04 Sep 2024

Gospel Music Awards, under the auspices of the Botswana Musicians Union (BOMU), has unveiled 19 categories, of which 15 will be contested for and four are special awards.

Thee Daniel and Makawana a sewele have been nominated for the Best Gospel Group, Ounah and Peggy for the Best Gospel Producers, while Ontefetse, Don D and Ounah are nominees in the category of Contemporary.

Other categories that were open and Batswana did register for were Best Disabled Artist and Clap and Tap awards. 

The theme for this year’s awards is Sounds of Healing.

In her remarks at the Gospel Music Awards ceremony  Tshepho Ngakayagae said the purpose of the awards was to encourage talented gospel artistes to work hard to spread the word of God through music.

She said the awards paid homage and celebrated artistes who had touched numberous lives. 

She acknowledged sponsors such as Stairwell Hotel, Duma FM, noting that, the awards were from vibrant talents and would showcase excellence in the industry. 

In her remarks, Charity Opelo said as judges, they experienced moments of praise and worship, adding however that they were judging not only looking at the good voice but how the artiste had arranged the song, the quality of the video, entertainment value, quality production in the track as well as whether the sounds were the same or not. 

“We were also judging what is called musicality and content, whether the artiste is not mixing contemporary production with traditional production. I also plead with you artistes to only focus on the gospel perspective. Do not mix with non-gospel songs, “she said. 

She went on to say they were also looking at how artistes had arranged their lyrics, saying some lyrics lacked spiritual content. 

She therefore urged artistes to make their music safe for school children even those that did not follow Christ. 

She also noted the element of packaging CDs, saying songs must be arranged chronologically as they were written in the back of the CD. 

She also encouraged artistes to work hard. 

For his part, BOMU member, Vusi Botshelo, thanked artistes for their courage, saying it shows that they had prepared, asking them also to go out and make people know about their music and the industry. 

He asked them to unite, collaborate and share resources so that the community could feel their presence. Ends