05th Jan, 2016 -It has been a great week for music! The nominations for the 5th prestigious HiPipo Music Awards (#HMA2017) were this week released from Monday 5th December to Friday 9th December.
A total of 35 categories were released including four special categories namely; Quinquennial Africa Music Vanguard Award (2012/2016), Music Icon of the Decade (Uganda: 2006-2016), HiPipo Video Trailblazer Award and Lifetime Achievement Award. The other categories include East Africa Best Video, East Africa Super Hit, Song of the Year from Kenya, Tanzania, Rwanda and South Sudan. The nomination list is then completed with Uganda’s best performers as selected from different music genres and styles.
Sheebah Karungi, who has undoubtedly had an exceptional music year sealed with a massive album launch on 2nd December, lived up to the billing, with 11 nominations including Artiste of the Year, Best Female Artiste, Song of the Year, Video of the Year and Album of the Year among others.
The other top nominees include Ziza Bafana, Radio and Weasel, David Lutalo, Bebe Cool and Eddy Kenzo with each having at-least 5 nominations.
Under the theme ‘The Fans Decide’, the 5th HiPipo Music Awards have the most deserving nominees from across the different music fields, styles and audiences. The nominations were based on nomination forms as submitted by different stakeholders, music circulation, song quality and unique success.
“We are here again. After several months of serious research, stakeholders’ engagement and intense consultation, we are excited to unveil the nominees for the 5th edition of HiPipo Music Awards. The nominees are a clear reflection of the dynamism and difference in this year’s music. We congratulate all the nominees,” Innocent Kawooya, the CEO of HiPipo noted after releasing the nominations.
He added: “It is now the time for the fans to vote for the overall winners. This year we have website, sms and social media voting. Each of these voting avenues will contribute a percentage to the overall winners. It is important to note that the Awards keep growing and now covering the whole of Africa. While the Awards are in their 5th year, HiPipo is celebrating 10 years. The past decade has seen us innovate and develop the music industry. As HiPipo, we are committed to continue with developing the music industry even amidst several challenges.”
This year’s HiPipo Music Awards nomination process received over 30,000 nomination forms filled and submitted by Fans, Musicians, Promoters and Media. The songs eligible for nominations were those with either audio or video or both released between 1st November 2015 and 1st November 2016.
As per the Awards theme – the Fans Decide, voting kicked off this week on Social Media and Website while SMS and WhatsApp voting via mobile number +256773248282 will start on Monday 12th December. On SMS and WhatsApp, fans will vote through submitting Award Category and preferred Artiste or song e.g. “#HMA2017 #HiPipoArtistOfTheYear #NomineeName”. Normal SMS and data rates apply. The voting exercise will continue till 4th February 2017.
