Marlon Wayans
Alex Okosi
For Alex Okosi the driving force behind MTV Africa Music Award (MAMA), it has been thumbs down since the show was wrapped up in Durban, South Africa, last weekend.
While it must be said that Okosi and his team gave a good showing with coverage and the awards proper, as those who won did well in the year under review, the same cannot be said of the presentation as the anchor, stand-up comic, film and television sensation, Marlon Wayans, made a mess of it all.
Given that Wayans was visiting Africa for the first time one might be forced to pardon his poor pronunciations of traditional African names, but on a second thought, one wonders if any serious person would pay an American comedian to mess his show up simply because he is a big brand from the States.
Another salient question begging for an answer from Okosi and his team is if Wayans was paid to do the job and he accepted, was he too big a brand for the organisers to sit down and brief him on the right pronunciation of names of entertainers such as Mafikizolo, Uhuru and interestingly, Ice Prince before he went on stage or were they just too scared to ask questions.
Wayans blunder on the night was simply a slap on the face of the organisers of the show.
Questions such as how happy was Okosi listening to Wayans referring to his guests at the event as Negros repeatedly continues to flash each time a flash back is done on the event or has MAMA turned a promoter of slavery.
Despite the fact that Wayans messed the presentation of the show one credit which must be given to him is that he was able to get good pay for simply abusing Africa and Africans.
And if Okosi was also trying to correct the percention westerners have about Africa with the interview interlude which featured Davido, Tiwa Savage and others during the show, one cannot but say it made no sense at all as the world has turned a Global village where computers, Ipads, tabs and the internet has created better opportunities to confirm facts.
Needless to say Wayan’s description of Don Jazzy and Dr. Sid’s “agbada”, traditional African attire, which the duo wore for their performance of “Surulere” as “a good use of waste bag” in the name of joke, was simply a direct insult to the entertainers.
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