Musicians Beat Presenters

Reggae musicians beat Highlif/hipLife 2-0 AS if to say “enough of the monies you have collected in the name of Payola”, Ghanaian musicians last week beat radio presenters 4-2 in the first ever Payola Fun Games held at the El-Wak Stadium in Accra. Organised by a number of radio presenters led by Peace FM’s Fiifi Banson, the games sought to bring presenters and musicians closer and in the words of the organisers, “demystify the concept of Payola.”

The curtain raiser for the day was a match between reggae musicians and hiplife/highlife musicians which ended in a 2-0 victory for the “rastafarians.” It was not very easy to identify the reggae musicians from their highlife/hiplife counterparts, and it was obvious that commentator DJ Oxygen(roving presenter) was not of much help in that vain. He kept patrons laughing with his usual jokes instead of telling them who the players were.

Tug-of-war followed and the musicians/producers had no problem pulling down the presenters with the likes of heavyweight Jewel Ackah and MUSIGA boss Alhaji Sidiku Buari. Others in the line-up for the musicians/producers included Slim Busterr and Terry Bonchaka.The weaker presenters were made up of Abeiku “Santana” Aggrey (Adom FM), Michael Abbosey,(Channel R) Bola Ray, Dzifa Smith and Abena Aboagye all of Top Radio.

Spectators could not hold back their laughter when Abeiku Santana, on behalf of the presenters protested that Jewel Ackah be taken out as his weight alone is equivalent to five presenters.Other events were sac race and egg & spoon. Abeiku Santana came tops in the sac race while Bola Ray and Michael Abbosey came tops in the egg & spoon event. Abeiku again came third in the 100metre race which saw the CEO of Precise Music, Mr John Agbenu, comfortably taking the last position.

A minute silence was observed for musician Tommy Wiredu who allegedly committed suicide in Kumasi a couple of weeks ago.The final event for the day was soccer which saw the radio presenters and musicians/producers playing their hearts out to take the historic cup away. The line-up for the musicians included Terry Bonchaka, Prince Osei Kofi, Black Stone and a host of others. The radio presenters had the likes of Fiifi Banson(Captain), Abeku Ampiah and Jimmy Quist of Joy FM, Bola Ray, Abeiku Santana, DJ Lexis, Dr Duncan,(Adom FM) Adu Boahene(Channel R) and Patrice Amegashie(Radio Gold).

Drama unfolded when some of the presenters and spectators accused the musicians of having hired players because people could not identify the musicians on the field. Coach of the musicians Alhaji Sidiku Buari argued that musicians are not only those who are seen singing but they include composers, instrumentalists etc. People were obviously not convinced.The final score did not come as a surprise because the musicians were in better shape than the presenters most of whom did not even know their positions with a number of them not even kicking a ball once.

Fiifi Banson, Dr Duncan and Patrice Amegashie made a great impact on the presenters side while Blackstone could have carried the golden boots for the day for excelling on the side of the musicians.The Payola Fun Games was sponsored by Rox Energy Drink and supported by Agya Appiah Herbal Bitters.

Nice day it was regardless of the rains but attendance by the radio presenters was unimpressive with some stations not represented at all, considering that it was their day. A number of them who spoke to Graphic Sports said they knew nothing about the games while some of those who turned up said they got the news that same morning and decided to pass by to see what it was all about. Musicians who turned up included Slim Busterr, Okomfo Kwaadee, VIP and Abiola.