Brown finally arrived in Abidjan on Sunday morning with his girlfriend Rihanna, early enough for the peace concert and the award night.
But he never made the award night, where he had been billed to perform. And he intially refused to perform at the Peace Concert because the stadium was half empty.
The award night was heavily criticized for its high cost: one million CFA francs (1,500 euros, $2,000) for those who want a seat in the luxury hotel for the ceremony, or 50,000 CFA francs (75 euros, $100) for seats outside. And no wonder, attendance was poor.
These prices are far out of reach for most people in the poor west African country, the world’s top cocoa producer.
The show had been delayed from Saturday to enable rapper Brown to attend, with organiser Ernest Adjovi initially blaming the delay on Brown missing his flight but later saying heavy rains and other logistical hiccups were behind the postponement.
But while the Koras were going on at a luxury hotel, the US singer was a few minutes away in the national stadium performing at a much-delayed concert for “Peace in Africa.”
Benin businessman Adjovi later apologised for the numerous “dysfunctions” that had occurred during the three-hour ceremony.
Ivorian quartet Magic System won the Kora award for best African group of the year while another Ivorian, DJ Arafat won the best African artiste.
Chidinma from Nigeria enchanted the ceremony and won the award for best musician from West Africa, while Algerian rai singer Cheb Khaled was adjudged best north African artiste, and French rap group Sexion d’Assaut took the award for the “African diaspora” in Europe.
Chris Brown, whom fans call “Breezy”, won the US equivalent.
“Mama” Patience Dabany, former first lady of Gabon and mother of current head of state Ali Bongo, was proclaimed “woman of the year.”
Past Kora ceremonies have been attended by South African anti-apartheid hero Nelson Mandela and the late “King of Pop” Michael Jackson.
For Ivory Coast, which is still recovering from four months of post-election violence that ended in April 2011 after claiming some 3,000 lives, the event signals a return to normalcy.
The Nigerian Chidinma, voted best singer in West Africa, was one of the few artists to have made the trip.
But there was also, still, DJ Arafat. ” This is a great event… all I can say is thank you , “stated the Ivorian, voted best African singer.
Mounira Mitchala a Chadian singer, voted best artist in Central Africa, said: “Today, I think I achieved something.
Inside, in the gala hall, several places around the tables were empty, perhaps because of the price of the tickets sold up to one million CFA francs, or 1500 euros.
At the end of the ceremony, the organizers apologized for hiccups.
” The Kora come a long way” , says Yves Zogbo, one of the hosts for the evening . I hope that the next edition will, through the one we just witnessed, reposition the event. Life is made of ups and downs, but we must learn. I am satisfied. ”
[news agency reports and Radio France International]
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