#MTVMAMA2016 pic.twitter.com/J7nkK22z5B
— Yule (@YuleD) October 22, 2016
There was a lot of excitement when they announced the 2016 MAMAs will be moved to Gauteng. Sure that’s actually 1 of the most central places in South Africa and It also has enough infrastructure to host such a huge event but was it a smart move on the organiser’s side to choose the Ticketpro Dome though?
Let me give you a run down on proceedings, from arrival. The Dome has hosted so many prestigious events and concerts this year that it seems to be the go to place for any and every event. If it isn’t at The Dome, then probably it will be at Nasrec and we have all become accustom to that in Gauteng. So as 1 arrived for the red carpet I was slightly intrigued at how everything would run because the last award ceremony I attended was in Kwa-Zulu Natal’s ICC and things ran smoothly even though the ceremony was boring. Visiting The Dome this time was more adventurous because I got see parts of The Dome I hadn’t seen before. The location where the red carpet took place was overestimated in terms of how much media would fit in there. Africa’s media was made to share a ridiculously small amount of space. So when the red carpet kicked off, there was so much happening on the media side and the delay didn’t assist at all. I was happy I had my own spot but wasn’t happy about the allocations.
Then moving on, as we entered for main ceremony, I still had my doubts of using The Dome even though it seemed everything had been well planned. The VIP seating area was in the dark and VIP ticketholders could barely see anything. The people with the best view would be Golden Access ticketholders. Now ofcourse, if you were watching on TV, you wouldn’t have noticed this because presenters continuously faced people all seated and true, those were VIP people but those were “Corporate VIP” people and I really don’t know how to get on that list, else I would’ve shared with you the proceedings of the event. The General Access area was really random, it seemed like most of the people in General couldn’t care about the proceedings, as it was noisy and there was so much movement also. Another part I didn’t enjoy was access to refreshments, there were long lines in General Access side but luckily I could access the VIP bar. It seemed like a smart idea to rather use that bar but then it was locked during the first half of the event. Actually it was only until 10pm, that 1 could actually get a drink. Also, if you were at the VIP bar/ lounge area, you couldn’t watch the event because of the weird curtain they had placed – that didn’t make sense to me either.
The actual show was really not up to standard for me, accept for the live performances, Cassper Nyovest and Wizkid being my favourites, I honestly remember only 2 people receiving awards – Cassper Nyovest because it was the when the show started and Wizkid because it was at the end of the show. As much as I appreciated Future calling Nasty C on stage as a really beautiful moment in our music industry, I had some doubts after because of how it happened. I really suspect Mabala Noise organised it to take place like that. I’m not saying it’s a bad thing, I’m just saying it seemed more of a sponsored thing than a organic thing. If you watched the event on TV, thinking it was probably more fun being there, well it wasn’t – people were victim to pick pocketing inside the venue and also weren’t safe outside either. It was only when the event ended and Future came on stage did the real fun start. Future’s performance was okay, I enjoyed, it was about 30 minutes long and I didn’t even know it would take place. The most memorable part of the night for me though, was when they did a tribute to Mandoza. The breaks were torture also as we had to watch adverts and that meant less time to enjoy PH’s.
Johannesburg pic.twitter.com/dJibcx9TSW
— Yule (@YuleD) October 22, 2016
I also didn’t get the feeling like Africa was in the building. It didn’t have that all of Africa is here to enjoy the ceremony together, feeling. I was really disappointed in that. As excited as I was to attend and be there, I was really let down by so many things throughout the event. This was for all of Africa but it didn’t feel like that. I really hope they up their game next year, maybe not even use The Dome also. It also lacked innovation as last year, 1 of the artists had a selfie stick during his performance, that was really cool, this year nothing new. The MAMAs felt like a bad hybrid of a ceremony and concert.