May 4, 2010 – I saw it coming on New Year’s Eve! While bars and restaurants struggled to entertain the few revellers present, the line for a gospel gig at the KICC was weaving around Kencom – Gospel is taking over!

You might say it’s because of all the problems in the world, but after attending the 5th annual Groove Awards this weekend, I must say the quality of music and singing was exemplary.

The stage was black and red for most of the time – all in the name of Daddy Owen.

His red shirt, black pants and red rimmed sunglasses were called up to the stage so many times, that it became clear what a driving force he is in the Gospel Industry.

Male artist of the year, song of the year, album of the year, video of the year…you name it!

Those who interacted with him had nothing but respect. It was a bit tiring but I guess it meant something.

I was quite impressed by the awards on Saturday. I sat somewhere on the extreme right side but could see everything that was going on and hear it nice and clear too.

So when Emmy Kosgey’s strong voice came wafting over, I was visibly moved. In fact, apart from the usual hellos I did not talk to a single person during the awards – they fixated me that much.

I was trying to take in everything, from the organised doorways, to the sold out tickets at the entrance, and the unobtrusive bouncers, and was wondering what the difference was.

I’m sure the lack of alcohol was a MAJOR factor. Then that was the most responsive crowd I have ever seen. I guess they kept their cool because most of the songs they were cheering when the nominations were read out, were the songs that eventually got to win.

It was a gospel star studded event. The artists were dressed to impress and you could tell that they felt good and proud to be there.

The ‘grandfather’ of DJs (the MC said it not me) was there, i.e. Dj Moz with his wifey. DJ CK presented the award for ‘DJ of the Year’ while wearing a copy of Makmende’s tie! Cheeky! Kevin Mulei and David Kuria of Mo Sound were BUSY walking all over the place.

And I was reluctant to leave until the end of the event, which had become a full blown concert at the time. Almost perfect – the MCs Amani Maranga and Kanjii Mbugua were impeccably dressed but needed to practice their jokes a bit more… The crowd loved them though and I guess that’s what matters right?

Other than the MAMAs and the recent Tusker Project Fame, it had to be the best event in the calendar, spanning back several months. It was packed to capacity and the artists didn’t look like they were fronting – Gospel music is more popular than you think!