Kunle Remi appears on the new episode of The Delphinator (one of my favorite Vlogs) where he describes himself as an Actor, Farmer, a Philanthropist, a Perfectionist and… A Stripper!
He opens up on a number of things, including fans rallying up to vote for their favorite person and not the performance. Kunle Remi suggests that a Jury should vote to give Actors Awards, not Fans, and I totally agree!
With fans, the Award becomes a price for the highest bidder. By bidder, I mean a nominated actor that spends time rallying for votes from his/her fans. Award shows intended to promote the craft of an actor should not be based on fan votes. As Kunle says, it does not matter if they have not seen all the performances, they will vote because they love a particular person, and not for the appreciation they have for the work done.
The only explanation I can put to fan votes is that it brings added publicity to awards. More Nollywood awards should consider creating a jury! Opening the votes to the public will yield sentimental results. The academy is the most talked about Awards show in the world, fans do not decide winners. A jury decides. Even though the Academy has been in hot waters in recent years, they have a track record for awarding fairly unknown actors for critically acclaimed performances, for example, Marion Contillard (La Vie en Rose) or Eddie Redmayne (The Theory of Everything). Well-known actors do not earn an Oscar for their fame, but how well their performances are received; it took “The Revenant” for Leonardo Di’Caprio to win his first Oscar in 2016. Imagine if fans voted, Leonardo will probably win five Oscars, for every time he has been nominated.
The deciding factor for the AMAA (The Africa Movie Academy Awards) to award artistes is a jury. So far, the AMAA has exposed me to fairly interesting performances and diverse films. I went searching for “Felicite” after it snatched awards at the 2017 AMAA. I am also deeply interested in Akin Omotosho’s “Vaya,” thanks to the AMAA. If fans voted, I bet I wouldn’t have heard of these film. That is what Awards should do to the public, expose us to new artistes and not feed on already existing fame.
What do you think, a jury or fans?
