Free lessons for Sama's Randall Abrahams

The 2011 Channel O Music Video Awards this weekend outshone the SA Music Awards by miles, proving that the country's flagship music event has a lot to learn.

Local stars Zakes Bantwini, Lira, AKA and Theo Kgosinkwe glittered as they all picked up gongs, while HHP, Liquideep and Teargas collected an award for their collaboration on the video for Born For This.

Sama CEO Randall Abrahams was at the Sandton Convention Centre on Friday night, hopefully taking notes on how to buff up the tarnished image of the Samas ahead of April.

But just in case Abrahams wasn't paying attention, The Times has identified four lessons from the Channel O awards.

Security: Unlike the free-for-all at the poorly signposted Montecasino for the 17th Samas, at which VIPs and fans got into shoving matches after arriving at the wrong entrances, getting into the Sandton Convention Centre was a breeze. Ushers at every corner of the world-class venue directed guests.

Time: The annoyingly frequent PA announcements aside, it was impressive to see how smoothly and promptly guests were moved into the venue on Friday. For a show scheduled to begin at 9pm, the majority of the crowd was seated by 8.30pm. At the Samas guests clearly didn't understand what a live show entailed and gave organisers headaches with empty seats and others walking in late.

As late as 45 minutes into the show, many were still looking for their seats while ushers escorted guests to the wrong places.

Lip-synching and tele-prompters are not for everybody: Legendary lip-syncher Britney Spears has nothing on Zambian star C.R.I.S.I.S's performance on Friday. With the microphone so far from his mouth, it was clear to all that he was only going through the motions.

And although Uganda's Navio was jumping higher than a kangaroo while singing, the activity had no impact on his breathing. It was all bad acting.

Nigerian Tiwa Savage made it believable while seducing every male fan in the house along with her four dancers.

The autocue almost embarrassed co-host Dineo Moeketsi right at the beginning, as she struggled to determine whether the word in her script was "specifically" or "especially", and another of the presenters had the entire crowd in stitches when she stumbled twice, before exclaiming: "OMG. It's so small, I can't see!"

The front row is not for everyone: Nigerian rapper Naeto C should never be allowed to sit right in front of the stage again if all he does is yawn. It was surprising to see him awake as he accepted his Most Gifted African West Video for his song 10 Over 10. Oskido, the king of house and kwaito, showed up in slip-slops and shorts and a very Caribbean-looking shirt, which is not unusual for him, but does nothing to boost the glamour of an awards bash.