Without pop culture contenders, Tony awards audience slumps to all-time low

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FILE PHOTO: 73rd Annual Tony Awards - Photo Room - New York, U.S., 09/06/2019 - The "Hadestown" cast and crew pose backstage with their Best Musical award. REUTERS/Andrew Kelly/File Photo

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - The television audience for Broadway theater’s Tony awards slumped to an all-time low in the absence of pop culture juggernauts like “Harry Potter” and “Hamilton.”

Nielsen data on Monday showed that just 5.5 million Americans watched Sunday’s ceremony broadcast on CBS from New York, down 20 percent from 2018 when “Harry Potter and the Cursed Child” took home six Tonys and rocker Bruce Springsteen won a special award for his sold-out one man show.

It was the first time the television audience for the annual awards show that celebrates the best of theater fell below 6 million.

Sunday’s TV audience also marked a sharp drop from 2017 when viewership reached a 15-year high, fueled by the success of rap musical “Hamilton.”

In Sunday’s ceremony, “Hadestown,” about a young couple’s dark trek to the underworld, took home a leading eight awards, including best new musical. The award show was hosted by late-night talk show host James Corden.

Other winners included best play “The Ferryman,” set around the sectarian struggles in 1980s Northern Ireland, and Bryan Cranston, who played the unhinged TV anchor in the stage version of the 1976 film “Network.”

The new low in the television audience marked a sharp contrast with box office receipts on Broadway, which hit a record $1.8 billion this past season.

Ticket sales for “Hadestown” increased by more than 1,300% on Sunday thanks to the Tony exposure, online booking platform TodayTix.com said.

Sunday’s show took place against stiff competition from the National Hockey League’s Stanley Cup on rival NBC, which drew 6.1 million viewers, and the much anticipated season 2 premiere on HBO of female-dominated drama “Big Little Lies” starring Reese Witherspoon, Meryl Streep and Nicole Kidman. Audience data for “Big Little Lies” was not available on Monday.

Reporting by Jill Serjeant in Los Angeles; Editing by James Dalgleish and Matthew Lewis

Our Standards:The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

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All My VGMA Plaques Have Broken Into Pieces - Lord Kenya

2002 VGMA Artist of the year and multiple award winner now turned Evangelist, Lord Kenya, has revealed that all his awards together with his VGMA plaques he got during his hip life days are all broken.


According to him, the plaques were mostly wooden and hence couldn’t stand the test time. He used the analogy to bring to a close the Shatta-Stonebwoy beef and prayed that their recent public acclaimed peace really becomes a reality.


Speaking in an interview with Dr. Spice on the Saturday House Fever Entertainment Show on Okokroko Fm, Lord Kenya advised Shatta Wale and Stonebwuoy to change the mindset of their fans with good music and not fight over awards because they will all break down one day just like his awards are all broken.


He charged them to rather use creative and constructive lyrics even when they have to disagree but shouldn’t lead to a physical violence.


Source: Kweku Bee Abrante

Doing Hip Hop Made Me Popular But Poor - D Black

Rapper Desmond Blackmore, popularly known as D-Black, has revealed that his ‘Vera’ hit song changed his life in 2012.


Speaking in an interview on Happy FM he said, “I started doing hiplife even though I did not have a firm grip on the local languages like Twi and Ga. I had to do hiplife to be able to survive.”


“So between 2010-2011, my first album was a hip-hop album. I got nominated all over the world. I was nominated for BET Awards, Channel O (South Africa) and Ghana Music Awards. But I was broke, I did not have any money at all. So sometimes I go to these countries with less than $200 in my pocket”.


“So I came back in 2012 with the intention of working on my 2nd album and I did a song like ‘Vera’ and everything change in my life.
“From my cloths to my cars to sorting my mum out. Just one hit song. It was not hip-pop, it was hiplife. That album changed my life, so that is the difference,” he stated.


According to the Black Avenue Muzik boss, everything he said in the song ‘Vera’ was a true story. The song was about a lady he met during his secondary school days who slept with his friend.


