“And the winner is….”
This famous sentence used to resonate in the halls of trustworthy
award shows, creating anticipation and generating standing ovations as
deserving winners and nominees congratulated each other on their immense
contribution to the entertainment industry. You can name them; The Oscars, The
Golden Globes and recently, The Africa Magic Viewer’s Choice Awards. Award
shows used to mean the celebration of outstanding men and women who have
changed the face of entertainment, people who have reinvented the wheel of art.
Now, we are flooded with numerous “award shows” some of
which are created from the egocentricity of the minds of charlatans who call
themselves entertainers.
Granted, some English Cameroon entertainers have put
in a colossal effort in the industry, but when they start patting themselves on
the back with these consistently substandard award shows, one begins to
question their motives.
Often times, these quack entertainers just make much ado
about nothing as they magnify their trivial contributions to an exaggerated scale,
creating wrong impressions in the minds of the public who have thankfully not
yet seen their horrendous works of art. How on earth can a movie be nominated
when it has not yet been released? In fact, some movies have been nominated
though still at the editing stage.
One clear example is “DECODED”, which has gathered numerous awards
on various online and offline award shows (Cam Movies Merit Award, DAMA Awards,
the recent SONNAH Awards etc.) How does a jury screen a movie while it is still
at the editing level? What are we celebrating? Assumptions or facts? I am not
saying the movies which were nominated were poor, but I am decrying the
criteria for their selection. I do not hold the producers at fault. All fingers
point to award show organizers.
If we want to allow the wind of professionalism to blow in
the nooks and crevices of this “emerging” industry, we should learn the proper
ways to professionalize our actions. Only then can we benefit from the rewards
of real recognition and not selfish self-donated awards that only help to
diminish the potentials of talented minds in English Cameroonian entertainment.
