How to vote for your favourite PMVA 2020 nominee

By Boniface Mithika | 3yrs ago | 3 min read

After a rigorous act of vetting and judging over 1,000 videos submitted, the judges came up with a complete set of nominees. The list saw the fairly new five-piece Norway-based Gengetone boy-group Matata lead the pack with four nods including two videos in the Best Choreography Video category. They are closely followed by Nadia Mukami and Mejja with three apiece.

This year’s nominees list features a raft of established talents but also stars a host of new talents in what seems to be a major paradigm shift on the Kenyan music scene. Revered names like Khaligraph Jones, Hart The_ Band, Sauti Sol, Nyashinski, Octopizzo all earned nominations while newbies like Ssaru, Tory Lynn Teferah, Pryshon and Alphajiri also secured a desired spot in the New Artiste Video category, which attracted the most entrants. It is battle royal in the big four; Male Video of the Year, Female Video of the Year, Hip-Hop Video of the Year, Best Group of the Year where newcomers have joined the big shots in a supremacy move that is changing the status quo in the local music scene.

Last year’s winner for the Female Video of the Year Nadia Mukami makes a comeback this time pitted against Tanasha Donna for Sawa, Femi One for Utawezana, Fena Gitu for Siri and Crystal Asige for Safer. The Male Video category is a mega battle between Khaligraph Jones (Tuma Kitu), Arrow Bwoy (Chu Chu), Masauti (Burudani), Otile Brown (Ndagukunda) and Willy Paul (Tik Tok). In a renewed rivalry that had Octopizzo warning Khaligraph that he would be posing a major challenge for him this year after his big win last year, the two face off in a competitive hip hop category that also features Naiboi (Black), King Kaka (Wanjinga Nyinyi) and freshman, Breeder (Masaa ni Mbaya).

This year’s edition introduces several new categories, among them a children favourite Generation Next, and several virtual entertainment segments; Best Virtual Concert of the Year, Best Live Virtual Band of the Year, Best Music Video Dance Challenge of the Year and Best Deejay Live Set of the Year.

Covid-19 saw almost every entertainment aspect delve into the virtual world. Artists ventured into other platforms to showcase their talents and this brought about the above newly added categories. PMVA being the leading Awards in Kenya recognizes this and has centred its entire theme on the same ‘Owning the Virtual Space in Kenyan Music’.

READ ALSO: PMVA winners full list 2018

The sixth edition is expected to unlock a new level with the announcement of its first Virtual Awards show. This is mainly due to observing the Government rules on combating the pandemic. The virtual award ceremony is slated for 17th December 2020 and is set to be the first of its kind in the Kenyan music world with performances coming from different artists and audience catching the performances, speeches and award presentations on multiple streaming devices. Anticipation is high and excitement is hitting the rooftop with the release of the nominees' list.

As you wait for your best name to be crowned and to watch the high octane performances on the awards night, all you need to do now is to vote for your favourite artist. To vote, you are simply required to send the artist’s code to 22845 or visit https://www.standardmedia.co.ke/pmva/.