However, D-Black’s Black Avenue Muzik record label has produced Wisa Greid, Freda Rhymz, Sefa, Dahlin Gage, Nina Ricchie, and Osayo. And has some great albums to his credit He also has some hit singles like ‘Vera’ and ‘Personal Person’ among others.

Time Will Tell If Charterhouse Refuses To Apologize To Me - Starboy Kwarteng

Nana Opoku Kwarteng, the father of the late Ebony Reigns, has hit out at CharterHouse for failing to recognize his daughter during this year’s VGMAs.


The aggrieved father spoke to Agyenkwa Fm in Kumasi and revealed that the commotion between Shatta Wale and Stonebwoy was caused by Ebony’s angry spirit and that was because the organizers failed to recognize her after being the first female artiste to win the prestigious Artiste of the year award.


Starbwoy Kwarteng revealed that as far as he was aware, every year during the VGMAs, the winner for the Artiste of the year category for the previous year, is recognized in some way so he was expecting that he would be contacted to play a role in the awards ceremony.


He stated that he reached out to the organizers of the event but nothing was communicated to him and it really hurt him that he and his daughter were sidelined totally during the awards ceremony.


When asked if he would forgive CharterHouse should they apologize, he answered yes.


When asked what he would do if they refuse to apologize, he said that he would not say much but time will tell.


Source: zionfelix

We Spent 8 Billion Old Cedis On This Year's 3Music Awards

The CEO of 3Music Awards, Sadiq Abdulai Abu has revealed that his outfit spent a whopping ₵800,00 (8Billion old cedis) to host the third edition of the annual awards show which was fraught with controversies after Shatta Wale emerged the overall winner with 11-awards.


He revealed that even though the amount sounds unbelievable, the processes leading up to the awards makes it an undeniable truth. Sadiq told Zionfelix that before the awards came off, they had to put together a research team who worked for over two months with the aim of gathering the needed data to do the categorization for the various awards.


The entertainment critic added that the board who deliberates on most of the issues are top people in the industry who ordinarily cannot be paid but they usually show them some gratitude by offering something small for their fuel prices anytime they came for board meetings.


Sadiq also stated that awards plaques which they bring in from China also cost at least $220 dollars per one and always they order for not less than forty copies.


The maiden edition of the show even faced some financial challenge after it emerged that Joselyn Dumas was not paid for hosting the show, coupled with other financial hiccup that nearly derailed the plan to host subsequent ones.


The second edition of the 3Music Awards went down on March 30 at the Fantasy Dome in Accra.


Source: Ghgossip.com

Just In: Stonebwoy Takes VGMA Board To Nogokpo

Nogokpo is not just a village in the Volta Region but one of the wicked places on earth. This is actually the place where Justice is served.



After been disgraced by Shatta Wale in the just ended Vodafone Ghana Music Awards, celebrated Dancehall artist, Stonebwoy will not let sleeping dogs lie.

In a recent picture posted on his timeline, the "Gari Chewer" was spotted at the traditional village.

From our sources, Stonebwoy has already forgiven his half brother Shatta Wale after warning his fans not to insult Stonebwoy in any way.

Our source revealed that, Stonebwoy decided to take on the board of VGMA after he was banned. What even spoilt matters was when He was asked to return his awards.

This has therefore gingered the "Ayigbe Mafia" to visit the home of the gods in Ghana.

We are likely to see things turn around in the Entertainment industry very soon.

We will keep you updated if anything happens or when the gods in Nogokpo strikes.

Life Is More Important Than VGMA - Stonebwoy's Wife

Dr Louisa Ansong, wife of multiple award winning artiste, Stonebwoy has consoled her husband after his ‘battle’ with his arc-enemy, Shatta Wale and the unbelievable sanctions imposed on them by Charterhouse.

The board members and CEO of Charterhouse held a press conference yesterday, Thursday May 23, and announced that they have banned the two Dancehall greats and stripped them off the awards they won at the just recently held ceremony.


