This year’s Headies Awards was a “Go big or go home” event. The 15th Headies Awards was held at The Cobb Energy Centre in Atlanta, Georgia, and featured top-tier artistic performances as well as special appearances by celebrities and individuals. The night was fun and filled with memorable moments, but I must say, not all were good. The Headies Award now includes categories for International Artiste of the Year, Best Inspirational Single, and Digital Artiste of the Year. The event was to start by 10pm Nigerian time but had a three-hour delay, a sign of an actual Nigerian event.
Anthony Anderson, an American comedian and actor, and Osas Ighodoro, a Nigerian actress, hosted the award show.
There was a lot of debate surrounding the Headies Awards before and after the show – questions about the event’s location and the celebrities’ casual attire. In spite of all that, here are five memorable moments.
Flavour’s Performance
The performances at this year’s Headies were among the best, with the artistes fully commanding the stage and having a live band support them. Lojay, BNXN, Dbanj and Ruger gave impressive performances. Flavour’s performance was outstanding. He got the crowd grooving with one of his old hits, ‘Nwa Baby’, before switching it up with ‘Levels’. He was joined on stage by a masquerade (proudly representing the Igbo culture) and ended his performance with the hit song ‘Egedege’ by Theressa Onuorah x Flavour x Phyno.
Adekunle Gold’s Speech
The participation in the 2022 Headies Award was good (better than the previous one), with most of the winners present to collect their awards. First-time winners like Ibeji and other winning artistes expressed their excitement and sincerity with great emotion.
Adekunle Gold’s acceptance speech came with a nugget. “Honestly, I need you guys to know that the last time I won this thing was seven years ago, and it feels good to be recognised again, and I want to say to everybody that is trying, finding it hard to try something new; you are wasting time, don’t be afraid,” he said during his acceptance speech for Best Songwriter.
A Special Appearance By Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu
There were many prominent figures from Nigeria’s music scene in attendance. Also present were foreign music industry leaders from well-known organisations, like BET and the Grammys.
It is not every day you see a politician at a music award show who also happens to blend in effortlessly. The governor of Lagos State, Mr Babajide Sanwo-Olu, gave a speech emphasising the continued support of the Lagos State government to Nigerian artistes. He said it is no coincidence that he is the 15th governor of Lagos State and also hosting the 15th Headies Awards. His speech had no direct political message, which is rare for politicians.
BNXN Is The Next Rated Stock
The next rated award is one of Headies’ most anticipated awards, with previous winners becoming top artistes like Davido, Wizkid, Fireboy, and Omawumi. In addition to a trophy, the Next Rated award included a 2022 Bentley Bentayga. Daniel Benson (BNXN) was selected as the next rated artiste ahead of Ayra Starr, Lojay, Ruger, and Zinoleesky. During his acceptance speech, he expressed his joy and asked the Lagos State governor to cover the cost of shipping the car to Lagos, to which the crowd responded with laughter.
RED CARPET
The red carpet is a crucial component of every event because it allows the audience to see the glitz and glamour that could potentially make it memorable. We had to watch the live show to see what the celebrities were wearing on the red carpet at the 15th Headies, which didn’t work for us.
The poor organisation of the red carpet did not help. People had to wait in line and were only interviewed by one host. With all the hiccups at the Headies, it is still the equivalent of the Grammys in Nigeria. We look forward to the next one.
