adminFebruary is often known as the month of love but apart from that it is synonymous with awards ceremonies.
Last week we had the Miss Zimbabwe held at the Harare International Conference Centre.
However, I felt since this was a national event, ZBCTV should have taken advantage of the pageant and screen it live across the country.
According to some media reports, ZBCTV and the Zimbabwe Tourism Authority could not agree on how much the authority was to pay for the live broadcast of the Miss Zimbabwe event.
Those who did not attend the event do not know what they missed. I have watched the Miss South Africa pageant, which was held a couple of weeks ago. I also understand the Miss Botswana pageant was also screened live on BTV and some Zimbabwean also watched the programme live.
Ironically, Happison Muchechetere, the chief executive of ZBC Holdings, was among the judges at the pageant.
The sad reality is that when it comes to our local pageant things are not only done differently but in a manner which does not benefit the majority.
My only hope is that the National Arts Merit Awards are upon us and it is high time ZBCTV took full advantage of this event and beam it live to Zimbabwe. Like Miss Zimbabwe, the NAMAs are a national event and many people would want to watch who wins what.
Msansi Magic has become one of the favourite channels on DStv. The channel, which screens most of South Africa’s and M-Net productions, is packed with exciting programmes.
It is one of the channels where you really experience the magic of quality programming. Over the weekend there was the hour-long documentary about the enigmatic life of slain hip-hop artiste Tupac Shakur aka Makaveli on Saturday afternoon.
And on Sunday, there was the Comedy Jam, a programme which was hosted by Monique and it featured stand-up comedians from Africa and America. Apparently, the production of Comedy Jam is the brainchild of former NBA star Shaquile O’Neal.
There are also movies galore on the channel including some of Zimbabwe classics like the Flame and Everyone’s Child. Elsewhere on DStv, the 53rd Annual Grammy Awards were screened in the early hours of Sunday.
I know just a few enthusiasts managed to stay up for the live screening of the most prestigious music awards event in the world.
But if you missed Sunday’s programme you need not worry because there will be repeats of the show on M-Net.
Last year saw Lil Wayne leading the pack with eight nominations, this year the spotlight was on rapper Eminem with a field-leading 10 Grammy Award nominations for his Recovery album, which includes nods in all three top categories — Album, Record and Song of the Year.
Not far behind: Bruno Mars nabbed seven, while Jay-Z, Lady Antebellum and Lady Gaga each earned six nods. Jeff Beck, B.o.B, David Frost, Philip Lawrence, John Legend, Ari Levine, and the Roots received five each; and Alex Da Kid, the Black Keys, Drake, Cee Lo Green, Katy Perry, Rihanna, Dirk Sobotka, and Zac Brown each earned four nominations.
Eminem was one of the performers on the night, along with Grammy Award-winning rock legend Mick Jagger, who will perform live at the Grammy Awards for the first time. Accompanied by Grammy winner Raphael Saadiq and his band, Jagger performed as part of the telecast’s annual “In Memoriam” tribute, which pays homage to members of the music community who have passed on in the previous year.
Other performers included current Grammy nominees Justin Bieber and Usher; nominees B.o.B, Bruno Mars, and Janelle Monáe.
Drake and Rihanna staged a once-in-a-lifetime performance with Cee Lo Green, Academy Award winner Gwyneth Paltrow, and the Jim Henson Company Puppets, Arcade Fire, Green, Lady Antebellum, Lady Gaga, Miranda Lambert, Muse and Katy Perry.
Current three-time Grammy nominee Dierks Bentley, nine-time Grammy winner and current nominee Norah Jones, singer/actor Selena Gomez, two-time Grammy winner and actor LL Cool J, current nominee Nicki Minaj, and current nominee Blake Shelton appeared as presenters.
The Grammys are the only peer-presented awards to honour artistic achievement, technical proficiency and overall excellence in the recording industry, without regard to album sales or chart position.
The 53rd Annual Grammy Awards took place at the Staples Centre in Los Angeles.
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Online Reporter