Tems and Elaine score BET Viewers’ Choice nominations

8 Jun 2021 - 16:04

Nigerian singer Tems and South Africa’s Elaine have secured nominations at this year’s BET Awards ahead of the main ceremony in Los Angeles on 27 June.

BET Awards nominees Tems and Elaine.

They were shortlisted in the BET Viewers’ Choice: Best New International Act category alongside Arlo Parks (UK), Bree Runway (UK), Bramsito (France), MC Dricka (Brazil) and Ronisia (France). The selected artists in the category arrive about a week after all the other nominees were announced.

Elaine and Tems took to social media to celebrate their nominations, with the latter saying she is “incredibly honoured” to have made the cut. The two musicians are enjoying a growing reputation as R&B powerhouses on the continent.

Tems, who is behind the 2020 EP For Broken Ears, has been associated with Afropop greats such as Wizkid and Davido. Last week, she was one of four fast-rising acts to perform at this year’s Reeperbahn Festival International Pan-Africa digital event.

Popular for offerings like ‘Risky’ and ‘Right Now’, Elaine’s meteoric rise saw her become the first independent female artist to reach No 1 on Apple Music’s Sub-Saharan African charts, as well as secure a deal with Columbia Records.

African musicians including Burna Boy, Wizkid, Diamond Platnumz and Aya Nakamura have scored nominations in the BET Best International Act category. Meanwhile, about 20 000 people have signed an online petition to have Diamond Platnumz disqualified from this year’s BET Awards for openly supporting the regime of the late Tanzanian president John Magufuli, who died in March.

The 2021 BET Awards will honour black entertainers in music, acting and sports. Last year, the event was held virtually due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

“We are back and excited to bring culture’s biggest night, the 2021 BET Awards, safely back to Los Angeles to celebrate this year’s incredible roster of nominees,” BET Networks executive vice-president and head of specials, music programming and music strategy Connie Orlando said. “We broke ground as one of the first official award shows to move forward during the global pandemic and we are ready to take our pioneer status to the next level with the return of an audience to celebrate the best and brightest creative minds in the entertainment industry.”

The awards ceremony will be broadcast on BET Africa (DStv channel 129) on 28 June at 2am CAT.