According to the VGMA board, the decision was taken after “careful deliberations” and “extensive consultation” with stakeholders in the music industry.

The pair were also asked to return the two awards they both won on the VGMA night. The board also announced that the Popular Song of the Year and the Artists of the Year categories have been nullified.

Although several Ghanaians have said the punishment were too harsh, VGMA has still remained adamant in their stance. Obviously you should expect that this is the time Stonebwoy needs his wife the most.

Taking to Instagram, Mrs Louisa posted; “Once we have LIFE we have everything. #PositiveVibes”, after which she added a video of some guys happily singing Stonebwoy’s Kpo k3k3 song.

Kumi Guitar Begs Charterhouse To Do Something About Stonebwoy And Shatta Wale's Sanction (Video)

High life singer Nana Yaw Kumi also known as Kumi Guitar is pleading with Charterhouse, organizers of VGMA to consider the punishment given to Stonebwoy and Shatta Wale.


Stonebwoy and Shatta Wale have been banned from the VGMAs and stripped off the awards they won at this year's edition due to the chaos they caused at the awards night.


Kumi Guitar think the sanction is too much and therefore pleading on their behalf so that the organizers will reconsider their decision.


Watch video below;

https://www.instagram.com/p/Bx2JIVAltv9/?igshid=ma6m3awa729p

I Will Not Be Part Of The VGMAs Again - Shatta Wale

Dancehall singer Charles Nii Armah Mensah a.k.a Shatta Wale has announced that he won't be part of the Vodafone Ghana Music Awards again.


In a social media post he said;


"Upon sober reflections of events in recent times and having made broader consultations, I wish to announce that I will not be part of the Ghana Music Awards scheme going forward. God bless!".


Shatta Wale was banned from the VGMAs after he attacked the CEO in 2014.


He joined the scheme again in 2018 and this year created a scene on the awards night which according to him was misinterpreted by critics.


Going forward he has decided not to he part of the scheme again.


See screenshot of his post below;


https://www.instagram.com/p/BxzY8pylCu2/?igshid=10g3boo3adfoi

VGMA Crisis: Ghana Is No Longer Safe For Musicians - John Mahama

The Vodafone Ghana Music Awards was held down after a brawl between Stonebwoy and Shatta Wale. This situation according to the ex-president of Ghana is creating insecurity.

According to the ex-president who is now about to wrestle power from the New Patriotic Party in the impending 2020 elections, the country is no longer safe even for musicians.

The ex-president revealed that this type of incident never happened during his tenure. Awards were shared without a single problem but ever since NPP took over, everything has gone wayward.

Now, what's your take on this? Should we blame the Government or nah?

BET Congratulates Sarkodie For Winning Artiste Of The Decade

BET has congratulated Ghanaian rapper Sarkodie for winning Vodafone Ghana Music Awards 2019 artiste of the decade.


BET took to its Facebook page to congratulate the former BET Awards best international African act winner.


“Our #MCM has been crowned the ‘Artiste of the Decade’ at the 20th edition of the Vodafone Ghana Music Awards! Congrats @sarkodie #MusicMonday”, they posted.

VIDEO: Stonebwoy & Shatta Wale Won The 2 Awards That Are Left - Kwame Sefa Kayi

Award-winning radio presenter Kwame Sefa Kayi a.k.a Chairman General who hosted the VGMA 2019 has revealed that the two awards that were not belong to Shatta Wale and Stonebwoy.


Winners for two top categories which are artiste of the year and song of the year were not announced because of the riot that took place on the awards night.


According to Kwame Sefa Kayi they were afraid another chaos might happen if the winners were announced so they decided to suspend it until further notice.


Watch video below;


https://www.instagram.com/p/Bxr2RcElepu/?igshid=wbroqjb0x7r7

VGMA: List Of All ‘Artist Of The Year’ Winners From 1999-2018

Ghana music awards festival established in 1999 is an annual music awards scheme organized by Charterhouse to reward and honor hardworking Ghanaian artists of all genres and Vodafone telecommunication network has been the headline sponsor for the past decade.

