Poor organisation blights Kalasha event
Ian Mbugua with his companion for the evening. He was the butt of many of Jeff Koinange's (right with The Trend's Larry Madowo) jokes for his blue suit and grey shoes. PHOTO/CHARLES KAMAU
What you need to know:
- There were tuxedos, there were gowns, and there was anticipation mingled with fame in the air.
- The bad news is the KFC (I think they should ditch that acronym completely, unless they are going into fast food) suffered from a distinct lack of organization.
- They also ran out of seats for nominees (to be fair, they were late…but still). It is unacceptable to hold an event like this and then run out of seats for the people you are honouring.
If only the Kalasha were as well put together as some of the ladies and gents who attended.
The gala event went down last Friday at the National Museums of Kenya.
On that night, the Museum was transformed into a cornucopia of glam. A huge dome covered the middle area of the Museum’s central amphitheatre (normally a walkway to various parts of the museum in the daytime).
A slew of attractive people showed up for this star-studded event – anyone who is anyone in the acting industry was on the red carpet that night. Just to name a few: Maqbul Mohammed, Sarah Hassan, Liz Njagah, Lenana Kariba, Kevin Maina, Patricia Kihoro, Amina Abdi, Mugambi Nthiga, Kenneth Ambani among others.
FUN IDEA
Even the Swiss ambassador and Sports and Culture Cabinet Secretary, Hassan Wario was in attendance.
There were tuxedos, there were gowns, and there was anticipation mingled with fame in the air.
The dome was done up in gold and black, the official Kenya Film Commission colours (who are the ones behind the event).
The MCs for the evening were Jeff Koinange and Patricia Amira, who made a charmingly smooth duo. Jeff could not keep his barbs away from Ian Mbugua, who, clad in a blue suit and gray shoes, was the butt of several of his jokes.
Now come the comparisons. The good news is that the red carpet idea was fun- there was actually a red carpet and 2 hosts doing interviews with everyone on it.
The décor was great, and the who ushers looked great also doubled up as the trophy handlers.
Guests were treated to a history of Kenyan film as well as a respectable assembling of bites and drinks by the caterers.
It was a good thing that they had a few more categories this year, and there were also girls from Rwathia Girls Secondary School, the high school that won the Best High School Feature Award for The Messenger.
The bad news is the KFC (I think they should ditch that acronym completely, unless they are going into fast food) suffered from a distinct lack of organization.
WRONG EXECUTION
The ceremony started about an hour after time – the chairman of KFC and the Cabinet Secretary were not present for the singing of the national anthem, and thus there was some confusion after people had already stood and sat in respect as to whether the event should go ahead or not.
The entire red carpet process took far too long and kept far too many people in line waiting to be asked questions that they were not particularly interested in.
They also ran out of seats for nominees (to be fair, they were late…but still). It is unacceptable to hold an event like this and then run out of seats for the people you are honouring.
This may be due to the fact that they may have invited far too many people and thus bitten more, space-wise, than they could chew. After all, the rain was not their fault…
Though there is a lot to be said for the Kalasha Award this year, the overall event was a good one, simply because it was a massive improvement on last year.
As long as the trajectory is upwards, then I will definitely be at the next awards ceremony. If they invite me, of course…
IN REMEMBRANCE
RIP, Nancy Nyambura a.k.a ‘Jastorina’ who won an award for Best Performance in a Comedy but passed away shortly after, and her mother who passed away after hearing the news.
