Huisgenoot Tempo Awards: Recognising Afrikaans creativity

The Huisgenoot Tempo Awards are different to many of the other Awards bestowed on artists, musicians, writers and actors and actresses because it is the public/Huisgenoot readers who decide the best movie, book, song, etc - and not the judges.

Yvonne Beyers, Gauteng editor of Huisgenoot, explains that this is what makes the Tempo Awards such a special event. "These awards reward the artists who made our readers happy. Therefore they are representative of our market's taste."

There are 17 categories in total. The Awards are about celebrating creativity in Afrikaans and are a celebration of Afrikaans says Beyers. "The awards say 'Look at the wonderful talent we have'. This year we celebrated Sandra Prinsloo's cultural contribution to Afrikaans in the Contribution to Afrikaans award (Afrikaanse Erfenislater),

Previously the awards were only for musicians, but the scope has been broadened to include a spectrum of artists. All the nominees had to have created in Afrikaans in the last year.

Promoting Afrikaans

The event is packaged into an evening of entertainment, with 30 presenters from the entertainment industry presenting awards Oscars-style, a MC and plenty of entertainment. This year the MC was Katlego Moboe, the Expresso presenter and he entertained the crowd with, among others, his attempts to braai and dance.

On the entertainment side Chris Chameleon and Bittereinder performed as well as Karlien van Jaarsveld and Adam, and Arno Carstens and Dan Patlansky.

The artists regard for the awards is clear through their participation in the event as well as their appreciation when they receive an award. Most artists were therefore at the event to go on stage to collect an award if they won one. More than one artist thanked Huisgenoot and the Tempo Awards for what it does for Afrikaans.

"The artists are our partners. It is an opportunity for us to say thank you to the artists we follow," explains Beyers.

It is also about honouring the artists that enrich our readers' lives, says Beyers. "The artists who are here tonight are who our readers love to see on the cover and pages of Huisgenoot. They are interested in them and follow them. So tonight we say thank you to these artists because without them not only would the awards to be possible, but neither would the covers, the articles and the photos for our readers' enjoyment."

This year, as always was a full house, says Beyers. "The evening can be likened to the New York fashion week, with the industry and public dressing up, celebrating, and networking till late."