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.

Keep your tweets coming with the hashtag #VGMA23 and they may just get featured on @TwitterGhana 's Blue Zone stationed on the VGMA red carpet with @FlavaFlavswife #VGMA23

Watch this space! pic.twitter.com/718cUE73RE

— Ghana Music Awards (@GHMusicAwards) May 7, 2022

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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.

.@AccraGuy1 , check out @iamedem response when he read your tweet on the #BlueZone at the #VGMA23 @TwitterGhana https://t.co/g6ed0I2Y78 pic.twitter.com/HGrk6TNLud

— Ghana Music Awards (@GHMusicAwards) May 9, 2022

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

"…twitter got me close to some of the big names"
.@Akesse_Brempong having a chat with @FlavaFlavswife at @TwitterGhana 's Blue Zone at the #vgma23 pic.twitter.com/m9k6Z1YLXf

— Ghana Music Awards (@GHMusicAwards) May 8, 2022

A major conversation driver

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.

Take flight into the 1st ever #VGMA Twitter Spaces to connect you with @KiDiMusic, @s3fa_gh, @mrdrewofficial, @blacksherif_ and @gospelsoja as @OleleSalvador asks your burning questions! drop your questions and set your reminders ⤵️ https://t.co/2w2RNLQbps pic.twitter.com/tFhXBNuy1D

— Ghana Music Awards (@GHMusicAwards) May 6, 2022

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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.

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