(Copied fully from Guyana Chronicle since they don't know how to archive properly)
Accolades Guyana Music Awards launched
By Shurland Thomas
GUYANA’s very own Music Awards, Accolades, was on Friday launched by the executive committee of Arrow Head Promotions, at the Zoom Inn International Hotel, Croal Street.
Executive Director of Accolades - Kwame Mc Coy (fifth from right) and other members of the team in a celebratory mood at Friday night's launch of the Guyana Music Awards.
The executive committee of Accolades Guyana, in recognition of the dedicated and hard work that Guyanese music artistes have put in throughout the years, and which in general has not been given the recognition that it truly deserves, feels that it should and must be rewarded.
To this end, Accolades, Guyana’s Music Awards, has been created to motivate music artistes, and to bring about an upsurge in the quantity and quality of Guyanese music, as musicians will now recognize they have the chance to receive a national award, and overcome the deterring absence of a strong enough copyright law.
Addressing the audience, Chairman of the nomination committee, Mr. Birchmore Simon, said that when he was first called to sit on the board of the nomination committee, he was a bit apprehensive since this would have been the tenth attempt at starting a national music awards in Guyana. He was nevertheless overcome by the impressive strategies and plans set forward by Arrow Head Promotions. He opined that the Accolades Music awards is here to be 'that catalyst' that will propel Guyanese music into the 21st century.
The period that will be focused on for this, the first year of the Accolades Music Awards, will be that of January 2004 to December 2006, since those were the formative years for musical entertainment in Guyana, with a major upsurge in the quality and volume of Guyanese music. The absence of a strong enough copyright law should not be used as an excuse to give good Guyanese music the rightful reward it deserves, Mr. Simon said.
Joining the Artistes at the launch were Minister of Tourism Manniran Prashad, Chairman of the Private Sector Commission Mr. Gerald Goveia, and corporate sponsors Caribbean Airlines; GT&T; DDL, CARIB Beer and Impressions.
Chairman of the Private Sector Commission, Mr. Gouveia commended the introduction of a local Music Awards, and pledged his support for the initiative. He expressed the view that it was long overdue in the music industry, adding that the introduction of copyright laws which would assure the protection of artistes' work is greatly needed if the music industry is to move progressively forward. He is now looking enthusiastically and optimistically towards Acccolades achieving what it set itself to.
Representing The Guyana Telephone and Telegraph Company (G T&T), which is a Platinum sponsor of the Accolades Music Awards, Marketing executive, Renata Exita commented that GT&T supports the Accolades Music Awards so as to ensure the development of the music industry in Guyana, and to provide that prestigious platform for artistes to market and highlight their music efforts.
And Executive Director of Accolades, Kwame Mc Coy, said the Guyana Awards promises to be a premiere event comparable to International Awards such as the Grammys and BET.
Said Mc Coy: “Exhibiting our local talent at another level is the continuation of the unleashing of vast potentials.”
Kwame Mckoy is fifth from right. 
Charmaine Balckman, Celeste David, Vanilla and Big Red.
Don't look too bad.
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