London played host to this year’s MOBO (Music Of Black Origin) Awards at 02 Arena where Nigerian’s hiphop megastar 2Face Idibia added to his collections the Best African Act 2007 last Thursday amidst cheering and joy all over. He emerged the winner beating 6-fellow African contestants

This is the second time running that an artist from the Western part of Africa have won the award. Last year Batman Samini of Ghana was the proud recipient of the converted trophy of MOBO in London. 2-Face the winner of MTV Awards 2005 was so excited about the awards that he dropped and smashed the plaque. In his acceptance speech he thanked all those who have made him what he is today.

“Oh! My God, Oh my God” he exclaimed and said “This should not happened to me, anyway somebody have to take it. Baby Cool, everybody thank you so much you people make music happened, Kennis Music, my mother, my father and everybody- thank you all”

The other six African contestants for this year’s award for the Best African Act were D’Banj from Nigeria, Nameless from Kenya and Wambali Mkandawire from Malawi. The rest are Babe Cool from Uganda and Kabelo from South Africa. 2 Face has been nominated twice for the award in 2005 and 2007, which he won.

The MOBO Awards Show for 2007 was a resounding triumphant; hitting the spot on so many levels you can think of despite the trivial reprehensible act of Amy Winehouse. Amy a bubbling R&B super star gave a bad account of herself when she dish out a lackluster performance during the awards night to the astonishment of patrons who have thronged the 02 Arena, where Shaggy and singer Jamelia were the smooth comperes, to witness the biggest show ever but were disappointed by her performance, even though she won the Best UK Female award.

According to reports she swayed precariously on stage, fidgeting with her dress and to the extent that she even forgot some of the lines in her own songs. The MOBO was established in 1996 by Kanya King and its held annually in the UK to recognize artistes of any race or nationality performing Black Music in all forms. This year’s show also saw the introduction of a new category called BeMOBO.

The BeMOBO Award commemorates the social aspect of the MOBO Awards, recognizing the work in the community executed by both individuals and companies. The maiden one was awarded to the Anti-Slavery International, an organization working to end slavery throughout the world.