Season 7
The Metro FM Awards (MMAs) is an annual South African music awards ceremony hosted by radio station Metro FM which honours local artists who've contributed significantly to the local music industry in the preceding year.
The awards were established in 2000 and are broadcast annually as a TV special on SABC1.
The 7th Annual Metro FM Awards were broadcast on SABC1 on 9 December 2006, at 22h30. The special was 90 minutes long.
2006 MMAs
Metro FM honours South African music in the radio station's 7th annual award show in which all the winners are chosen by ordinary South Africans.
The awards took place in Port Elizabeth on 25 November, 2006 and were packaged into an hour and a half TV ceremony.
The event took place at the E.P.R.U Stadium for an audience of Metro FM listeners, music fans, The Mayor and Councillors of Nelson Mandela Bay.
Artists featured in the show include all the big winners of the evening. Hip-hop group, Teargas, claimed ownership of the honours taking home a total of three awards.
The group's album, K'shubile K'Bovu proved a calling card for the musicians, earning them the Best Hip-hop award, the Best Album award and the Song of the Year award.
K'shubile K'Bovu manages to combine a hip, underground sensibility with enough smarts to garner appeal across the cultural spectrum.
Teargas' song Another Chance went to battle with Revolution's Light of my Life and Kabelo's Dubula to take the song of the year crown.
Teargas were beaten in one category when established group, Adilah, was named Best Group.
Another significant winner on the night was Puleng who managed to snag both the Best Female Vocalist and Best Newcomer awards in what many considered the surprise of the evening.
Best Male Vocalist proved another surprise turn when newcomer Verd beat off competition from Ringo Madlingozi and S. Davies.
Best R&B was also won by a new face on the scene when Teepee secured the crown ahead of Noss and S. Davies.
Redeemed also pulled out all the stops to take home Best Gospel from under the noses of Vision and Snethemba while Siyanda trounced Shana and Sunshine to be named Best Dance Act.
It was not only newcomers who ruled. King of kwaito, Arthur, proved his staying power when Best of Arthur was named Best Compilation.
DJ Cleo was named Best Club DJ and Judith Sephuma added yet another award to her name when she was announced the winner in the Best Jazz category.
Mina Nawe took home the Best African Pop category while Best Kwaito saw stalwarts Alaska walk away with the crown. Finally, it was left to Chomee to claim the Best Styled award.
Lifetime Achievement Award
Songwriter and musician, Victor Ndlazilwane, was awarded the Metro FM Lifetime Achievement award.
Bestowed on individuals whose contribution to music places them amongst South Africa greats, previous winners of the Lifetime Achievement award have included Miriam Makeba, Ladysmith Black Mambazo and Lindelani Mkhize.
During his early career, Ndlazilwane was part of the legendary Woody Woodpeckers group as well as the Jazz Ministers, both of which were signed to Gallo Record Company. The Jazz Ministers were the first African jazz band to perform at the prestigious Newport Jazz Festival in New York.
As impressive as his live shows were, it's Ndlazilwane's songwriting that is his greatest legacy. His work continues to be recorded today – among the more recent usages was the inclusion of his composition, Hambani in the Warner-distributed movie The Power of One.
His songs have also been covered by many South African artists - among them Hugh Masekela who turned in a version of Egoli on his album Uptownship.
2006 Winners
Newcomer
Puleng
Club DJ
Dj Cleo
Best Gospel
Redeemed
Best Female Vocalist
Puleng
Best Jazz
Judith Sephuma
Best Dance Album
Siyanda
Best Hip Hop
Teargas
Best Group
Adilah
Best Compilation
Best of Arthur
Best R&B
Teepee
Best African Pop
Mina Nawe
Best Male Vocalist
Verd
Best Kwaito
Alaska
Best Song
Another Chance, Teargas
Best Styled
Chomee
Best Album
Teargas
About the MMAs
The Metro FM Music Awards are a special honour given to local artists who've contributed significantly to the local music industry. The artists recognised in 2008 had to have released their albums between September 23, 2007 and September 22, 2008.
Recording companies and artists are requested to send in release dates for their artists' albums and those dates must fall within the window period specified, to qualify for the MMA. An independent panel of judges then places these submissions within the 17 categories.
It is after this process that each panel members casts his/her vote, which they then hand over to an SABC Group Internal Audit representative at the voting session.
There is only one person from Metro FM who sits on the panel of 7 judges. The other panelists comprise of music industry experts and credible journalists.
It is after this process that a nomination list of five artists per category is released to the public, to vote for their favourite artists via sms. The top three artists with the most votes are then announced as finalists.
The public is again informed of this and they then vote for the top artists who will walk away with the coveted MMA in each category.
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