New entertainment awards to launch this year

"We've moved the event date out to the 13th of December 2014. We feel that this date on the South African calendar will allow for our artists to gain maximum exposure on the night and thereafter," explained Adrian Naidoo, acting MD at Innoviate Events.

 

"While there are various awards ceremonies that take place in SA, there is a need for an awards ceremony that recognises the industry in its entirety (including fine art and dance) and that is entirely transparent and fair. Essentially, we envision the SAEA's becoming a benchmark for the industry and aspirant entertainers whether they be dancers, artists, actors, musicians, directors and the list goes on."

 

The voting process

 

The allocation of awards will involve a three-step process with the public having a deciding role. There will be public nominations, followed by expert analysis, and a final stage of public voting.

 

Public nomination:

 

The public can openly nominate (on the website and Facebook) whoever they feel is worthy of a nomination, opening the competition up to every new and established South African artist. Statutory requirements would include that artists be South African and must have performed to a paying audience or have been hired to perform to a non-paying audience. The full list will be released at launch date.

 

Expert analysis:

 

Each code (dance / performance / fine art / music) will be assigned a panel of three judges. These judges will have one week to whittle down all the nominations to five nominations per category. The judging panels will be monitored throughout the process to ensure that no collusion or biased decision-making takes place.

 

Public voting:

 

Once the nominations per category have been finalised, these nominations will go back to the public for the public to vote for their winner. The public will be able to vote via SMS, online voting, Facebook and Twitter. 

 

What can we expect?

 

"Without giving too much away - fortunately, we have aligned ourselves with people who, in our opinion, are the best at what they do, and what they do is entertain. All of our crew has worked on most of the other big awards ceremonies that happen in SA and some have worked on international events," said Naidoo.

 

The performance lineup for the awards gala will be announced on launch date provisionally set for June.

 

"Expect five unbelievable music performances which will include dancers and technological integration as well as a performance from one of SA's foremost young comedians. Oh, and our MCs are a comedy duo..." explains Naidoo.

 

For more info, go to www.facebook.com/SouthAfricanEntertainmentAwards or follow @SA_Ent_Awards on Twitter.