Kanvee Adams in concert in USA

Liberia’s multiple-award winning Gospel musical star Ambassador Kanvee Gains Adams has finally achieved one of her dreams of pathing the way for her fellow Liberian artists to participate at an international award ceremony. 

The all-time favorite Liberian Gospel music singer will lead her compatriots to this year’s KORA Awards, the first time ever in the continental awards’ 21-year history.

Liberia’s inclusion in the KORA Awards 2015 would be the first time for Liberian artists to be recognized at the level of Africa’s highest musical event. Last year, KORA named the Liberian star its Goodwill Ambassador on Ebola to Liberia as the virus raged in her home country.

KORA, the Pan-African equivalent of the American-based Grammy Awards, honors the best artists from Africa and its Diaspora. 

In a letter to Kanvee dated June 11, KORA asked her to lead the initiative for the opening of entry submissions for KORA Awards 2015 in Liberia.

“For me, this is a dream come-true. Over the years, it’s been my wish that my fellow Liberian artists get the opportunity to showcase their talents, those God-given talents of my compatriots in the musical industry, to the outside world. Now is the chance”, Kanvee said.

It can be recalled that after being awarded the Special International Award for the Promotion of African Gospel Music by the London-based Africa Gospel Music Awards (AGMA’s) in 2013, Kanvee had stated: “At that event that attracted musicians from all over Africa and the African Diaspora, I thought to myself that it was time that other Liberian musicians be recognized internationally too beside me because our country has the talents for such awards”.

Currently visiting the United States, Kanvee will soon return to Liberia to galvanize fellow Liberian musicians for the KORA Awards nomination which finals are set to take place on the 13th of December, 2015 in Windhoek, Namibia. 

“As a KORA Goodwill Ambassador, I’m encouraging all artists, Gospel, HipCo, traditional, and so on, to submit their high quality video and audio on KORA website. I will be seeking the interest of the Liberian artists and will ensure that Liberia is represented at every international musical event”, the four-times Gospel Artist of the Year added.

Featuring 27 categories across regions and common genres, KORA announces a monetary reward associated with each trophy, with the main prize ‘Best Artist of the Continent’ receiving a grand prize of US$1 million.   

According to KORA, eligible artists for the ‘Best Artist of the Continent’ trophy must have been voted the best of their respective regions, further warning that the financial reward will, however, only be given to award-winners who will be in attendance at the awards ceremony. Absent artists will be awarded the trophy alone (see below for detailed eligibility requirement).

Other categories include ‘Best Male/Female Artists’ for Western, Eastern, Southern and Northern Africa with a cash prize of US$50,000 each; ‘Best African Group’, ‘Most Promising Male/Female’ Artist,  ‘Best Video of the Year’ and ‘Most Downloaded Music’ (US$20,000 for each category), among others.

Accordingly, applicants must include the following elements:

a) digital or CD version of the album; (b)Two color publicity photographs in format jpeg, png  – NOT passport or ID photograph; (c) A biography in English and (if possible in French and Portuguese); (d) Digital copy of the video (High quality).

Created in 1994 by Ernest Coovi Adjovi, a businessman originally from Benin, the award ceremony honours the best artists from Africa and its Diaspora. The inaugural edition of KORA was held in 1996 in Johannesburg, South Africa.

Known as the Pan-African version of the Grammy Awards, the KORA Awards ceremony is one of the most viewed TV live shows on the African Continent, gathering over 720,000,000 views according to CNN.

Since its inception, the Pan-African cultural event named, “Les Trophées KORA de la MusiqueAfricaine” or “KORA – All Africa Music Awards” has taken place 12 times on the African continent.

Eligibility requirements are as follows:

1 / Kora Awards are opened to all musicians, singers of Africa and its diaspora living on the continent or abroad. The competition includes several awards and each artist may enroll in one or more categories of their choice.

2 / The song or songs participating in the competition must have been published between January 1st, 2014 and July 15, 2015.

3 / The songs must be of quality, and must not be damaged and must be readable on any drive.

4 / The artist, author, or composer of the titles in competition must submit his / her application(s) to the KORA Awards’ Team in Abidjan until July 20, 2015.

5/ A formal letter of authorization to be sent to KORA Awards Committee. This authorization concerns the use of your image, videos, music and biography for promotion of the current KORA’s edition at: info@koraawards.org or entries@koraawards.com

Nat Bayjay