The Cameroon entertainment industry yesterday 18/04/19 night witnessed a milestone with another concert. Remarkable enough was the way objectivity and constructive appreciation by online and both onsite participants was clouded with petty comments.
Out of the about 200 live viewers and about 2.4k comments, 242 reactions, 4.3k over all views on 237ShowBiz as well as observation over a couple of other outlets that brought the concert live to different consumers of Cameroon music, more than 3/4 of the comments were petty full of negative energy and side taking.
Unfortunately, the petty comments and side taking as well as un-objective comments came from renowned stakeholders in the entertainment industry. Credit to these outlets especially 237ShowBiz and Bimstr as they did a very spectacular job to stream the event live something rare to see especially as it was hitch free of internet disturbance.
Taking nothing away from Jovi as regards credit with respect to Johnnie Walker concert, his #MbokoGang and his confidence level made him to deliver back to back punches from his rich repertoire of music and even some creative work shown as he brought in vibes of other edited beats and made a point with it such as Tchana Pierre vibes and the vibes from “You are bigger than what people say…”,
He constantly paid allegiance to his Gang and boasted his confidence level with a participatory approach as he used his fans to complete his verses and made sure there was no energy drop in his delivery. The height of Jovi’s performance that caught my attention was the closing remarks, he demonstrated and commanded much respect and the highest level of welcoming spirit to a foreign artist by asking his Gang and participants to keep the energy levels up for Tekno, something which is rare (Cultural Diplomacy at its finest form). I pray and hope he does same for his home colleagues.
But then, Jovi would have taken home the night in a grand style if his stage Swag and ambiance is worked on. Did the MbokoGod god repeat a song 4 times given his uncountable rich repertoire? The trivial issues take nothing away from him with respect to how he reignited and brought the euphoria of the participants alive, but could have been a wrap if he takes care of the trivialities.
Minks and Ko-C were good but below the capability and the bars they have managed to set over the years. Live stage performance is what gives the artist the brand of a well-rounded and complete performer, it is understandable that they never had full command of the stakes as per the instruments but we hope they grow stronger and better. An artist like Davido who doesn’t have the best of vocals has worked on his stage performance so well and that is so because concerts are the second if not the biggest source of revenue streams to an artist and if they are short on stage performance they can blow away their chances of being booked and pulling crowds when booked.
I think if Ko-C can stay away from beefing and work on stage performance as far as energy and confidence in his delivery is concerned it will go a long way to help him. Same with Minks on energy and confidence level. Imagine someone walked up stage in an unprofessional way to give Minks water for not up to an hour performance.
Shura on her opening act was way above average, given the fact that she blended her performance with dancing which is rare to see as her energy and confidence level was far above that of the next artists. Due to the fact that a lot of people might not know her and her performance ability, the crowd was still very dormant during her opening act until when Jovi came in which to me set up the low spirit in fans for an opener.
What if one of these young upcoming popular talents Young Holiday or Wan Shey full of stage SWAG and CONIFIDENCE with current and viral projects were used for the opening acts? Could the euphoria of the event had been different and empowered Minks and Ko-C? I think so.
Tekno’s performance was top notch and never fell short of what a lot of people thought, his stage swag and confidence was second to none on the night, the euphoria of the crowd vibing to his songs given that he didn’t put in much to create awareness about the show left us with one message, concentrate and make good music and it will definitely sell itself. Again, credit can be given to Jovi for pulling the crowd and calling on the crowd to be receptive to their guest. This act of Jovi crowned him “Man of the Night” (MOTN).
Over all it was a big milestone for the industry, only if we accept that our level is still short of that of our Neighbors whom we can easily bench mark to. The industry still needs a lot when it comes to concerts, not only was the stage very small making performance appreciation difficult but it looked all chocked up with 2 or 3 persons on it. The DJ, MC and instruments are stories for another day but will all know they were all below average as performance transitions and order were so inconsistent and sickening.
The above weaknesses from the stage size, the beauty and comfort of the concert venue/location, the instruments, etc. should make us to understand that there are a lot avenues for investment in the sector. Investors keep shying away and this is catalyze by the lack of order, collaboration, organization, etc. among the artists and industry’s stakeholders as they see each other as rivals instead of competition that will breath efficiency in their arts.
No one, after feasibility study will want to invest in concerts when a concert by Tzy Panckak, Ko-C, et al. will not see Jovi leave a positive support message on twitter for the event nor Stanley doing same for Jovi. Except they all are satisfied with the growth level at the moment, if there is no positive competition, support and collaboration between stakeholders of the entertainment industry, further growth and sustainability of the industry will be a far fetch reality.
Binla L,
Commercial Diplomat
Social and Business Entrepreneur
4.5