VGMA 2022: Ghana’s biggest music stars connect with fans at Twitter’s Blue Zone

This year’s Vodafone Ghana Music Awards (VGMA)
was a one-of-a-kind experience that brought fans and their musical idols closer than ever, in collaboration with leading social media network Twitter. Together, they
introduced Twitter Blue Zone, a bespoke red carpet experience that allowed fans to interact directly with the biggest names in music and entertainment, during the
landmark annual celebration of Ghanaian and African music.

The Blue Zone

From the red carpet and into the Twitter Blue Zone, the night was filled with fashion moments, amazing banter and conversations, which fans were able to experience through near real-time interactions with the stars, via Twitter. Fans also had front row access to the thrilling performances, the wins, disappointments and suspense of it all, through trending conversations on Twitter.

Ahead of the big night, Ghana Music Awards posted a Tweet inviting fans to send in questions for their favourite artists, who got to interact directly with the Tweets and questions as they sat in conversation with host and TV personality, Helen Appiah Ampofo. This generated a lot of reactions from people on Twitter.

Hiplife star Edem’s had a hilarious reaction as he read AccraGuy1’s Tweet in the Twitter Blue Zone.

Contemporary Gospel Musician Akesse Brempong also opened up about Twitter’s influence on his career.

Music continues to be a major conversation driver on Twitter in Ghana and across the continent, and the VGMAs were no different this year. According to
Twitter, there were 28,612 unique Tweets related to
the awards show, with 8,519 unique authors between
the 6th and 8th of May. It was also revealed that, the
most talked about artists on Twitter, during the awards weekend were KiDi, Black Sherif, Stonebwoy, Sarkodie and Kuami Eugene.

To make conversations even more accessible to
fans, Twitter launched a custom emoji which could
triggered by Tweeting #VGMA, #VGMA22, #VGMA23, #VGMA2022 or #VGMAONTV3.
The Hashmoji evidently drove a high-level of engagement among followers of the
show on Twitter, with the number 1 trending hashtag being #vgma23 with 18,522
Tweets.
With a specially curated and dedicated event page, Twitter further amplified VGMA content and real-time coverage to keep people on Twitter well informed about all the happenings and goings-on before, during and after the awards show. And the first
ever “#TapInWith VGMA Nominees” Twitter Spaces, hosted by entertainment
journalist Olele Salvador, was held on 6th May in conversation with music icons including KiDi, Sefa, Mr Drew, Black Sherif and Celestine Donkor, as seen in a Tweet from the Ghana Music Awards.

Commenting on the partnership, Bernard Sokpe, Senior Partner Manager at Twitter noted, “Twitter continues to grow as the digital market square during our most significant cultural dates, where all the most important and exciting conversations happen. Our partnership with the VGMAs, allows us to support and amplify these conversations with exclusive content, connecting fans directly to the biggest names in
music and entertainment today”.

Data compiled by Twitter also revealed Ghana Music Awards, TV3 Ghana, KiDi Music, Black Sherif and Stonebwoy as the top five mentioned handles during the awards weekend.