Lifestyle and Fashion  awards live up to billing 

By Jeoffrey Mukubi
THE National Theatre of Namibia  (NTN) was a hive of  activity as Namibian entertainers,  lifestyle personalities, celebrities  and fashion enthusiasts all  congregated for the second annual  Simply You Magazine Lifestyle and  Fashion Awards, which were held  on Saturday 1 September 2018.  Many participants stuck to the  theme ‘Glam with a touch of Vintage’  coming out in an array of jaw  dropping dresses, suits and “old  school” accessories at the red carpet  event.  With every single nominee vying  to win, only 19 awards were  available. Seasoned actress and  multi award winning musician,  Lize Ehlers, scooped the Diamond  Award for her contribution in the  creative sector.  The ever charming Josy Nghipandua  was the MC for the evening  as radio personality Adriano Visagie  did not show up to co-host with  her.  The evening started off with  Namibian Annual Music Awards  (NAMAs) winner Michael Pulse  who made an entrance from below  the NTN stage to perform three of  his biggest hits.  The BlvckBoxx crew alongside  leading lady Top Cheri, gave an  electrifying performance, especially  after she covered a song by Lady  May titled ‘Chokola’, imitating her  in the process.  Another memorable performance  was by Hikwa star Sunny  Boy, who took the audience back  into time performing his hit track  Balance.  Afro-pop legend Killer-B gave a  killer performance at the end of the  night  Favourite Male Actor winner  Denzel “NSK” Naobeb had the  most dramatic acceptance speech  for the night as he avidly said that  South African corporate companies  are not doing the most to help  Namibian creatives.  “Multinationals are spending  millions and millions of dollars in  South Africa but are not doing the  same in Namibia. They’re making  money off me and you but are refusing  to invest in myself and the  rest of the artists in the country. I  want to tell Namibians to support  the businesses that plough back in  to us,” said NSK  Merja Ileka, who won Favourite  Photographer of the Year, took  to social media to thank everyone  who voted for her in her an industry  that is dominated by men.  “I knew that I would have to rely  mostly on the female voters who  celebrate the space I occupy, as well  as my work and I tell you, women  come through like an army, proving  once again that when women come  together as a collective, there is no  stopping us. The work I put out is  really a reflection of the people I  work with, be it models, fashion  designers, make-up artists, creative  directors, videographers and even  the average man and woman on the  street who inspires me,” she said.  The rest of the performances and  proceedings for the night went on  without a glitch.  Founder of the Simply You  Magazine, Helena Ngaifiwa, told  Confidente that the performances  were her highlights and that people  came out and stuck to the theme of  the night.  “With the small budget that we  had we managed to put together a  good show. We can only hope for  more sponsors to come on board  and deliver twice the event we had  this year,” Ngaifiwa said.