Amstel Lager celebrated its first year as the official beer sponsor of the MTN SAMAS in style – sponsoring this year’s Lifetime Achievement award, hosting the best in South African music at the official MTN SAMA VIP Winner’s After Party and delivering exclusive moments to the fans through multiple digital live streams on the night. The event lived up to all its hype and Sun City was buzzing with all the glamour and style you’d expect from South Africa’s premier musical showpiece, as the best of SA music were celebrated. Amstel was proud to be associated with the event and contributed to making the night even more enjoyable and memorable.
Diederik Vos, Marketing Manager Amstel South Africa had this to say, “Amstel is an avid supporter of SA music, and we are very happy and proud of our first year as the Official Beer Sponsor of the MTN SAMA’s. Working with the SAMA team to make the event a success was a phenomenal experience, and we would like to extend our congratulations to all of this year’s MTN SAMA winners.” This year’s Lifetime Achievement Awards was sponsored by Amstel and presented by former winners Vusi Mahlasela and Ray Phiri. This year the award went to Dr. Thomas Chauke, to Sizwe Zako and to the late Johannes Kerkorrel. The award presentation was the highlight of the Friday evening. The tribute to Johannes Kerkorrel by Elvis Blue supported by the Mzansi Youth Choir, literally moved the audience to tears with their heartfelt and riveting performance of Kerkorrel’s hit “Hillbrow”. This was followed by breathtaking live performances from winners Sizwe Zako and Dr. Thomas Chauke that had the audience out of their seats.
On the main awards night, Amstel ensured that music fans across South Africa were able to share in exclusive moments from backstage and from the MTN SAMA VIP Winner’s After Party via a host of live web-streams on the Amstel and MTN SAMA digital platforms, www.facebook.com/AmstelLager or www.amstelmusic.mobi .
The live streams started backstage during the awards from the Amstel Green Room. Here South Africa’s hottest artists such as Best Female artist Kelly Khumalo, Best Rock winners Zebra & Giraffe and three-time SAMA winner Toya De Lazy amongst others gave their first interviews as MTN SAMA winners. Additional appearances in the Amstel Green Room included Donald, Professor, Chiano Sky and Amstel Lifetime Achievement winner Sizwe Zako. The Amstel Green Room live stream was viewed by over 24,000 people online and in a first for the MTN SAMA it was also broadcasted live on SABC 1 enabling millions more South Africans to experience these intimate moments with the newly crowned MTN SAMA 19 winners.
And what’s the MTN SAMAs without an after party? This year Amstel also hosted the official MTN SAMA VIP Winner’s After Party. Sets from some of SA’s hottest DJ’s, including Dino Bravo and Pascal & Pearce provided the MTN SAMA 19 winners with a memorable time and the perfect way to celebrate their wins. To ensure that the fans missed nothing, the live stream continued throughout the night as winners were interviewed by a panel hosted by well-known media celebrities including top blogger & fashionista, Mika Stefano as well as model and Channel O presenter Weza Solange.
Amstel will continue its support of the best in SA music through a host of quality events through 2013 and into 2014 allowing more and more fans to take their time and enjoy SA music with us.