Zed's Top 10 Facebook Groups of 2011

                Well if you are on Facebook then you must have come across something called groups. There are almost like online clubs for people with the same interests. However, the truth of the matter is not every group is worth joining, some groups are senseless and not worth your precious time, then there are those groups that are just plain stupid. Nonetheless in the midst of this chuff of groups which are in their thousands there are a few gems out there and this is my top 10 Zed Facebook Groups of 2011.

10. Last Minute Gifts – This is a brilliant group which befits its name, Last Minute Gifts. It is for those people who realise at the last minute that is was someone’s birthday, graduation or their anniversary. There is no time to go into town to shop for a present, therefore this group provides you the opportunity to look through their gifts and order one. It is mainly watches and jewelry which are reasonably priced.

9. Election Updates-  2011 was the year of the elections and this was one of the most exciting groups during the period. It had it all updates, conspiracy theories of rigging and false rumours wrapped up. It seemed like every person on this group had turned into a reporter dishing out the latest information on the election whether verified or not we did not care. If it was interesting it was posted. However, this group seems to be dead after the elections and is most likely to surface again in 2016 and I will be waiting.

8. iZambia- iZambia launched early 2011 and immediately it was able to carve a niche for itself as a platform for different types of information from current affairs, job opening and entertainment. It is always up to date and the summary of the news is not too overwhelming and the link to their site is easy access. This site is helpful if you want to know what is in the papers and did not have the opportunity to look at one.

7. BitterSweet Poetry Zambia- Zambia is a country with a lot of talent that is waiting to be exposed. This group provides a platform for some of the talented poets in the country to share their gift with the rest of us. The poetry on this group is imaginative, brilliant and incredibly toxic. It is one group that you keep going to in order to delve into the minds of the imaginative treasures this country has.

6. Job Market and Opportunities in Zambia- This is a group for the job seeker. This group takes job adverts from the daily papers and pastes them on their wall. Therefore, this group is a great resource group for people who are looking for employment.

5.  Q FM- This is more of a page rather than a group but it still serves the same purpose. QFM have done a tremendous job in keeping this group very interactive with its listeners. It allows you to interact with the DJs, request for songs, vote for songs and they also update the group with the latest current affairs.

4. EZM Magazine- There have been a number of Zambian entertainment oriented groups. However, some of the stories on the groups are rather questionable. This is where EM Magazine group is different. They do their fair share of research and most of the dish on the celebrities appears to be accurate and not something someone dreamed up.

3. Growing Up in Zambia- Now this group takes you down memory lane. People born in the 70s and 80s will definitely relate to this group. This group brings the nostalgia of childhood in Zambia before the playstation age. People share their experiences growing up in the neighbourhoods where imagination was the source of entertainment.

2. Zambian Watchdog- This current affairs/news group is a breath of fresh air. With the rest of the media publications singing praises of the current governments the watchdog has been providing checks and balances. It provides a critical look at the current affairs of the country that are deliberately ignored in the media.

1. Let’s Talk Ama Sampo- This is definitely the breakout group of the year. It can be considered as Zambia’s version of eBay. This group is more like an online market place, where deals are made, items sold and bought. It has become a platform where people can sell their products and services. It also enables people to find items at bargain prices. Without doubt Let’s Talk Ama Sampo is deserving of the number 1 spot.

Born & Bred Awards 2011 Sucked, Sucked and Sucked!

The 2011 Born and Bred Awards definitely lived up to the hype. Almost everyone was tuning in to see if last years mediocrity of falling wigs and JK’s love affair with R-Kelly could be exceeded. Oh exceed our expectations they did. The Born and Bred awards which are supposed to be Zambia’s flagship awards for music videos was highly anticipated indeed. One would have thought that the organisers would have learnt from last year’s failure and put up a half decent enough show worthy of the airwaves.

The moment the so-called celebrities stepped onto the red carpet I could sense that this was going to be one night to remember for all the wrong reasons. There were celebrities with their entourages talking to the hosts in some slang that did not come out well and the boring hosts who kept asking the same questions.

In typical Zambian style the show began late, we the viewers were left watching the auditorium as the organisers attempted to get the sound system working. When the show finally did get underway we were bombarded with miming performers one after the other with their uncoordinated choreography and dancers. Then during Ozzy’s performance the CD was skipping as he tried to muscle his way through his performance.

Then there was Afunika and his dancing queens who must have borrowed some dance moves from a strip joint or something. They were gyrating on the poles with all manner of obscene dancing that was definitely inappropriate for the family oriented ZNBC TV programming. The shock on some of the elderly people in the audience could clearly be seen as they could not believe what was being flashed before their faces. Our artists then do not even have the decency of coming up with something original. Then some chick whatever her name is comes onto the stage and does a lousy attempt at a dance routine in Beyonce’s ‘Run This World’. It was so pathetic that I think if Beyonce could have seen it done that way she would have shed a tear.

Then somewhere in between some of the audience became unruly it took Innocent Kalaluka the mastermind behind the Born and Bred Awards to come and threaten the crowd by claiming he would cancel the show. The crowd only booed at him. As this was not enough drama for one night the sound system went dead and it took them a good 20 minutes to get the sound back.

It was approaching midnight and still not a single award was given out. We were still being tortured by miming artists who even failed to put a good enough show. When they finally did get to the purpose of the night, the presenters of awards were another dose of boredom. Instead of doing what they were on stage to do they were trying to give the audience a Hip Hop lesson. The audience was definitely not impressed and booed at them. Then the presenters struggled to open the envelope with the name of the winner in it. The winners came with a lot of people on stage that had no business being up there.

In the end I had enough of this mediocrity and decided not to waste any more of my time that I would never get back by watching the Born and Bred Awards. I would definitely suggest to the organisers to take sometime and watch award shows like the Grammys, American Music Awards or even Channel O awards and see how professional they are. The concert/comedy show that we were being shown only demeans the hard work that the artists put into their music videos and makes winning the award itself a joke. By and large, the 2011 Born and Bred Awards did live up to our expectations. They sucked.