Day 1 of the 9th edition of the Africa Magic Viewers Choice Awards began with a beautiful display of African culture at the opening ceremony and cultural night. The event, hosted by Daniel Etim-Effiong and Nancy Isime, was held at the Balmoral Center, Federal Palace Hotel, Lagos.
It drew several A-list celebrities, all dressed beautifully in their cultural regalia. Here’s everything that went down at the cultural and opening night:
The fire show:
The event began with a wild display of fire acrobatics with fire spitters doing crazy stunts and wowing the crowd with the intensity of heat they could create. It was audacious, brave, exhilarating, and the perfect start to what turned out to be a really fun event.
The dances
There were so many dance showcases on stage with representatives from the Efik, Tiv, Igbo, Yoruba, and Hausa tribes. With each dance crew came the special music associated with their tribes. If you were looking to add a new local dance step to your library of dances, this would have been the event to learn a thing or two.
The Fela meets Avala performance
Headline sponsors, Amstel Malta, arranged a special performance for guests that saw former Big Brother Naija housemate, Avala, take on the stage in a short drama filled with carefully choreographed dance moves and a very spicy performance to round up. A cast member, channeling his inner Fela Kuti, also joined her on stage, putting his best foot forward with his cover of Fela’s ‘Zombie’.
Daniel Etim-Effiong and Nancy Isime’s fantastic hosting
The duo were brilliant in their hosting as though they had only one goal – make the guests laugh. They made sure the audience were engaged throughout and Daniel even roasted some of the guests. He made popular media personality, Elozonam Ogbolu, get on stage, praised him for his gorgeousness, and then asked the crowd to guess his age. When he confirmed that the content creator was 37 years old, he promptly decided and announced that Elo must be using ‘African magic’. You get it?
The ‘best dressed’ competition
Nancy and Daniel created a competition to choose the best dressed at the cultural show. The only rule was that the contestants had to be dressed in proper traditional attires. Some of the contestants included Big Brother’s Saga Adeolu, Sandra Essien, Elozonam Ogbolu, Juicy J, Liquorose, Boma, and Africa Magic ‘Itura’s’ Bola Stephen. BBNaija star and actress Venita Akpofure and Big Brother Titans’ ex-housemate Yemi Cregx won the best dressed female and male respectively.
The ‘Parte after Parte’
Celebrity hype man, Do2Dtun took over from Nancy Isime and Daniel Ettim-Effiong and started a huge party. He got everyone, from A-listers like Ramsey Nouah and Mercy Aigbe to regular guests to get on the dance floor and show off their moves. He proved that he was the turn-up king in his masterful control of the crowd, and it was a moment to remember.
