Diana Hamilton
Gospel musician, Diana Antwi Hamilton made history as she was crowned Artiste of the Year at the just ended 2021 Vodafone Ghana Music Awards (VGMAs) on Saturday night.
She has become the first female gospel artiste and the second gospel act to win the award after Joe Mettle who won in 2017.
The ‘Adom’ hitmaker beat a stiff competition from industry giants such as Sarkodie, Kuami Eugene, Kidi, Medikal and Adina to win the award.
It was indeed a big night for women as it was the second time a female act has won the Artiste of the Year award after Ebony Reigns won it in 2018.
Diana went into the award ceremony with a total of about six (6) nominations in the categories, including Gospel Song of the Year, Artiste of the Year, Song Writer of the Year, Gospel Artiste of the Year, Best Video of the Year and Vodafone Most Popular Song of the Year.
Apart from the Artiste of the Year award, she also won three other awards. These include Most Popular Song of the Year, Best Gospel Artiste and Gospel Song of the Year awards respectively.
“Family, what God cannot do does not exist. I’m trying to put this all together but making sense of it means I’m doubting God’s ability. To everyone who supported me through your prayers, words of encouragement, public or private support, I am very grateful. It’s been a long day and a bit. This is to encourage somebody out there, the road might be long but it will be worth it, just trust the process,” Diana said in an Instagram post on Sunday morning.
The 2021 VGMAs was held on Friday and Saturday nights respectively from the Grand Arena of the Accra International Conference Centre. The main event on Saturday night was hosted by Berla Mundi, Giovanni Caleb and Sika Osei.
A number of the country’s musicians were honoured at the ceremony. Among them were Kuami Eugene who won Highlife Artiste of the Year, Adina – Album of the Year with her Araba album, Epixode – Reggae/Dancehall Artiste of the Year, Keche -Hiplife Song of the Year with the song titled, ‘No Dulling’ and Mr. Drew – Best New Artiste of the Year. Kidi who was highly tipped to win the Artiste of the Year award rather took home Afrobeats/Afropop Song of the Year, EP of the Year and Highlife Song of the Year with the song ‘Enjoyment’.
“This is for all female out there. This is for everybody. Anything you want to do, just push your mind to it. Never give up. Like I started and nobody was paying attention to me, I never thought I will get here. I knew I had a dream but it looked so impossible, but today I’m here. I want to say thank you to God. Mommy this is for you, wherever you are Rest In Peace,” Eno Barony said on stage when she picked up award for Best Rap Performance.
Sarkodie also won the Best Collaboration for his song ‘Happy Day’ featuring Kuami Eugene while Yaw Tog’s ‘Sore’ was adjudged the Best Hip-Hop Song of the Year. Tog thanked everyone for their support including his ‘haters.’
Medikal also won Hiplife/ Hip Hop Artiste of Year while Kofi Kinaata went home with Song Writer of the Year. Best Video of the Year also went to MzVee while Yaa Yaa won Music For Good. Male & Female Vocalist of the Year went to MOGmusic and Abiana respectively, with Nanky winning Unsung Artiste of the Year.
As with all awards shows this season, the VGMAs had to adhere to COVID-19 guidelines by having a limited audience entering the award event.
The show featured performances from Kidi, Kuami Eugene, Eno Barony, Efya, Mr. Drew, Yaw Tog, Kwesi Arthur and Joe Boy among others.
Kurl Songz and Kofi Kinata who were joined on stage by Sarkodie staged a performance in remembrance of fellow musician Castro. They performed his hit songs ‘Adonai’ which he did with Sarkodie and ‘Odo Pa’ which featured Kofi Kinaata.
By Francis Addo