Just Curious Hosts Its Inaugural Awards Event In Johannesburg

On Saturday I had the pleasure of attending the inaugural JCAwards, which are the awards hosted by South African entertainment website, www.justcurious.co.za. The event was held at a swanky venue in the suburb of Hyde Park. While the event did not meet the glamorous expectations I had, the experience was refreshing and had a promise of something spectacular in future.

I do not usual review events but since I am still waiting for a list of the winners from the publicity team of the awards, I have decided to do this write up instead.

Celebrities have Bonang, soccerstars have Itumeleng Khune, journalists have Deborah Patta, politicians have Julius Malema, for us blogger none reigns above us all like the gorgeous Lelo Boyane. This woman leads the pack when it comes to online media presence in Mzansi and while white people may not want to give her her due, some of us know that without her nobody would have taken what we do seriously.

It has come as no surprise that Lelo would be the pioneer and be the one to launch awards by bloggers for the industry. For that we are all proud of her and offer our support.

I will say, I think some of the guests were tipped off about the venue and setup because a lot of them were dressed in shorts and vests, not exactly at all red carpet awards ceremony outfits. Since the event turned out to be held in a marquee in a beautiful garden, that arose my suspicion.

Our hosts for the afternoon were Akhumzi and Dineo. Needless to say, the whole event was the Dineo Ranaka show. The woman had us all in stitches the whole time. I love people who do not mind making fun of themselves as they do others. Dineo took jabs at everyone.


The Good

The venue was beautiful. The event was full of laughs, though when I arrived I was a big taken aback as I had expected something totally different.

I genuinely think the organisers did themselves a disservice by trying to sell these awards as some glamourous event because it was anything but. And that's a good thing. I loved the laid back setup given that this was a day-to-evening event.

Next time keep the casual theme. That is what seperate you from the rest.

I loved that the event was not about glorifying celebs. I have to admit I was a bit worried that we might end up there as it is not a secret that we bloggers can be groupies sometimes. I am happy to announced that, there was none of that. This event was about the fans.


The Bad

I have to be honest, at some point I felt a bit like I was at The Feathers afterparty or a picnic at one of my gay friends' houses. The family came out in full force!! It is not bad in a negative sense of the word, I regard it as a bad thing because it evoked that Feather Awards feeling. We want JCAwards to be unique, afterall.

So bad Yet So Irrelevant

It was hard not to notice that the event lacked some star power. A lot of celebrities did not show up. BUT for some reason that worked out even better because we tend to suck up a lot to celebs in this industry so in their absence people were able to laugh openly at the jokes about these celebs.

The gay brigade was able to just be themselves without having to be hanger-ons of their celebrity "friends". It was shocking to see that some people have personalities beyond hovering around "it' girls.

The Verdict

For the mere fact that someone, in this case Lelo, thought to take the power away from the industry clique and create a platform for true fans of the industry to honour and acknowledge stars they give a damn about, that deserves a nod.

I thoroughly had a great time. A bit less than my cameraman who literally did not want to leave. Beautiful people, great ambiance, chilled vibe, open bar and Dineo Ranaka off her medication. What more can a guy ask for?!

Congratulations to the team that put the event together. Do not try and change the format of this event. It works beautifully as an alternative to the mainstream awards events we have. Rather invest in enhancing the experience with better food, goodie bags and prizes for the winners.