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Tafadzwa Zimoyo
T V Column

Forget the worries of the Zimbabwe senior men’s soccer team, the Warriors’ performance at AFCON, after the team failed to impress and returned empty-handed.Our hearty congratulations go to the Cameroonians for clinching the coveted African Cup of Nations title, after Vincent Aboubaka scored the winning goal against Egypt. We all have those moments, a day to win and a day to lose.

Well February is the month of love and in that spirit, the awards season is upon us. Yes, the biggest, of them all.

ZTV is ready to give you something refreshing to watch, thanks to the National Arts Merit Awards (Nama) which will be taking place at their traditional venue, 7 Arts Theatre in Avondale, Harare on February 18.

The list of nominees have since been released, so preparations are already at an advanced stage.

Ironically, the awards, which are normally called Zimbabwe’s own version of the Oscars, will be happening almost around the same time with the world’s biggest awards ceremony — the Oscars — which will take place in Hollywood on February 26.

Television buffs from Zimbabwe will have a double thrill when they take time out to view the Namas which will honour the best artistes who excelled in their respective artistic fields, ranging from film, theatre, visual arts, literary arts and music, among others.

The following week, art enthusiasts will watch the Oscars, hot and thrilling as usual, and viewers will have to rest content that our own “Oscars” will not be far off in terms of quality, that is an assurance that you can get from ZTV producers.

The thrill, of course, will this time be on the presenters and artistes themselves who, if recent events that unfolded at the Golden Globes Awards ceremony early in January in the United States, are anything to go by.

The world watched in awe as some of the top actors who included Meryl Streep as well as the presenter, took the opportunity to sketch US President elect Donald Trump right on the podium!

If anything, this episode alone served as a clear and good example of how artistes can speak out their minds on behalf of certain sectors of society — the voiceless, of course.

In Zimbabwe, where the Trump craze has also rooted firmly in people’s daily talk, there is no doubt that something about the controversial US President will definitely make its way into the speeches of either the NAMA presenters, the recipients or the Master of Ceremony, who will be none other than stand-up comedian, Carl Joshua Ncube.

The award-winning comedian, who is known for his bag of jokes, has no sacred cows when it comes to poking fun at prominent figures who include politicians, businessmen and men-of-the-cloth.

If he has done it to before with local personalities, who will stop him from shooting straight at Trump through his jokes? On the other hand, Nama is expected to be fun-filled, and who knows, maybe one or two of the recipients will take a leaf from their American fellow artistes and also choose to add their views on Trump.

As has become the custom, the Oscars will be full of other sidelights apart from the actual awards themselves. The US tabloid will without doubt be out with their high-definition cameras to capture the good and the bad, the memorable and the awkward, the best and dismally dressed, best and bad hairstyles, make-up, wardrobe among a host of other things.

I hope Namas will take a leaf too getting the gist from red carpet to live interviewers. This has always gone a long way in making sure that the awards are more exciting and have more to offer to the people. By the way this is what the viewers want and trust me it is also value for money.

One good thing about the awards is their ability to lure big sponsorship which keeps the event alive, whether it is live streaming to all corners of the globe, publishing rights, fashion rights, designing and stage choreography.

These are some of the things that our own ZTV guys should be “watching” and take some notes from Oscars. Since Nama was established, the event has been making huge strides in terms of improvement and ZTV mainly deserves part of the kudos for making this happen thanks to their unwavering commitment and faith in local material through broadcasting previous awards ceremony.

Today, the quality of presenters, the dressing, the speeches, the stage etiquette, design, choreography even the way that the artistes present themselves before the audience, has improved significantly and no wants to left out on the event because of this.

It is also good to know that this year’s theme of the Nama will be focusing on promoting the synergy between the arts and the corporate world, and this is something that ZTV will also help in pushing forward through their live screening.

“It (the theme) is aimed at challenging and encouraging the growth of the symbiotic relationship between the arts and the corporate sector. While acknowledging that great strides have been taken in this direction the theme is a call to corporates to invest in arts by exploring, exposing and sharing possibilities in partnership within the creative sector, even the Nama brand in particular,” said Catherine Mtombeni, Nama’s communications and marketing officer.

Meanwhile, eyes will be on the coveted top accolades as some of the best artistes in Zimbabwe and the world at the Oscars will be waiting with bated breath to see who lands the top gongs.

Again, television viewers will have something to take their minds off the Warriors’ big loss in Gabon as the two arts awards are beamed live for the world to enjoy.