- Title: SOUTH AFRICA: Fourth annual Kora music awards in Sun city
- Date: 7th September 1999
- Summary: SUN CITY, SOUTH AFRICA (SEPTEMBER 4, 1999) (REUTERS) CUT TO VOX POPS FEMI KUTI (ENGLISH) SAYING "What does it feel like being Fela's son? I can go round the world and say yes I'm proud to be his son and I hope wherever he is right now he's proud of me and I'll continue to keep the good name of the family. African life is not about being in the shadow or not. I've never seen any shadow. I just see my father and I love him." REPORTER SAYS CONGRATULATIONS FEMI KUTI SAYS THANKS YOU AND YELLS (ENGLISH) IT'S TIME TO PARTY KUTI HUGGING GATHERED FANS SOUNDBITE (FRENCH) KADJA NIN SAYING "It's a great honour for me to take part in this event here in South Africa. You see South Africa for all Africans is a symbol made stronger by the presence of Nelson Mandela and for me to have the chance to sing my song for him here in South Africa and make me very happy." SOUNDBITE (ENGLISH) BRENDA FASSIE SAYING "It means a lot. Kora is Africa. Kora is the world. Am I right. Kora is it." SOUNDBITE (ENGLISH) ANGELIQUE KIDJO SAYING " It means the recognition of an African artist on the African continent. It doesn't mean a thing if you have no award on your continent and you have it somewhere else."
- Embargoed: 22nd September 1999 13:00
- Keywords:
- Location: SUN CITY, SOUTH AFRICA
- Country: South Africa
- Topics: Arts / Culture / Entertainment / Showbiz
- Reuters ID: LVA51Q7JRP4AQJL8XE0UNPIXXH56
- Story Text: The fourth annual Kora Music awards took place in Sun City on Saturday night (September 4) with a special appearance by the King of Pop, Michael Jackson who was on hand to receive a Lifetime Achievement Award.
Much hype and fanfare surrounded the 1999 Kora Music Awards, but the ceremony more than lived up to expectations.Billed as Africa's equivalent of the Grammy Awards, Kora, an African word referring to a guitar-like musical instrument, proved to be an explosion of musical talent from across the four corners of the continent with live performances from some of continent's most popular artists, including Nigeria's Femi Kuti, son of the late self-styled King of Afro Beat, Fela Kuti, Burindi's Kadja Nin and Congo's Kofi Olomide.
The overall awards for Best African Male and Female Artists, voted by viewer calls during the three-hour extravaganza, went to Nigeria's Femi Kuti and South Africa's Brenda Fasi.
Other big winners on the evening included Burundi's Kadja Nin for Best Artist from East Africa, Biso Na Biso for Best Artist from Central Africa, Ringo Madlingozi for Best Artist from Southern Africa, and Femi Kuti for Best Artist from West Africa.
This year's Lifetime Achievement Award was awarded to the undisputed 'King of Pop', Michael Jackson, who surprised the audience by showing up personally to receive it."Africa I love you," he said before handing over a cheque for a million Rand, about 160,000 dollars, to Nelson Mandela for the Nelson Mandela Children's Fund.Mandela went on to delight audiences by joining Brenda Fasi for a dance.
The show was beamed live to a worldwide audience of just under 400-million people. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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