The world was taken by surprise with the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic which has claimed over 300,000 lives out of over 2 million infections globally.
To manage the health crisis, the world has been pushed to a new way of life including the 'stay at home measures and lockdown at the back of social distancing' advisory in pursuit to stop the spread.
This has seen dozens of activities halted and as a result, we have seen its repelling effect within the entertainment space.
Here are six remarkable things that took over Ghana's Showbiz because of Coronavirus.
1.Celebrity Charity
The period has seen humanitarian support from a lot of celebrities, who donated COVID-19 lockdown relief items to thousands of people across Ghana. Most of the items were foodstuff, face masks, sanitizers, detergents among others. Some have even gone to the extent of sharing money on social media to fans via MoMo.
2.TikTok Craze
With boredom setting in, celebrities have led the pack to try something different out of the norm to entertain themselves and their fans. Hence, the period will historically be remembered as when TikTok became a household name in Ghana.
3.Virtual Concerts
The Coronavirus outbreak and lockdown, has seen the realization of how social media platforms can be effectively used to stage any kind of concert which wouldn’t require the audience to be present at the venue.
With it, Shatta Wale made history when he staged his Faith Concert which saw him performing with a live band for the first time. In the same line, 3 Music Awards organizers also decided to hold this year's postponed show live online. The gov't also used a virtual concert to launch the COVID-19 app in Ghana.
4.Beef Season
Ghana within this period has seen more celebrity feuds on social media, termed as ‘beef’, than any other time in the country. Sarkodie and Shatta Wale had their take and at some point, it was Asem versus Sarkodie. Ball J also took on the ‘Highest’ rapper too. There was a Shatta Wale and Reggie Rockstone beef too.
Sister Deborah, Fella with Medikal served their part as well. Sista Afia’s controversial diss track that saw a reaction from Akuepem Poloo and Freda Rhymz can not be forgotten either just as Funny Face’s clash with Lil Win, Bismark The Joke and Kalybos. Equally popular among them all is Kennedy Agyapong's back and forth with Bishop Obinim.
The female rappers have now taken over after serving us with rap punchline after punchline.
5.Instagram Live Shows
The photo-sharing app also saw an increase in the number of active users thanks to its live session feature which saw twerking challenges, live interviews and celebs interacting with fans.
It is at the back of this that the Behind Tha Hitz challenge was staged, allowing fans to see some of the faces of the sound engineers behind some of the monster hit songs produced in Ghana.
6.Face Mask Fashion
The lockdown has the use of Face Masks being incorporated into daily fashion as it was made compulsory for people to wear to stop the spread. African print face masks, designers and branded ones became the order of the day and some celebrities made the best fashion statement out of them.
