Wednesday 15 May 2013

Bola Ray explains 'Ghana Meets Naija





Bola Ray, the Chief Executive of Empire Entertainment, organisers of ‘Ghana Meets Naija’, the biggest ever musical concert in Ghana, slated for June 29 at the Accra International Conference Center, has put on record that the ultimate aim of the event is to use showbiz to further unite Ghanaians and Nigerians.

“It is all about unification and brotherliness within the spirit of having fun with our Nigerian brothers and sisters. We have lots in common and there is no better way to express that than through a concert. Yes, we do that through football matches, we do that through diplomatic and bilateral arrangements and cultural exchanges, but we believe that as entertainers, we can also do something to strengthen that unification. History says some Ghanaians actually migrated from Nigeria so it is also a homecoming thing,” he told NEWS-ONE in an interview.
Top artistes from both Ghana and Nigeria are expected to battle it out on one night on one stage and NEWS-ONE has gathered that the Nigerian team of musicians would be led by Wizkid, known in private life as Ayo Babalogun, the top Nigerian musician Chris Brown credited for being the originator of the Azonto dance.

Ghana, reports say, would be led by Sarkodie and Samini.
According to Bola Ray, his outfit would release the full list of performers from both countries at a media briefing on May 22.
What appears to be a ‘difficult to handle’ challenge is the absence of a big-enough venue to host the program.

The Conference Center seats a maximum of some 2000 persons while the programme is on record to have attracted some 8000 persons in previous editions.
Organizers are however compelled to squeeze into the Conference Center because the Dome, that has hitherto served as venue for the event, is currently under renovation.
“But that should not be much of a problem because the programme would still maintain the high quality of the event. That has been our hallmark and we won’t compromise on the quality; otherwise we could have easily shifted the venue to the stadium,” Bola Ray explained.

He also denied speculations that the ticket pricing would be doubled because revenue from ticket sales is expected to drop by some seventy five percent due to the smaller size of venue: “We are not quadrupling or doubling ticket prices as has been speculated. Just a slight upward review to meet current price hikes. Nothing to get scared about.”