 “I’m honoured, I must confess. I’m excited as well. I want to say a very big thank you to God Almighty for making this [winning Best Actress nod at AMVCA] possible because my category was a top category.
I want to thank my fans who took time off their busy schedule to vote for me. Their votes didn’t go to waste and I give God all the glory for that and I’m grateful”.
The above words came out from the excited Jackie Appiah to GhanaCelebrities.Com shortly after her announcement as the Best Actress on the African Continent at the inaugural AfricaMagic Viewers’ Choice Awards (AMVCA) which took place at the Eko Hotel in Lagos, Nigeria last Saturday.
The popular Ghanaian actress made history as she became the first Ghanaian actress to win one of the biggest awards on the night, therefore engraving her name in the history books of African Cinema and the awards.
She saw off challenge from the hot favourites; Nollywood’s Genevieve Nnaji and Funke Akindele as well as Bubu Mazibuko and Nolwazi Shange with her exceptional performance in ‘The Perfect Picture’, a Shirley Frimpong-Manso movie.
The Ghanaian’s triumph came as a surprise to many. A disappointed Uti Nkwachukwu who was rooting for his compatriot, Genevieve Nnaji couldn’t help himself when the Ghanaian was mentioned as the winner. Prior to the announcement, he shouted Genevieve’s name but the shocker came when Jackie Appiah was announced at the winner.
The Nigerian actor, TV presenter, model, MC and winner of Big Brother Africa All Star who was seated close to this reporter shouted “What the f**k” to show his displeasure. But just when the Ghanaian actress climbed the podium to collect her award, Uti showed remorse by saying that, all the nominees in the category deserves to win.
Jackie Appiah, co-won the 6th African Movie Academy Awards (AMAAs) Best Actress in 2010 with the same movie with the director of the movie picking the Best Director nod.
Having been named as the best actress on the continent from votes from committed fans all over Africa comes with a full responsibility. Pressure will now be mounted on the actress in terms of movie roles. How will the actress relate to the looming pressures from fans?. Is she just going to accept any movie roles?
“No! This shows that I must be on my toes. [Snapping her fingers in the process] Everything I do must be on point. I must try harder. It’s not going to be only me. It will make my other colleagues to be on their feet and work harder too”.
The Best Actress was one of the keenly contested categories which were fully voted for by the Viewers. Commenting on it, she said in terms of the numbers, she didn’t think she was going to win because when it comes to voting, Nigeria has the numbers and with two Nigerian actresses in the country, her fears was heightened.
She said, she won the award as an African and not as a Ghanaian contesting Nigerian or other actresses. “I left everything in the hands of God. Nigeria is very big. They are so many people but then I believed they are my fans and they will vote for me. We are all Africans. Even to be a nominee is a blessing. I didn’t know I will win. I wasn’t too sure because it was a top competition. So I can’t boldly say that, I knew I was going to win. No!”
The actress dedicates the awards “to God Almighty, to everyone who took time off their busy schedule to vote for me. I thank everybody who saw it necessary to vote for me. To anyone who went to the website to use their credit to vote for me. To Samira Yabuku, Roger Quartey, Majid Michel, Nadia Buari all of them and everybody who cheered me on and are excited that I got the award for Ghana and the continent. God bless them and I dedicate this award to them”.
“Most importantly not forgetting Shirley Frimpong Manso for giving me the opportunity to take part in this movie. I’m grateful to her and Ken [Attoh]. I’m so happy that I take part in this movie. It has brought us lots of awards. It has taken us far. I thank her for giving me the opportunity to be part of the movie, The Perfect Picture. Thank you Shirley Frimpong Manso, I respect you and salute you”. |
