The Red Carpet was supposed to start at 5PM and the awards at 7PM. We reckoned that since we did not plan to walk the red carpet (would we even be allowed to?) we would get there in time to be seated before the awards began. As my cousin and I bade farewell to my parents, my Dad yelled "Walk the red carpet o!" Daddy really?
We picked up a friend and headed to the venue. It was about 6:10PM when we got there. Another cousin joined us there. That was the Cookie Crew! My plan was to find a few natural haired women, interview them and go inside for the show. When we got there, the other half of the red carpet was just being rolled out! Literally! Then a guy announced "The Red Carpet is officially open!" And so it dawned on us that it was going to be a long night! The Red Carpet must have lasted three and a half hours because the award show did not start until about 9:30PM. WTH! *Yeah, that's what I thought!*
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| Left of the picture: The red carpet is being rolled out. Osarieme (my cousin) does not seem impressed |
I turned on my Napp radar and went to work. My Osarieme and Irene (my friend) went star hunting. Ebele (other cousin) and Nosa (my Bro) hung out looking cool. The Celebrities we saw were really gracious I must say. They took time to shake hands when we stretched them out. They posed for pictures with us and they also said "thank you" when we were done. I was / am really impressed. All this while we were outside the venue. The bottom of the red carpet was really crowded and you could not tell the celebrities from the journalists and the fans.
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| Who is the Celebrity and who is the Fan? Everyone is on the red carpet! |
We finally got into the venue after passing 4, count them, F-O-U-R security points. The fourth and final one was at the door to the hall. That part was kind of funny. Only one door was left open creating a bottle neck. I guess when people saw this they thought that seats were full in the hall and so folks started pushing to get through. And some celebrities started sneaking in people without tickets! Ha! Ha! Comedy o! One lady announced before going in "I beg I be married woman o make nobody press my body!" With that, people gave her some space, she went in and they started pushing in again. We got in and saw the hall was not near full. SMH.
The stage was nicely done. The hall was nicely decorated. The sound quality was good. Food and drinks were available for purchase which was a good idea. You sure do not want a hall full of hungry (and angry) people! We did not stay till the end of the show because some of us had work on Monday. We saw Yinka Davis perform: she is superb I tell you! We also saw some awards presented and we left there just after 11PM. They really need to work on better time management and that is all I will say on that matter.
For the most part, it was not bad. I hope the organizers are people who aim for excellence. If they are, then next year will be better. If not then ... Next few posts will feature some of the natural haired ladies I interviewed. Enjoy the pictures.
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| L-R: Irene (my friend), Eku Edewor of Studio 53, Osarieme (my cousin) |
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| L-R: Cousin Ebele, Irene and Osarieme (The Cookie Crew. Don't ask) |
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| My Bro (Nosa) and I |
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| Segun Arinze being interviewed and I think he was "The Voice" for the awards |
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| Ireti Osayemi-Bakare |
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| Gbenro Ajibade who plays Soji on the show Tinsel |
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| L-R: Osarieme, Tee Mac and Irene |
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| Osarieme and Tomi Odunsi who plays Shalewa on the show Tinsel |
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| Abiola Atanda also known as Madam Kofo and her signature Gele (headpiece) |
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| Chinedu Ikedieze (aka Aki) |
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| Uche Jombo |
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| Lydia Forson. Our napp radars went off at the same time and she gave me the peace sign. I fainted then woke up to take this picture. She is so cool! |
Keep it natural!
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