History was made on 22 April 2006 when the SeneGambian community enjoyed another memorable evening of entertainment courtesy of Waka J Promotions. The first ever SeneGambian Awards was a full-house at the E.Q Night Club in Stratford. UKGambians.com are extremely pleased, indeed honoured, to publish a review of this event, skilfully organised by pioneering Waka Jagne.


Ousman Seck

This versatile promoter who enjoys leading the way and paving for new developments in the Gambian entertainment industry has delivered once more. With most events a great start is imperative to get the crowd going, we certainly got going from the word go, Ousman Seck, the younger brother of Thione Secka immediately connected with the audience with his hit singles.

“Old is Eldest”

The opening was great and certainly very enjoyable but what was to follow just prove the saying “old is eldest” is true. The elder brother, Thione Seck, the king of Mbalax delivered a majestic performance and the crowd never looked back when he took control of the stage. This legendary performer, who was awarded the “Life Time Achievement Award” by Waka J Promotions during the intervals still have it going on. One can argue Thione Seck’s target audience in his early career were more elderly SeneGambians, or so it seemed but in recent years he  extended his spell to new generations, while still holding on to his existing audience. The likes of my mother used to adore him and his music and he has extended his spell to us youths.

Awards 

Well, I think we were all expecting a bit more of the awards themselves maybe because of all the hype and excitement it generated as it was the first ever SeneGambian UK Awards. It was portrayed as the main event but it actually seemed like a sideshow. With most new inventions there are always rooms for improvements and I am certain Mr Jagne who always seeks for perfection will get it 100% right next time. The perception of the awards was that it was done in a hurry as if the organisers were afraid of boring the audience but gauging from the crowd, it was actually rather enjoyable. Having said that, overall, the whole event was a success. The crowd enjoyed every moment of it and we are already looking forward to the next awards.

 

UKGambians.com would like to congratulate Waka J Promotions on yet another successful event and wish him best of luck for the future.
Reviewed by: Saul frazer

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WAKA J – Awards interview

Now that you have had the time to review things, are you happy with the outcome of the event?

Yeah, the people turned up despite some rumours being spread about the band not coming and only few of them got visa to travel which was really low by the people spreading those rumours. Organising these shows are very hard and it’s really sad when people are trying to spoil it for you rather than supporting you.

But overall I was very pleased, the band played excellent music and at least we gave out all the awards to individuals and companies in recognition to their contributions towards the SeneGambian community. I got positive feedback from the audience expressing their satisfaction from the show which is very encouraging.

Is there anything that you would have done in another way?

Yes I think we were rushing the awards presentation thinking that it would take too long and it might bore some people who came to see Thione Secka perform. It’s always difficult when you join two things together but since it was the first awards ceremony we thought it was a good idea to join it with the Thione Secka show. I am certain next time the awards will be an event of its own with light entertainment so we can take our time and do it a properly for instance having a red carpet, different people presenting different awards, given people time to make acknowledgements etc…

What were you most proud of?

With all the doubts about the show not going through and the rumours about not having a full band, everyone who was present enjoyed a full live band. I was really proud of the audience for their support.

Who would you like to thank for assisting in making this show a success?

Lots of people really especially the people who joined this venture, Mustapha Jabang & Abou Sarr also the sponsors Bayba Express, Stuart Karatas Solicitors, Manor River Airlines and Robert Claire Freight Company. Ansu Manneh, all the DJs, Ebra, Mo Cham, and Pa Gorreh. MCs Nabou Faal & Jack Gomez, and all those who helped in selling the tickets, last but not least my wife and her family.

There were some disturbing events outside the club, some of our car windows got smashed, any words to the victims?

I am deeply sorry and expressing my sympathy to all those victims, Waka J Promotions condemns any type of vandalism but we will make complain to the club owner and recommend some kind of patrol at the car parks during events because at the end of the day we are paying a lot of money to hire their venues and from this fee they should be able to afford to pay for extra security for the cars.

Interviewed: Saul frazer