Douala Hosts Balafon Music Awards

The maiden edition of the cultural concept aimed at celebrating musical excellence held on Friday, December 13, 2013.

Friday, December 13, 2013 was a date to retain, for all music lovers, adepts and stakeholders. This day saw the realisation of hard-earned efforts geared towards celebrating excellence in the Cameroonian musical sphere.

The first-ever edition of Balafon Radio Music Awards, organised by the Douala-based radio's General Manager, Cyrille Bojiko targets musicians who distinguished themselves between January 1 and November 30. Opened to every musical category, the overall objective is to bring to the limelight those artistes who after endless efforts and years, remain in the shadow, due to one reason or another.

The nominees are divided into 16 categories of which 14 are competitive, while two are honorific. The latter category targets person who are indispensable music promoters. The distinctive trait Radio Balafon Music Awards brings compared to already existing award ceremonies is the categorisation of artistes per the four cultural Regions of Cameroon.

They are the Grand Centre (Centre, East and South Regions), the Grass-field (North West and West Regions), the Grand Littoral (Littoral and South West Regions) and finally the Grand North (regrouping Ngaoundere, Garoua and Maroua); where a majority of budding musicians are controlling the vibes. The winners selected through online voting.

The maiden event is named after Emmanuel Nelle Eyoum, who in 1963 created the very first makossa rhythms, widely consumed till date. This couples with the 50 years of existence of this musical genre. The public has been entertained with a fore-taste of celebration during a live comedy night show on Thursday December 12.