By Zee:
Darlings, Zee, your gossip girl in the trenches was at the Metro Awards this weekend. If you thought the Metro FM Music Awards 2025 would be a night of glam, grace, and musical glory… you were gravely mistaken. What unfolded at Mbombela Stadium was less a crowning of champions and more a catastrophic couture crime scene – splashed with sound disasters, questionable wins, and fashion faux pas so tragic they might be outlawed by the AU.
If the theme was “Crowning Greatness”, someone handed the crown to a clown.
The Black Carpet bloodbath
The AFI MMA Black Carpet was billed as a showcase of African elegance, curated by House of Nala. What arrived, however, was a chaotic cosplay of confusion.
Cue: Nigerian-inspired outfits clumsily draped over South African celebs who clearly skimmed the cultural brief on their way to glam. And baby, Nigeria was not amused.
Social media caught fire. From Lagos to Abuja, critics dragged the offenders through the digital mud with terms like “cultural mockery,” “tone-deaf,” and “insult in sequins.”
Even veteran broadcaster and fashion critic Penny Lebyane came in swinging:
“The thing of wanting to look like #NigerianCelebrities on the red carpet is a sickness. Those outfits are costumes. The photos are disproportionate, the dresses are ill-fitting. You look uncomfortable. Slowly but surely it’s getting weirder for my girls. #EndTheTrend”
And she’s not wrong. You can’t cherry-pick aesthetics from a culture you routinely ignore. That’s not homage – that’s hypocrisy.
Mic check, one… None?
As if the fashion flops weren’t enough, the sound production was a full-blown disaster. Mics died mid-sentence, presenters were visibly disoriented, and cues were missed like unstudied lines in a school play.
The most heartbreaking moment? Dr Rebecca Malope receiving her Lifetime Achievement Award. A gospel giant, a national treasure – reduced to a teary, confusing mess by poor planning and worse tech. We cried with her… but not for the right reasons.
Who voted? Who knows?
Let’s talk about the elephant in the stadium: the awards themselves.
Artists who dominated charts in 2024 left empty-handed, while others who hadn’t trended since the lockdown era walked away with gold. Fans were stunned. Whispers of vote-rigging turned into all-out allegations.
Key winners included:
- Xolly Mncwango – Best Female Artist & Best Gospel Album
- Usimamane – Best Male Artist
- Emtee’s DIY 3 – Best Produced Album
- “Romeo & Juliet” by Naledi Aphiwe and Mawelele – Best African Pop Song
- “Too Much” by SKHANDAWORLD, K.O., and Nasty C – Best Hip Hop Song
- Neo Dube – Best New Artist (and the most controversial win of the night)
Yes, the voting was public (12045787# at R1.50 per minute), but transparency? M.I.A.
Final curtain call… Or just a flop?
Once the crown jewel of Mzansi’s entertainment calendar, the MMAs now resemble a parody of their former glory. Influencers have hijacked the media list. Music takes a backseat to hashtags. And worse? Real journalists are being pushed out for TikTok clout.
And then came the cherry on the cringe cake – Mpumalanga Premier Mandla Ndlovu stepping in to present the biggest award of the night. His visible unreadiness and awkward delivery completely ruined what should have been a shining moment. Somebody please teach that man to read. What are politicians doing at entertainment events in the first place? This is not a rally. It was the most embarrassing moment in the history of the awards – a reminder that when you mix politics with pop culture without purpose, nobody wins.
The moral of the mess
You can’t crown greatness in chaos. You can’t butcher tradition and call it fashion. And you definitely can’t silence the truth-not while Zee is watching. Until next time, Ma’am…
Stay savage. Stay styled. And never trust a mic that blinks red. –@NewsSA_Online
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