by Peju Akande and Toni Kan
Monalisa Chinda and John Okafor: Pair a delectable actress and a bumbling comic actor and the laughs can’t be too far away. It wasn’t planned but it happened. Called on stage to present the Best Yoruba Movie award, Chinda and Okafor made the preliminary introductions, stepped aside so we could see the screen but instead of Yoruba movies, the visuals for Hausa movies came on and without realising what had happened they went ahead to announce the winner of the category, Mercy Aigbe.
“Na wetin dem give us,” John Okafor, ever the funny man said without an attempt at a mea culpa. “No be our fault.”
First time hostess, Osas Ighodaro earned some points with her adlib on the International Women’s Day.
Her co-hostess, Vimbai was on point all through showing great improvement over her last year’s performance. Her riff on the Uche Jombo movie on how to catch out a lying ass man and her jokes always hit the mark. “Uche Jombo is my mentor, she just doesn’t know it yet,” Vimbai dead-panned.
Do the ladies love them some Flavour or what? The black clad cross-over highlife singer got the ladies all grooving and screaming when he came on stage in all his pelvis wriggling glory. When ‘Ada Ada’ came on, only a few women were still sitting. Way to go flavour!
Osita Iheme was a shoo –In for the Best Actor in a comedy award what with multiple nominations and his dedication of his award to his fans who died in Yobe struck a chord and was applauded but then he stumbled over the word spectator and lost some points fast.
Dr. Gilbert Chigbo was wheeled to the foot of the stage where he stood up briefly to say “Thank you” and no more. That was a grand Kodak moment because even though he was sitting down, everyone was looking up to him.
“I give all the glory to Yvonne Nelson.” Did he just say or did he not many asked when Frank Rajah Arase, uttered those words after picking up a statuette for his AMVCA Best Movie (Drama) for the The Price.
