Why Wizkid And P-Square Lost MTV EMA ‘Best African Act’ to South Africans!

Forget that Wizkid and P-Square pack venues when
they perform in and outside of Nigeria,
professionalism now determines who wins what on
the international music stage.
Unless Nigerian musicians want to continue to deceive
themselves, popularity as a determinant of success in
the music industry no longer cuts it as the South
African group, LCNVL. that beat the Nigerians is
nowhere near the duo when it comes to acceptance.
Popularity, however, didn't sway the regional voters
for the MTV EMA slot as Wizkid and P-Square were
beaten to the final slot of the "Best African Act" by
LCNVL a few days ago.
A member of the Grammy Award nomination
committee in United States told R in a phone
conversation few hours after the loss that sentiment
does not work when it comes to selecting artistes for the
MTV EMA. "This group, from management to PR
level", he said, "is very professional and thorough. In
Nigeria, the world has seen the quality of artistes that
are there, but there are many things that are not in place
and it is working against our artistes".
He said that just last year, members of one of the
group that lost out in the MTV EMA stunned an
American promoter who had relied on their popularity
to list them on a three-month show in US when he
asked for the contact of their sound engineer, only to be
told that they used disk jockeys when they perform.
Believing that they were being novel, he allowed them
on the show for them to shock the promoter when they
got on stage and started miming to their songs. "Of
course that was the only show the guy allowed them to
perform at in Maryland, Washington Again, there is no
adequate record of sales to back up the bogus claims
that Nigerian artistes make on social media, and even in
the print and electronic media.
"A lot needs to be done in the industry because we
have talented musicians in Nigeria. Nigeria, in fact, is
the only reason that the whole world has taken a liking
to African music, but we are gradually losing that hold.
Smaller countries will begin to outshine us because they
do things like professionals, unlike us", he said.
The South African duo were voted the "Best African
Act" for the 2013 MTV EMA ahead of Wizkid and P
Square early this week.
LCNVL will now move on to the next phase of voting
to try to secure a spot to represent the region in the
Worldwide Act category in Amsterdam.
LCNVL has been South Africa's most successful pop
act of the past five years, selling over 100,000 albums,
winning the SAMAs for Best Selling Album and Best
Newcomer, and touring the world, playing alongside
the likes of Justin Bieber, Taio Cruz, Mike Poser and
Jason Derulo.
"Such provable information worked in LCNVL's
favour, unlike our own guys who claim they had sold
millions of CDs in just one, two years," added the
American R's source.
Bruce Gillmer, Executive Vice President of Talent and
Music Programming/Events, later said "the MTV EMA
highlights the biggest and best international and
regional superstars and we're really looking forward to
celebrating all of the incredible talent in Amsterdam."