Aside all the awards given to respective winners of various categories,the artist of the year is the ultimate award every artist looks up to.The winner of this prestigious award is the musician adjudged by the Academy,Board and public as having the highest audience appeal and popularity.

The artist of the year must  have also released a hit song/album and organized his/her own show during the year under review.

The twentieth edition of Vodafone Ghana Music Awards(VGMA) comes of today,18th May 2019 with usual  Accra International Conference Centre as venue.

Rhymezgh.com has a compilation of  all musicians who have won artist of the year from 1999 to 2018.

Let’s go through below;

1999-Akyeame(Quophi Okyeame and Okyeame Kwame)

2000-Daddy Lumba

2001-Kojo Antwi

2002-Lord Kenya

2003-Kontihene

2004-VVIP

2005-Obour

2006-Ofori Amponsah

2007-Samini

2008-Kwaw Kesse

2009-Okyeame Kwame

2010-Sarkodie

2011-VVIP

2012-Sarkodie

2013-R2Bees

2014-Shatta Wale

2015-Stonebwoy

2016-EL

2017-Joe Mettle

2018-Ebony

Within this twenty consecutive years of the biggest awards ceremony on the land,Ebony Reigns of blessed memory is the only female musician to win artist of the year award.

source:Rhymezgh.com

VGMA 2019: Stonebwoy Explains Why He Is Certain Of Taking "Artiste Of The Year" Tonight

Ghanaian dancehall artiste Stonebwoy has declared he will surely win the Vodafone Ghana Music Awards (VGMAs) topmost price at the 20th edition tonight.


The SHUGA hitmaker who got Ghanaians talking by spending GH¢50,000 on recharge cards to vote for himself to win the utmost prize at the upcoming VGMA grand event slated for Saturday, May 18, 2019.


Somewhere last week, the 2015 Ghana Music Awards ‘Artiste of the Year’, Stonebwoy and his team spent ¢50,000 worth of airtime at a voting party to secure a win for the coveted ‘Artiste of the Year’ award again.


Speaking to a rep at
ghanacrusader.com, the Reggae-Dancehall artiste expressed delight in the way and manner his fans have supported him over the years.


He said he has done everything possible to be crowned the artiste of the year. Sounding very confident, the Burniton Music Group CEO said;


“I worked harder and more than enough in the year under review, therefore trust I will surely win on Saturday”.


“I will surely win the artiste of the year again this year because my work speaks for itself, not only the work. I have also invested hugely in voting and I believe the board and academy will also be fair enough to reward my hard work and tireless effort in 2018 till now with hits songs, performance and raising the flag of Ghana on international stages and making headlines in pages”.

Medikal Asks For Prayers Ahead VGMA 2019

AMG Business rapper Medikal has asked his fans to pray so that history doesn't repeat itself.


If you could remember, rapper Medikal barley two years ago had 7 Vodafone Ghana Music Awards (VGMAs) nominations, but sadly went home with 0 awards.


Consequently, he was trolled to the maximum on the various social media platforms for failing out to win a single award in the various categories he was nominated.


Now, two years down the lane, Medikal has been nominated again in the same VGMAs that snubbed him in the past and from all indications, he’s damn afraid of the dicey outcome as he he’s begging for prayers not to go home with 0 awards this time around.


He posted via Instagram;

“Vgma today, thanks for your votes, let’s pray 2 years ago’s history doesn’t repeat itself today".


https://www.instagram.com/p/BxmTgM3lJFw/?igshid=6as1tb5mv0qo

Stonebwoy Begs VGMA Not To Cheat Like 3Music Awards

Dancehall act, Stonebwoy has begged organizers of VGMA to eschew all forms of biases and be just as much as possible.

According to Stonebwoy, his enemies are working around the clock to see him disappointed in the wake of the event, but he is positive he will rise above all those pits.


