Musician Ammara Brown has told her fans not to worry about the fact that she did not win at the National Arts Merit Awards (NAMA) held over the weekend. She said that the awards were based on the opinions of anonymous judges and not on facts or popularity. In what was perhaps the biggest shock of the night, Ammara lost out to Janet Manyowa for the Best Female Musician Award. Speaking on Instagram, Ammara said:
Many of you feel I was “robbed” of awards, but let’s take a moment. The NAMAs are not based on facts, they are based on opinions. A panel of anonymous judges, observe your work and battle it out among themselves. My numbers don’t lie. Ammartia you are the biggest Zimbabwean fan base under any female by faaaarrr.
My debut album reached Number 2 on iTunes Charts in its first week. While Akiliz has climbed Trace Africa Charts, it hit half a million views in 6 weeks. Don’t get me started on all the tours I did and to top it off YOUR VOTES made it Song of The Year for 2017 on the Star FM Charts .. But! These are facts. The NAMAs aren’t based on facts, they’re based on opinions. I understand your frustrations but, they’ve reiterated continuously that it is not a popularity contest.