South Africa's Premier Theatre Awards...

A few weeks ago I had a chance to watch the prestigious event on SABC3, the Naledi Theatre Awards. I was blown away by the set up, simple yet classy, I simply loved it. The presenters were timeless, beautiful and knew their story. Apart from the event being all glorious, I couldn’t help but worry from the fact that most nominees were from the following plays only:

• Hair
• Hair Spray
• Rent
• The Lion King
• Fiddler on the roof

As if that was all, I was astonished when I saw two people or more being nominated in one category from the same production or rather a play. That resulted in the nominee having a greater chance of scooping the award which according to me is not fair. Well, who am I to argue, the judges’ decision was final and probably that is how the Naledi committee operates.

The good news is that the performances on that night were stupendous, tasteful, vibrant, enticing, and guaranteed to make sure you stay glued to your screen. Who ever said our white brothers and sisters don’t have soul? If you still doubt, well you should have seen Danny K collaborating with the Soweto Gospel Choir. Tamara Dey was simply sizzling; her voice is one of those that make me keep on buying our local music. She is now a well established muse. Mmmmm….

On that note, I believe Loyiso Bala’s days of glory are numbered. There is one Bala brother who sings like a song bird, (Google the name) is his name and Loyiso must watch out because the brother is slowly but surely stealing some of his lime light. Well coming back to the Naledi’s, Zwai Bala and (Google the name) Bala of the Bala brothers delivered a sensual performance. To top it all, our own well known South African Pop Idols judge, Mara Louw gave a thrilling performance together with the Hairspray cast. Ooh, I was speech less, I knew she could sing but not like she did that night, I fear that she can out done one of them screamers, the likes of Beyonce (I am not hateful, Queen B Knowles is the bomb, I love her music). I strongly believe the likes of Kelly Khumalo, Chomi, the bling girl Khanyi Mbao, Somizi, and the wanna be muses could learn from Mara how things are done in the music industry.

Most of the time when the award winner step up on the stage you hear things that are now too cliché, even though it was the case here I was baffled by the speeches given by the life time achievement awards receivers. Wesley Msomi, who is a well know writer gave a lame speech, I think he did not edit it or maybe he was trying to be creative, I mean giving us info about his parents and his type writer. As if that was all, the second achiever gave a terribly speech regarding her husband, but it was a good thing that his son was there to rescue his mother from ouch speech she gave.

During fashion shows, designer creates a dress, it could be wedding gown or something out of the ordinary and call it a show stopper. Ooh man, the Naledi Awards had one that was unplanned called Lebo M. I am not going to say much on the issue, just watch the video and you will understand why I say that. Ooh, excuse the video’s resolution, I know they suck but the main objective is to get the juicy details of the shoe stopper.

Beside what was said by a well know producer of the Lion King, Lebo M, the show was awesome. Good television I tell you.