Happy New Year to all entertainment or showbiz enthusiasts. I hope 2008 would witness many hit songs, many hit albums, more recognition for Ghanaian music and exciting entertainment.

Last December was agog with shows, live band performances and all but one or two shows cannot pass without scrutiny and commentary. Am talking about the Nana Quame – Ofori Amponsah challenge vis-à-vis, their respective shows last December.

Some people have stated that this media rhubarb between Nana Quame and Ofori Amponsah is trivial, silly and a waste of time. Yes, I concur but is it the media who told the Nana Quame to throw a challenge? And it definitely wasn’t me who told some media firms to publicize the so-called challenge. If the challenge was publicized, if the two artistes were publicized and if their respective shows were publicized thanks to this ‘challenge’, why should the outcome be hushed? Not me, I’ll comment on it, and if you deem it trivial, that’s your problem.

This Nana Quame/Ofori Amponsah saga always reminds me of the famous challenge between rap superstars 50 Cent and Kanye West. 50 Cent, based on the records of his previous album sales was overly confident and stated that if Kanye beat him to the first week of album sales, he would retire - and at the end of the day, Kanye pummeled 50Cent.

In similar fashion, Nana Quame came out strong and declared that if Ofori ever beat him to a live stage performance, he would never sing again. I could not blame Nana Quame for those audacious words and in fact when Channel R 205, Total Entertainment program sought my opinion on the Nana Quame challenge, I wasted no time in stating live on radio without fear or favor that Nana Quame would beat Ofori at any given day and time and I guess many others held the same opinion.

Based on the previous performances of the two, any true entertainment follower would have vouched a Nana Quame win without hesitation, but after the performances of these artistes on their much publicized shows, the outcome was clear, at least for those who had eyes to see and mouths to talk.

It would have been enthralling and good for easy judgment had the two performed on the same stage, but that notwithstanding, I still must declare the results. Reports from Ofori’s show were divergent, some said he wobbled, others said he did well and for someone like me who has been critical of Ofori, I can’t help but say that he was impressive on the night and many others left the ‘Ghana rocks’ concert happy.

Without a shudder of doubt, Nana Quame was supposed to be on top his game but at the end of Citi FM’s ‘December 2 remember’ concert, reports were unanimous that Nana Quame had flopped, awfully and miserably. His performance was so dreadful and dreary that he virtually pleaded with the audience to dance and sing along and it was by some intervention he was not booed and jeered off stage.

Personally, I can’t fathom why Nana Quame with such a silky voice, skillful with live bands could flop. After giving the debacle a serious thought, the only probable reason that might have accounted for Nana Quame’s disaster was complacency. The band was okay, the vocalists were okay, the sound was good and the microphones were at their best behavior, so Nana Quame had no excuse. By virtue of his splendid live performances, he might have grown complacent and that was his bane, his downfall and that made Ofori win.

The lesson to be learnt by all is that, no matter how good you are, never be complacent, and tackle every task with all the tenacity it deserves. Happy new year.