Hachalu Hundessa Award is an annual event marked to celebrate the monumental legacy of Hachalu Hundessa, an artist and activist who profoundly championed for human rights and rallied against state brutality through his music and electrifying stage performances until his assassination on the 29th of June 2020.
The award ceremony is organized by the Hachalu Hundessa Foundation and seeks to promote the “artistic works of prominent and young artists through the annual awards program, Hachalu Hundessa Award, that will recognize achievements in selected arts industry such as music, film/drama, painting, poetry, and so on.”
The event happened for the first time on the 29th June 2022, on the second anniversary of Hachalu’s passing and was graced by the who is who in the Oromo showbiz fraternity. This year’s edition went down on Thursday the 29th of June at the Sky Light Hotel. The event is marked on the last day of what has now come to be known as Hachalu Hundessa Week which runs from the 22nd to 29th of June every year. See the full video as it streamed on the foundation’s official Youtube channel below:
The foundation also conducts a young artists’ talent development program dubbed the Hachalu Hundessa Idol(HHI) that seeks to “give a platform for youth to discover their inner talents and contribute to the growth of the entertainment industry and resilient society empowered by artistic creativities.”
This year’s edition was hosted by Ebba T, a TV and radio show host. He also describes himself as an EU-accredited life coach, trainer and a professional events host. He had earlier posted a video on his Facebook page where he surprised his mum with a portrait of her photographed with the late artist. He described her as one of Hachalu’s ardent fan.
Top winners at the event
Keol Negessa: The ‘Jamaree’ hitmaker was the ultimate star of this year’s edition scooping two of the awards at the event. His song, Jamaree, which has been ruling the airwaves since the beginning of this year was nominated for three awards, two of which he won. He scooped the award for Best New Male Artist of the year and his song, Jamaree, also won in the category of Song of the year, a well-deserved recognition by many standards.
TG Kasahun: The new comer who has been flying high with her hit song titled ‘Walliiff Hubacha’ had a reason to smile as she brought home the award for the Best Female New Artist flooring other considerably big names including Sabrina Jemal who has had a good year herself.
She posted the photos of her at the red carpet event visibly happy as she posed for photos with the statute of what is now dubbed as the ‘Oromia Grammy’s’. See her post below:
Netsanet Sultan: Netsanet, who has been making such a buzz in the industry with her newest banger titled ‘Maaf Didda?’, scooped an award in the highly-coveted category of ‘Best Modern Song of the Year’.
Others who were nominated in the category are among others Immu Girma, Waaddaa Dirro. Faaxee Anniyya. Netsanet thanked her fans for voting for her and thanked the HHF for the honour, too. See her post on the event below:
Tulu Hirko: The celebrated dancer who has featured prominently in a number of music videos as the lead choreographer scooped the award for the ‘Best Choreographer of the Year’. He got the award for his role in
Hirko has also featured as vixen in Jamaree music video by Keol Negessa. The song which has sincce garnered over 5 millions views on Youtube in just about five months has also won two top awards at the same event.
Various Ethiopian celebrities graced the events’ red carpet with top names in the Oromo showbiz community turning heads with their elegant sense of fashion. Here are some superstars and top-ranking influencers who stunned in their sense of styles:
Meski Mange: She is big name in the Ethiopian blogosphere being a reputed entrepreneur and fundraiser. She owns and manages Meski Beauty and Bridal Parlour. She has also famously fundraised for various causes including the recent biting drought in Borena, Southern Ethiopia.
Being a top Hachalu Hundessa enthusiast, she couldn’t be left behind on such a day as this and she never fails to impress on the red carpet. Meski turned up at the event hand in hand with her boyfriend, Muller West and they were both dressed like royalty. See their appearance at the event:
Yosan Getahun: Getahun was the star attraction in last year’s award ceremony scooping two awards at the inaugural Hachalu Hundessa Award. He also got a few nominations at this year’s edition but we are still following up on whether he won any award at the award ceremony.
Regardless, the A-list Oromo superstar dressed for the event with a sense of fashion that befits his status. See for yourself his appearance at the event and judge for yourself on his sense of style:
Halima Abdulshakur: The maiden Miss Tourism Oromia never gets it wrong when it comes to turning heads on the red carpet. As usual at this event, she showed up and showed out with her unmistakable, yet spontaneous mix of contemporary and cultural-religious elements that has, since she became a public figure became the hallmark of her sense of style. See her majestic appearance at the event below:
Note: This story is still being updated as we keep getting new info from the event so kindly bear with us as we continue working round the clock to bring you our dear readers of how the prestigious event transpired.
