Nigerian Entertainment Today (NET) on Friday, December 15, 2023, announced the seventh edition of NET Honours, its prestigious annual audience-data-based awards. The winners of the coveted entertainment media honours will be announced this December, featuring some of Africa’s most celebrated personalities.
Organisers revealed that this year’s edition of the award promises to present awesome surprises at every corner. As with previous editions, nominations are entirely data-driven and are drawn by analysing audience search, engagement, and trends on ID Africa’s owned media channels; Netng, Neusroom, 234Star, and Orin.
African entertainment enthusiasts will once again be granted the power to publicly vote for the celebrities who have mostly impressed them with their activities and achievements within the last one year. This time, fans will have a say in 18 out of the 24 categories listed to honour celebrities, public figures, and events that have shaped Africa’s pop culture in the year under review.
Commenting on the impact of Net Honours on Nigeria’s entertainment industry, ID Africa’s Regional Manager for West Africa, Iretomiwa Akintunde-Johnson, states that as “The African entertainment landscape continues to witness astronomical growth, Nigeria remains at the forefront of its groundbreaking global achievements.”
She added: “African music, movies, and fashion are penetrating new grounds, breaking records, and our entertainers are charting new courses unprecedentedly. It’s important for us to play a role in chronicling this time in our history, this gives us the opportunity to continue to serve as a leading platform shaping the continent’s entertainment history and rewarding the incredible contributions of these personalities.”
Nominees for this year’s award will be revealed from Friday, December 15, 2023 with some of the industry’s biggest names and breakout stars earning multiple nominations.
The voting categories have been expanded this year to encompass more nominations with an exciting twist. Multi-award-winning artistes — Wizkid, Davido, and Burna Boy lead the pack of nominees with three nominations each in the Most Popular Music Artiste (Male), Most Searched Music Artiste (Male), and Most Popular Fandom (Music) categories. Ayra Starr, Tems, and Tiwa Savage secured two nominations each in the Most Popular Music Artiste (Female) and Most Searched Music Artiste (Female) categories.
Rema, who presently maintains an impressive grip of the global music space with his hit song ‘Calm Down’ featuring Selena Gomez, also earned a spot in the Most Popular Music Artiste. Asake, YBNL’s newest star who has had a stellar run in the industry over the past year, also joins the Mavin star, Wizkid, Davido, and Burna Boy in fighting for the popularity award.
Other notable nominees included in the voting categories are Tobi Bakre, Kunle Remi, Femi Adebayo, Daniel Etim Effiong, and Timini Egbuson in the Most Popular Actor category. Also earning nominations were Sabinus, Kiekie, and Layi Wasabi nominated for Most Popular Social Content Creator, and BBnaija’s Phyna, Mercy, and Beauty, nominated for Most Popular BBNaija stars.
In the non-voting categories, celebrity couple and Nigeria’s sweethearts Adekunle Gold and Simi maintained their spot in the Most Popular Couple category for the third season in a row since 2021. They were joined in the category by veteran Nollywood actors Olu Jacob and Joke Silva, among other couples that have gotten us loving up on marriage.
NET Honours, one of the world’s most prestigious verified audience data-based awards, debuted in 2013 as a special recognition award presented to deserving individuals in the African entertainment industry during the Nigerian Entertainment Conference (NECLive). In 2016, it evolved into the NET Honours People’s Choice Awards. Then in 2020, due to the pandemic, the awards went virtual, reaching over 10 million people worldwide.
Online voting for the 18 voting categories commences on Friday, December 15, on thenet.ng/voting and ends at 11:59 pm on Tuesday, December 19, 2023.
The winners will be unveiled at a virtual event on Friday, December 22, 2023, via Netng’s social media platforms and website.
