The sleeping giant that was Ramatex came to life on Saturday night, as the Namas 2012 honoured Namibia’s music talent in what is regarded as the biggest music event of the year.
The Rhino Garment Hall at Ramatex in Otjomuise was completely transformed on Saturday night into a venue fit for Namibia’s best and brightest musicians. The star-studded event could, this year be dubbed Lady’s Night, as the biggest winners of the night were women. The Namibian public voted for their favourite artists with MTC receiving more than 80 000 votes from fans across the country. ‘Party Tonight’ singer TeQuila walked away with four awards, including the top award of Best Female Artist of the Year. The golden-voiced singer also walked away with the Best Instrumental and Best House awards. Newcomer Linda provided the biggest surprise of the night, bagging three of the six awards for which she was nominated. The young star was the only female artist in the ‘Song of the Year’ category and took the award for her song ‘I Believe’, which was up against stiff competition from the likes of industry heavyweights The Dogg, Gazza and Exit. Other top winners included Kwaito artist EES, who walked off with two awards, The Dogg who won the award for Best Kwaito, and Mushe who was crowned Best Male Artist of the Year. The entertainment at the event included sets from a wide range of music genres, including a quirky performance by Lize Ehlers, as well as Castro, Gazza, Tate Buti and a surprise performance by PDK, who had earlier withdrawn from the competition. South African Kwaito star Mandoza came all the way from Mzanzi to join EES on stage, performing the hit ‘Ayoba’. List of WinnersBest Afrikaans Philip – ‘Alles Op Die Altaar’Best Damara PunchDixson – ‘/Namsaros’Best OviritjeOngoro Nomundu – ‘Ndjipo Ngoma Man!!’Best ShamboTyna – ‘Nand Otushekwa’Best CollaborationEES ‘Ayoba’ featuring MandozaBest GospelCaroline – ‘Libita’Best KwaitoThe Dogg – ‘Tromentos’Best R&BLinda – ‘I Believe’Best Rap/Hip HopCatty Cat – ‘Letter From My Heart’Best Soukous/KwasaWaka – ‘Mondabo’Best Rock/AlternativeFamaz Attack – ‘First Song’Best HouseTequila – ‘Party Tonight’Best ReggaeGerry Dread – ‘Tjava Nawa’Best KizombaAtushe – ‘Amor’Best Instrumental/JazzTequila – ‘Kaveshishi’Best AcapellaMighty Vocals – ‘Ena Ramuhona’Best Group/Duo Paradox – ‘Baby’Best NewcomerLinda – ‘I Believe’Best SingleLinda – ‘I Believe’Best Single/Non AlbumCyberspace – ‘That’s Why’Best TraditionalMaster Green – ‘!Gameb Kans’Best Music VideoEES – ‘Ayoba’ Featuring MandozaBest Male Artist of the Year Mushe – ‘Wumwe Otati Kalako’ Ft TequilaBest Female Artist of the YearTequila – ‘Party Tonight’ Song of the Year Linda – ‘I Believe’
