The MTN Ghana Music Awards train is on and moving through two major cities this coming weekend ahead of the main ceremony on April 9. There will be two important aspects of the GMA festival calendar namely the Nominees Jam in Accra and the Nominees Gospel Rock Show in Kumasi.

The first of the two comes off on Saturday March 26, at the Aphrodisiac Night Club in Accra 2011 where some of the Nominees of this year’s scheme will party all night long with patrons who are able to join them from about 10 PM.

Billed to perform at the Jam includes the enigmatic VIP, D-Black, Eazzy of wengeze fame Trigmatic, Ziggy as well as D’Cryme of Kill me shy and Get on the dance floor fame. It promises to be a night like no other as the Nominees get up close and personal with their fans one more time before the finals of the event.

This will be followed on Sunday March 27th, 2011 by a Gospel Rock Show like never before seen in the Garden City of Kumasi. All will agree that Kumasi has over the years become recognized as the gospel hotspot in Ghana that nurtures the growth of most of the country’s top Gospel Artistes.

What better venue for a gospel rock show, the kind organizers plan in celebration of the MTN GMA’s, than at the Kumasi Cultural Center main auditorium “Apatakesie”.

This show features some of the very best Gospel artistes in Ghana as represented in the Nominations list for this year. It includes No Tribe, Ernest Opoku, Cecilia Marfo, Florence Obinim and Princess Ifeoma as well as Herty Borngreat, Cecey Twum and Kwaku Gyasi among others.

The concert, scheduled to start at 4PM on the dot, promises to be a powerhouse filled with Holy Spirit fun. Patrons are encouraged to bring along a white handkerchief in order not to be left out of the praises and worship session.

These activities, as well as the Nominees Jam which took place in Takoradi two weeks ago, are intended to robe in various locations across the country into the Festival celebrations and thus bring excitement onto the music scene in general.

The voting process for the scheme also run along these events as the Selection Committee is expected to vote in Kumasi this weekend as well. Industry professionals from the Northern, Ashanti and Brong Ahafo Regions will converge at True Vine Hotel on Sunday at 1 PM to vote for both the Industry and Public Categories.

The text line for voting for the general public still remains the MTN short code 1767. The voting process is simple enough, all one needs to do is send the alphabet representing the category that one wants to the short code. A reply text will follow with the list of that category and the patron can chose their nominee and send to the short code again.

Meanwhile the general public is encouraged to vote for their favorite in the Public Categories to win awards by sending the alphabet (eg. A for Artistes of the Year, B for Most Popular Song of the Year, C for Discovery of the Year, D Hiphop Song of the year, E Hiplife song of the year, F Highlife song of the year, G Gospel Song of the year, H Gospel Artist of the year, I Highlife Song of the Year, J Best Collaboration of the Year, K Best Rapper of the Year) representing the category to the MTN Short code 1767.