Forget Who Won And Who Didn’t,These Are The REAL Winners Of The Groove Awards Night At Kasarani.
The Groove Awards, Gospel Music’s biggest Awards went down last sato at a drenched evening at The Kasarani Indoor Arena. Despite the rains and the maddening traffic,crowds still thronged the arena. And the show still went on…Very much on.
The show started off with a toned down performance from the star of the night,Bahati who,clutching a guitar-I hope he could really play it-and seated on some high-level chair,crooned his peace-oriented song Visa,moaning and bawling as he is known to before Rufftone,Gospel music’s godfather,stormed to the stage and blew us away with his Mungu Baba Twaomba GSU jam. And,just like that,obliterated what Bahati had attempted to do before…
And the Awards were quickly in motion…The host was the very professional and debonair Kavutha Mwanzia…
I was seated to the right of the packed auditorium…And followed all the festivities from a very vaunted position…soaking in every moment,savoring every performance and jotting down notes on every move the chaps at the stage made…
And now,after the Groove Awards,Here Are The Ghafla Awards based strictly on the performances of the Groove Awards…
LADY OF THE NIGHT- Kavutha Mwanzia.
Before Kavutha Mwanzia was picked as the event’s MC and Host,the organizers had first picked Kalekye Mumo the Kiss FM motormouth who,because the event had to be postponed,couldn’t host it anymore as she had planned to be in Brazil on June 6th. And so,after the departure of Kalekye,the Organizers went for Kavutha Mwanzia…You may remember her as the TPF Voice coach. And boy,Kavutha was quite the lady of the night!
She was classy,toned down,strict on time,super professional,calm and collected,audible,elegant and very refreshing. She spoke like a pro,made introductions with real emphasis on time and never allowed anyone to waste the night away or to hog too much time on stage.
She was quite the class act! Thumbs up,Girl. You owned the night!
MAN OF THE NIGHT- Abel Chungu
Abel Chungu is a Zambian…And he was in Kenya for the Award Ceremony. And when the Award For The Artiste Of The Year Southern Africa was named,It was Abel who went to the stage to pick it on behalf of Joyous Celebration. And then he gave a speech…And blew the whole auditorium away. It was impassioned,true,straight to the point and very poignant.
And then he was called again to perform…And yet again,He killed it! He did a Swahili song(Yes,He’s Zambian) that he wrote on his way to The Grooves! He wrote a song specifically for the Grooves! And it was a classic! Damn!
And with those vocals? Abel simply owned the night…First Class honors!
FEMALE PERFORMER OF THE NIGHT- Mercy Masika
Mercy Mercy! Oh Lord Of Mercy! When this girl with the biggest voice in Gospel stood up to sing,the hall was brought to it’s knees. Performing her super smash hit,Mwema,Mercy brought the whole room to it’s feet! Her fellow artistes ,too,could be seen dancing themselves silly and soaking in her performance from their seats! Daddy Owen’s hands were flailing in the air throughout Mercy’s classic performance.
It was sweet and powerful and anointed and holy. Goodness! Her vocals shattered across the room and that song,that song brought the Lord into the room…And made time stop! Mercy was made to sing. And,to me,she is NOT the Best Female Artiste in Gospel Music..She is the Best GOSPEL MUSICIAN IN KENYA! Period! Bless!
MALE PERFORMER OF THE NIGHT-Willy Paul
Forget his many scandals and utotos and whatnot,Willy can be a performer! And Willy can really really own that stage! He’s the most gifted Male Gospel artiste,the most sizzling,the most entertaining and the most amazing! His vocals are straight from heaven and his songs are on a whole ‘nother level.
Instead of appearing on the stage like any other performer,Willy Paul stared his performance hoisted above the room like a roving camera! High above every one else,and with the crane swinging him from corner to corner,Willy Paul flew above people’s heads…Like a Boss! And brought back memories of Michael Jackson,The Pop King!
And when he was finally lowered on to the stage to continue his performance,Size 8 joined him to deliver their smash hit Tam Tam before Willy Paul went on to his Kwa Vile jam,blowing the whole room away,making thousands of ladies cheer for his impeccable dance skills and bring the whole house to a thunderous applause! Plus those dance moves? Dammit! You could have an orgasm!
Long Live Willy Paul! Our Own King Of Pop!
PRESENTER OF THE NIGHT- Octopizzo
Yes,Yes…I know,I know…Octo is not even a Gospel artiste. And Cabu Gah is not even one to heap praises on Octo but,let’s face it,Octo was the speaker of the night! Trailed very closely by Ian Mbugua.
Called upon to present the Award For Hip Hop Artiste Of The Year,Octopizzo took time to poke fun at Allan Aaron,his co-presenter. And it was really funny…He also brought up the Illuminati claims,talked of his past,why he does secular music and about the grace of God to all mankind.
But the biggest cheers came when he attacked Gospel artistes for singing pop songs and for diluting their message,telling them,”Wewe ni Gospel artiste,Hufai kuwa uki-try kuwin-mafans…Unafaa uimbe ku-win souls…” And the hall erupted in an applause. He also attacked Kelele Takatifu for dancing along to their own songs telling them,”Wewe ni Hip Hop Artiste…Unafaa kuwa na swag,Buda! Sio kutingiza viuno hapa kama dancer…Hizo wachia Willy Paul,Budah!”
