DATE FOR SAMA AWARDS ANNOUNCED

THE date for the South African Music Awards has been announced.

The 27th instalment of the annual awards show will be broadcast on 31 July on SABC1 at 8pm and the red carpet will be broadcast on RGB at 7.30pm.

This year, more than 40 awards will be handed over to musicians in Mzansi. Talents such as amapiano producer and DJ, Kabza De Small are leading the pack with six nominations, followed by Sun-El Musician with five and newcomer Bucy Radebe with four.

Sama spokesman Lesley Mofokeng said they were excited about this year’s awards.

“This is our second year under lockdown. The event will be virtual but we’ll bring back the energy, excitement, vigour and entertainment value that the Samas are known for,” said Lesley.

We’ve got lessons we learnt from last year. We’re wiser and we have improved the skill of hosting a virtual event. Planning this year was smooth sailing until level 4 happened. That threw a spanner in the works because we were already working on production.

But things are going fine now and we’re already pre-recording.”

The hosts were being kept a secret for now, but Lesley said they would be announced soon.

“Announcing the hosts is a big deal to us. We are happy with the final two hosts we found. They are talented, good-looking and interesting to watch and listen to.

“They have shown great chemistry and we love them. Also, it’s not hosts that people will expect.”

Lesley said they were also excited about how things were done this year and they were looking forward to the awards.

“This year, history will be made when the first ever public-voted Artist of the Year Award will be presented. People will be voting for people they like, whoever they are, as long as they released new music in 2020.

“We’re excited about that. We can’t wait to see who the public is going to choose,” he said.

“Also, obviously we have new categories for kwaito, gqom and amapiano. We are also particularly excited about our Lifetime Achievement Award recipients Dr Lindelani Mkhize, Lebo M and PJ Powers. They are deserving.

“We’re also thrilled that Master KG will receive the International Achievement Award. He also truly deserves it,” said Lesley.