The maiden edition of the All Africa Music Awards, AFRIMA, a continental showpiece to celebrate the rich musical heritage of Africa and her talented artistes, has made significant progress in preparations for the ‘On the Way to AFRIMA Concert’ holding in New York, USA. Last week, a reputable and foremost US-based live event production team visited the Nigeria office of PRMAfrica, the producers of AFRIMA, to deliberate on how a partnership between both interests could bring about successful build-up edition of the New York concert. “The meeting was held behind closed doors and while PRMAfrica does not want to disclose details of who we are deliberating with or what has been discussed thus far, I can say we are excited the momentum is building for 2014 AFRIMA. Many stakeholders and practitioners in the music industry both within Africa and outside the continent are already contacting us to be a part of this ennobling awards project”, says Mr. Mike Dada, CEO of PRMAfrica and Executive Producer, AFRIMA. Mr. Dada, a Public Relations and brand communication professional, revealed that the New York concert will hold at the prestigious 15,000 capacity Barclays Arena, the landmark indoor entertainment space in Brooklyn, New York where international music superstars like Beyonce, Jay Z and Youssou N’Dour have played. The arena also hosted the 2013 MTV Video Music Awards and is a regular venue for NBA games. “The pool of the African Diaspora living in the US is staggering and add to that the number of non-African fans the continent’s music artistes have in America, then you’ll get a better understanding why the New York leg of ‘On the Way to AFRIMA Concert’ must hold in a venue like Barclays Arena”, says Ms. Adenrele Niyi, AFRIMA Programme Director. “The concert is going to feature 80% performances from some of our best talents in Africa and 20% performances from international artistes. Our host for the concert will certainly be one of the top names from contemporary pop culture or TV/movie. We are in talks with artistes’ managements and the artistes too. It is guaranteed that this concert, as well as other aspects of AFRIMA 2014, would be memorable”, Ms. Niyi assures. Co-producer and Regional Director, East Africa, AFRIMA, Mr. Michael Strano reiterates the uniqueness of the awards. “The African continent has had her fair share of awards events. However, AFRIMA stands out by being the only one that would honour music professionals who operate behind the scene, hitherto ignored perhaps because other event organisers largely see their activities as trivial. For the first time, honour would be accorded to song writers and music/entertainment journalists”, he says. Scheduled as part of the series of high-value concerts billed for major African and international cities, the New York event in July 2014 would be the first of concerts to hold outside the continent in the run up to AFRIMA 2014 hosted towards the end of the year in Lagos, Nigeria. Other cities include Douala, Kampala, Dakar, London, Paris and Johannesburg. All Africa Music Awards 2014 will provide opportunities to showcase the strength of Africans for global competitiveness and project our musical and cultural values from our perceptive in an unambiguous manner that reflects our heritage and bright future. Without doubt, AFRIMA’s highpoint rests on the plan to collaborate with the African Union, AU, to foster unity, peace and love among African nations. The live awards event is expected to be broadcast to 700 million viewers across the world on 109 TV stations in 84 countries.
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Entertainment