Taxi Violence performing live at the MK Awards. Pic by Sean Brand.

Saturday night saw the CTICC host the 5h annual MK Awards – also broadcasted live on the MK Channel. It was the first time Cape Town was chosen as host city. Most of the people who were there will tell you that it was an awesome event, but I decided to make some calls after I read the following on TV with Thinus (by the way, he also made that piele quote earlier):

M-Net, kykNET and music channel mk needs to seriously rethink what it’s purpose is with the MK Awards since a proud showcase it is definitely not and with the deplorably shoddy production values on display at the 2011 MK Awards I attended last night, it’s either being short changed by a lack of money, attention and focus by channel execs or not given proper production support by the Magic Factory that produced this low budget mess. Or all of the above. The badly-run, badly-produced, award show that ran longer by more than half an hour was riddled with mistakes, errors, empty seats, incoherent production, barely there musicians to accept awards and technical sound and light problems which is more on par with the kind of award shows that you’d actually expect from a SABC produced award show.

Jack Parow on the black carpet. Pic by Mark Reitz.

I gave a couple of musicians who attended a call and asked some of my colleagues in the media what their overall thoughts were, and most of them confirmed this:

• “There were a lot of empty seats in the audience. It looked bad” – Journalist
• “Not all winners were there to fetch their awards. If I wanted to see pre-recorded video messages, I would have watched it on TV at home. Not paid money for my ticket!” – Attendee who bough a ticket
• “An MK sponsored video won several awards at an MK sponsored event. The video in question is Hyg Duiwel by Die Heuwels Fantasties and remixed by MK presenter, Herman Pretorius (“Mr. X”). Pretorius passed away from cancer and this video was a tribute to him.” – Musician
• “If the passed away former MK presenter Herman Pretorius were invoked in barely everything, why did the producers not have a pre-taped tribute insert?” – Thinus Ferreira
• “Winner for best new act, Die Tuindwergies, could not get onto the stage to accept the award because security ‘did not know who there were’. One of the band members was grabbed and had to physically break free to get onto stage. He then zapped the security guard.” – Musician
• “Very little time seems to have been spent on rehearsing” – Journalist
• “How bad is it when a model (like for instance the one with the ‘antler branches” that was also the brand image of this year’s awards) bringing the trophy can’t get back through the door opening (not shown on TV) which shows there clearly haven’t been a dress rehearsal with their avant garde creations on?” – Thinus Ferreira
• Almost every person I spoke to mentioned bad sound, technical errors, bad lighting and a lot of frantic running around behind the scenes.

Most of these problems are fixable. The fact that every single person I spoke to ended off our conversation with “but I really think it is beyond awesome that we have a show like this”, bodes well.

Here’s what Elma Smit, host of Studio 1, had to say. I have placed her response as is:

“Die CTICC stage het enige ander awards show in SA (SAMA’s by die Superbowl – waar ek laasjaar present het – ingesluit) en al die vorige awards laat klein lyk – want dit was so groot! En met groot bedoel ek nie net fisiese uitleg nie, ek praat van aantal performances, presenters & fans wat kom kyk het. Die Monte venue sou nie helfte v Saterdag se crowd kon akkommodeer nie. Die seated tickets was vroeer in die week al sold out – neem in ag dat seated kaartjies jou toegang tot die vloer ook gegee het.

Ek he aan die MrX video gewerk en nie n sent verdien nie want ons almal het dit vir Herman gedoen. Daar was sover ek weet nie n budget nie. Dis n tribute video gewees. Sy neef was bv die lead actor, Altus Schoeman. Hy’s in Aug 2009 al oorlede, laasjaar was daar n tribute video aan hom gewys.
Ons het Vrydag heeldag & Saterdag rehearse.

Daars nog feedback, maar ekt nie nou tyd om ordentlik te reply nie. Weet net, daars baie meet aan die saak wat blykbaar misgekyk word. Tamara Dey het na die tyd selfs vir my  bedank vir die feit dat hierdie show bestaan in SA! Ryan Dent het op 5FM gese hoe baie hy die event geniet het ens ens!”

Here’s the full list of winners:

• Best collaboration: Snotkop & Monique
• Best Group: Die Heuwels Fantasties
• Best International Breakthrough Act: Prime Circle
• Best Campus Hit: Dans Dans Lisa
• Best Neon: Die Heuwels Fantasties & Mr. X
• Best New Act: Die Tuindwergies
• Best Pop Artist: Bobby van Jaarsveld
• Best Porn Star: Snotkop
• Best FX/Animation: Die Heuwels Fantasties & Mr. X
• Best Solo Act: Bobby van Jaarsveld
• Best Video: Die Heuwels Fantasties & Mr. X