ said.