Eddy Grant, Natural Black, First born among awardees
On April 25, next, when the local and diaspora-based Guyanese music and entertainers gather at the National Cultural Centre for the Guyana Artistic Music Awards, GAMA, some will be among a list of more than 90 nominees in 34 categories.
And as is done at the international level, singers will not be the only ones collecting crystals.
GAMA Chief Executive Officer Sherlon Shephard reiterated that there is no political leaning to any side in this prestigious event.
It’s a time out to say thank you to the people that make life more worthwhile and stress free while creating a network among Guyanese musicians in the diaspora while encouraging local artiste to stick to the task of insuring that the Guyanese voice and creativity is delivered to the world.
He listed the categories under which singers both local and in the diaspora will be awarded in as including soul, RnB, Hip Hop, Dancehall Reggae, Culture reggae, soca, chutney, gospel and calypso as well as folk.
The other awards are for comedians, community workers, entrepreneurs, music producers and engineers as well as promoters and editors. There will also be awards for lifetime achievement and legendary works and the Lifetime awards recipients list include international Guyanese music icon Eddy Grant. Other names mentioned for awards are Natural Black and First Born.
The GAMA CEO said with out bias based on the selection process most Guyanese artistes whose music moved from national to international airtime over the years will be honoured as icons.
The younger artistes, on the other hand, will go through a nomination and voting process and the winners will be selected after points a maximum of 100 points are tallied from various sources of which public opinion will play a role via Facebook, Myspace, websites and music video releases.
Further a panel of judges will be employed to tally votes in addition to feedback garnered from radio and television stations and this will include the level of publicity that artistes have.
When asked what would awardees be receiving, he assured that they will each receive a customized GAMA crystal.
He also reiterated that it is not a one-man show and listed the players as including other founders such as Randolph Waterman, CEO of “Randolph’s Building and Renovation Company”; Elton Joseph, CEO of “Nortel Uphostelry”; and Andrew Francis, CEO of “Ark Plumbing Inc.”
Clearing the air on any misconceptions about the GMA and the Accolade, he said that the GAMA of Canada started around the same time that the Accolade Awards started without the Guyana Canadian artistic Entertainment group GCAE having any prior knowledge about the Accolade Awards.
GAMA was created after the President and other members of GCAE realized that many Guyanese artists living abroad had made tremendous strides in the Entertainment Industry without anyone saying thank you or honour and they so decided to create this. The difference with the GAMA of Canada and the Accolade Awards is that GAMA honours Guyanese artists worldwide while the Accolade Awards only honors Guyanese artists mostly found in Guyana.
He said, too, that “after presenting the first GAMA in Toronto Canada, we realized that we were only connecting with Guyanese artists in Canada and USA, when there were Guyanese artists all over the world in many different countries making their mark on the Entertainment scene and so we decided to include Guyanese artists from other countries”.
GCAE CEO said too that his committee decided that Guyana is the fittest place to stage the Awards show because it is strictly a Guyanese Awards show and we wanted to honour not only the Guyanese artists living abroad but also the Guyanese artists at home (living in Guyana).
Because we know that everyone cannot travel to Canada, hence, there is the decision to stage the event in Guyana.
By Mondale Smith