Gospel musician Celestine Donkor is full of praise for Joe Mettle for making history by being the first artiste from the genre to win Artiste of the Year at the Ghana Music Awards.
The singer applauded the musician for the feat and believes that his achievement will inspire others in the gospel music industry to also aspire to win the coveted award.
Joe Mettle in the wee hours of Sunday, April 9 beat E.L, Sarkodie, Stonebwoy, MzVee, and Medikal to claim the accolade as Ghana’s topmost artiste.
The ‘Onwanwani’ hit singer, therefore, holds the bragging rights as the best artiste in Ghana for a year.
Commenting on the win, the ‘Supernatural’ hit singer told Myjoyonline.com in an interview that, “Joe Mettle’s win is an answer to my personal prayer and I celebrate him.”
According to her, there were a few factors that made him achieve the feat.
She noted that, “the timing was just right for him. He stood tall among other contestants in that category. He and his team did a good job outsourcing for votes and he actually worked hard in the year.”
Celestine Donkor believes strongly that, “if gospel musicians emulate his strategy, future wins for us is possible. Kudos to Charterhouse for their fairness.”
While she is celebrating the win, the gospel musician noted that it is also a wake-up call on the corporate world recognise that gospel music is worth investing in.
She noted that, “in terms of sales and event organisation, we lead the market.”
The singer further reiterated that, “misconceptions that gospel music is ordinarily ministry must change, the time is long overdue. Gospel music must be considered as a big business opportunity to the corporate world.”
“In terms of mileage, gospel reaches a higher number of followers, the Christian nature of our society is a plus to gospel music and associated events and products. The population of gospel artistes is far greater than secular; we form 70% of MUSIGA membership,” she added.
Celestine Donkor is warming up for the 2017 edition of her annual gospel event, Celestial Praiz.
This year’s event comes off on May 1 at the Perez Dome, Dworwulu and it will feature performances of herself, Mkhululi Bhebhe of Joyous Celebration (South Africa), Steve Crown (Nigeria) and local acts, O.J, Ceccy Twum, Eugene Zuta among others.
Last year’s event had an overflow attendance of over 6000 people and the gospel musician is promising patrons a concert of a time at the 2017 Celestial Praiz.
