A total of 581 entries received from which only 24 will walk away with awards.
This year, the NAMAs committee received a whopping 581 entries from Namibian aspiring and established artists. Out of the 581 received, only 64 made the cut to be nominated for the one evening show that is slated to take place at The Dome in Swakopmund this September. From the 64 nominated artists, 24 will be walking away as winners. Speaking to unwrap.online, the corporate communications practitioner Fikameni Mathias says many artists did not qualify for several reasons including taking chances.
“Some did not make it based on errors. Others simply took chances because their release dates did not comply. There is the screening process as well as the vetting process in which the music goes through,” he said.
A few artists including Phred Got1 have spoken out on not been nominated saying he had not met the judges’ criteria. The No Validation album artist in a Facebook status said:
“By the way, we did not get nominated for the #NAMA2019 because we did not meet the criteria of the few judges there, not because we suck.”
At the nomination party, MTC’s Chief Human Capital Tim Ekandjo explained to the artists that being nominated does not equate to a win. He also said that the awards show is not a developmental platform as the NAMAs have a specific mandate which is to recognise talent. Ekandjo further stated that this year, a total of 32 artists will be performing in the NAMA stage with 82% of them will be aspiring artists.