And even after presenting the Award to Kriss Ehh Baba,Octo still remained on stage to remind us of how he helped build Nairobi Chapel and why we should not be surprised to see him at a Gospel event. He made us laugh,think,smile,clap,cheer and he preached to us too! One word,Amazing!
SEXY LADY OF THE NIGHT- Dee Dee
Dee Dee is a female Gospel rapper that many of You may not know…But this girl,even though she didn’t win any award,really made us stare. At her gorgeousness…She wore a black and white flowing gown that accentuated her sweet ass in a way that seemed almost sacrilegious. She blew away the catwalk…With that dress,that flawless hair,that sweet smile,the impeccable make-up and the impossible to beat beauty! We all wanted a piece of Dee Dee! And In mean it!
MOM OF THE NIGHT- Jemimah Thiong’o
Jemimah has been in the industry for years…And years…And when she was called upon to receive the Songwriters Award,she blew us way with just how graceful she looked,how gorgeous she still appeared at her old age and how fresh she still was many many decades later…
She even brought along her super sweet granddaughter to the stage to share the moment with her…Awwww…Plus her dress? Her white,flowing gown? Simply amazing!
We loved Jemimah when she came out…And we still love her to date!
MILF OF THE NIGHT- Esther Wahome
Esther Wahome is a mother,a wife and a veteran in the industry. Esther is close to 40 years old but still,how does she still look so sexy and hot and gorgeous? After all these years? Her body,her hair,her gracefulness…Esther was the Queen Of The night! Her red dress was really the sexiest moment of the night…Plus with that height and that svelte figure,Esther was every man’s fixture! Mind blowing! Look at that dress…Jut look at it! Woooiiii
HILARIOUS MOMENT OF THE NIGHT-Kelele Takatifu and J Fam
J Fam is that Gospel artiste that you probably have NEVER heard of…And Kelele Takatifu,well,You must have heard of such a crew…Now now,called upon to present an award,J Fam and one member of Kelele Takatifu really had us in stitches…Before presenting the Award,these two had a little Jamaican patois talk that really cracked the audience. J Fam seemed perfect in his Jamican lingo…While that other fellow was really a wreck in talkin’ Jamican..And that’s where the laughters came from.
Plus J Fam is really tall…While the other ka-fellow is really short and that,too, made the whole hall guffaw and fall over in stitches…
Their presentation was so good,so hilarious,we even forgot who they were presenting the award to! Funny! As hell!
AWKWARD MOMENT OF THE NIGHT- James Wanyoike
That guy who won the Award for Central Counties Artiste Of The Year…James Wanyoike. After winning the Award,this jamaa stumbled onto the stage and hugged Esther Wahome,the sexy mama. Man,he hugged Esther for so long,held onto her so tight,grabbed her so close, we didn’t understand what was going on..
And even when Esther was trying to disentangle herself from the jamaa,he still held on to her…Tightly. Boss,iko shida!??
But can we blame him? Absolutely not! Esther Wahome was the hottest Mama of the night! We’d all want to hold onto her that tightly!
RIDICULE OF THE NIGHT- L Jay Maasai
In an attempt to show Groove’s journey over the years,the producers organized a ka-video montage to show how past winners celebrated their wins.
And the funniest part of that video was when it was L Jay’s turn to be shown on the huge screens. Celebrating a past Award,L Jay Maasai broke into song….But he sang it so poorly,so badly,the whole hall broke into endless laughter. He couldn’t hit the high notes,couldn’t get the key right and was the absolute ridicule of the night! Bigger laughters came when he was told off by that viral guy with an accent,”Gerrraaaaraa Hiiiaaaa!” Hahahahaha! Poor chap!
CLOWN OF THE NIGHT- Dr. Ofweneke
He came,he made us laugh and he conquered. Plus his radio,Milele FM,won huge! And every time they won,Dr. Ofweneke came up to stage in a way that ONLY a comic like him would! He sashayed on stage,strolled,catwalked,danced,pranced and strolled like the Ultimate clown.
And even when he didn’t say a word at all,He was still funny! He brought out his Mr. Bean…And claimed his little place in the night!
DISAPPOINTMENT OF THE NIGHT- All Stars Ensemble…
I was deeply deeply disappointed when the producers of the Awards decided to lump together people as richly talented as Jemimah Thiong’o and her grand daughter,Ruth Matete,Mercy Masika and her Mum,The Kassangas and Amos and Josh only for them to sing a song as old and as boring as “tutavuaaa Mapambo Yetu…Siku zote za maisha yetu…”
They not only chose an old song but also sang it poorly. The crew was so talented,so huge,so famous that I was disappointed that they not only chose to do that song…But also sang it so poorly. It was a cheap,lukewarm performance that didn’t show off their amazing vocals,abilities and diverse talents. I was disappointed! Totally! Arrrrgh!
Aaaaaaand those were the Awards in a nutshell,Got a complaint? Go lodge it at The Central Police tafathali….