In his latest tweet, he has begged Charterhouse to do a just job and award deserving musicians, not the mediocre ones.

“We are aware of all forms of sabotage #BhimNationShallRise

“This Year Mediocrity Stands No Chance.. Give this Your Last Shot!!!https://www.votevgma.com/#!/team.php VOTE!!!!!”, he tweeted.

It can be recalled that following the 3Music Award, both Stonebwoy and his manager displayed their disappointment on how things went down after his archival, Shatta Wale, bagged almost all the awards for the program.

Speaking in an interview on Joy FM, Stonebwoy has argued that, he deserved more than the 3 awards he had.

“People’s awards are sitting in people’s homes,” he said and call on the organisers to be impartial.

However, in order for the Bhimnation to become champions of the VGMA night, Stonebowy has entreated all his fans to vote massively in these last days.

Source: Ghanacelebrities.com

Youngest rapper in East Africa who almost went to jail for skipping school nominated for prestigious American award

The youngest rapper from Uganda and probably in the world, Patrick Ssenyonjo aka Fresh Kid who is just seven years old, was recently a hot topic after Ugandan government threatened him with jail term for dropping out of school.

After several back and forths, the government allowed him to continue with his business after his manager convinced them he wasn’t getting paid for rapping and only doing it as a hobby.

Well, it seems the hobby will soon start paying. Fresh Kid managed to get nominated in America’s prestigious awards dubbed Carolina Music Video Awards (CMVAs) thanks to his music video Bambi which was selected to battled it out in the awards whose gala is set for July 20 2019, in USA.

Taking to social media Fresh Kid urged fans to support him.

‘Hey guys I need your support please vote for me I need to bring this award home. Share as much as you can. Fresh Kid Nominated In U.S.A Awards – Purple TV Africa,” he wrote on Instagram. 

Stonebwoy Blasts 3Music Awards For Awarding Mediocrity

Dancehall singer Stonebwoy has expressed disappointment in organizers of 3Music Awards.

The “Shuga” hit maker won three awards, but says he was very disappointed not to have won more.

Stonebwoy’s rival Shatta Wale emerged the biggest winner on the night after grabbing seven (7) awards.


Speaking for the first time on the outcome of the awards, Stonebwoy said he was disappointed, while urging organisers of the 3Music Awards and other awards to eschew mediocrity.

“I was disappointed definitely but I kept to myself I was not going to say anything,” he said on Joy FM’s Showbiz A-Z, hosted by George Quaye.

“People’s awards are sitting in people’s homes…In Ghana sometimes mediocrity puts people who have to reward and award things in a box where they just lose it all and have to play by that but that will not bring any benefit, that will not bring any hope to those who are looking up to us. They would only have to turn to do mediocre stuff because that is being rewarded.”

He added: “So I will beg off all these awards organisers to try so hard in their own way even if they have to go out of their lines once they believe and know that this is the right thing because the right is devoid of influence…the right thing will vindicate itself?”

“It’s our music but the role that you play could be a per cent that adds up but it actually makes a big difference…you guys hold a very huge spot where when favouritism come inside and bias come inside and influence come inside it will definitely look someway.”

Shatta Wale Would Have Won VGMA 2016 If He Was Nominated - EL Reveals

Award-winning Ghanaian rapper and singer EL has revealed that Shatta Wale would have won 2016 Vodafone Ghana Music Awards artiste of the year if not he had issues with Charterhouse.


According to the "Koko" singer, the awards came as surprised to him and he knew if Shatta Wale was nominated he would win even though there was Stonebwoy, Sarkodie and Bisa Kdei.


When EL won the artiste of the year, critics bashed the organizers for stealing Bisa Kdei's award to him but today EL is also mentioning Shatta Wale as an artiste that worked hard that year and not Bisa Kdei.



Watch video below


https://www.instagram.com/p/BxXh7VpF2gx/?utm_source=ig_share_sheet&igshid=pxsb3eb9nf97