Eko Music Festival finally arrives

... Begins with beauty pageant photo shoot

... Endorsed by JJC, Waconzy

... Celebrity Walk Against Malaria, others, to come

The Eko Music Festival was planned to be one of the biggest entertainment events in the country this year. Initially announced as holding in April, it was however postponed, and its chief promoter, Ayo George, of Gennie Leisure Inc., has disclosed that it is not holding this year after all.

But as is the norm with people in the entertainment world, George is so full of self-belief in his vision that he explains sleekly that EMF’s postponement, basically as a result of technical hitches, to its new date of May 31^st, 2014, is in fact a good omen.

“EMF will hold on a much grander scale on May 31^st next year. We had plans for it to hold this year in a big way in April, but while we were trying to perfect all the arrangements, lots of people were coming to us with various suggestions beyond the scope of our intentions so we realised we had to postpone it to accommodate as many of those suggestions as possible,” he said.

“Though we also had to postpone it due to sponsorship and other technical hitches, the underlying reason we postponed it is because it dawned on us that what we had to do was much bigger than what we had planned so we would be shooting ourselves in the foot if we didn’t go back to the drawing board,” he added.

Even though EMF holds next year, it actually begins today with the Face of Eko Picture Competition at Club Ntyce, Victoria Island, Lagos. The picture competition is the first step in the process to choose the lady who will be crowned the festival queen at EMF.

Face of Eko is not EMF’s only feature. Based on inputs from several quarters, there have been many more features and attractions added to EMF, and many of its initial features have also been modified, but George insists that one feature which remains unchanged is that musicians who perform at EMF will do so only with live bands backing them.

“EMF is not just for people to catch fun at with the performances of their favourite artists. EMF also seeks the development of the music industry through encouraging artists to perform properly so there will only be live band performances at EMF. People keep complaining that our artists mime to their CDs, but EMF won’t allow that,” he declared.

Some of the features which have been added to EMF include the Celebrity Walk Against Malaria, celebrity autograph signing sessions at all Lagos Shoprite stores, EMF Gang and celebrity sanitation and tree planting exercise, EMF Gang and celebrity club tour, and celebrity football match.

Despite the fact that the first edition is yet to hold, EMF’s organisers, Gennie Leisure Inc. and In-House Entertainment, already have plans to be holding it all over Africa.

“After the first edition holds next year in Lagos, Nigeria, it will move to Ghana in 2015, and our plan is that it will be holding in different African countries. The rich cultural heritage of Lagos State and Nigeria deserve to be exported, and EMF is our own way of selling Nigeria’s music, lifestyle and cultures, and especially those of Lagos, to the world,” George disclosed.

Regarding the artists who will perform at EMF, he said, “We will be unveiling our artist lineup very soon. We have some time between now and when the festival will hold so we have enough time to still make them known to the world. I can only say at this point that only the best artists will grace the EMF stage.”

JJC, the renowned artist, music producer and film director is certain to be one of EMF’s performing artists. He was present at the press conference to announce EMF’s new date, and he spoke glowingly of it.

“I’m in total support of EMF because I’ve lived in England most of my life, and over there, it’s like one festival or the other taking place every two months. And I always say, united we stand, divided we fall, so when someone is doing something, we must support ourselves every way we can for the betterment of the country. I’m an artist and a director so I’m going to be offering myself in those capacities to EMF and I’m sure it’s going to be a great festival so I’m really looking forward to it,” he said.

JJC wasn’t the only star music artist at the conference. Amosu singer, Waconzy, who was in the news recently for making negative comments about his colleagues, Davido, Timaya and Olamide, was also there and he also said he was in full support of EMF.

“It’s a very good initiative and I have no choice than to support it. EMF is further proof that the Nigerian music industry is growing by the day and I know it will definitely project us to the world so it’s a welcome development and I can’t wait for it to hold,” he said.

Another important music industry personality who is also supporting EMF is Sijuade Adedokun, president of the Association of Music Artists Managers of Nigeria. “Things like this encourage young people so I’m behind it all the way,” he said.