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The second round
After hosting the first ever mega awards ceremony in February 2002 to honour the movers and shakers in the world of fashion and entertainment, a multinational is back into action launching its second Lux Style Awards.
Scheduled for March 22, 2003, the ceremony promises to be as big an event, if not a better organized one, as its predecessor. In a press conference recently held at a five-star hotel, the organizers presented montages of the previous awards ceremony before briefing the audience about the awards categories in the forthcoming programme. From the 24 awards that were presented early this year, the number has been reduced to 20, broadly falling under the sections of Entertainment, Music, Fashion and General.
Considering that the organizers had received considerable flak from the media regarding the legitimacy of their judges and need for transparency in the judging process in their maiden venture, it is to be appreciated that more serious thought — for whatever it’s worth — has been given to the procedure this time round. Hence, with the changes brought in, eight of the awards are to be based on viewers’ choice as opposed to the five in the first ceremony. These will include the Most Stylish Sportsperson — whatever that means — Best Music Act, Best Film, Best TV Play, and best performances by male and female actors in leading roles in film and TV.
While the methodology for judging the two most prestigious awards — Lux Woman of Substance and Lifetime Achievement Honorary Award — was not revealed, the remaining ten awards are to be judged initially by a Board of Governors comprising 15 imminent personalities who will narrow down entries to the best five in each award category and the final selection of winners will then be made by a panel of 60 members. The Board of Governors will select these members, each governor bringing in four judges of his or her choice. These awards centre on fashion designers and models and include a couple of general awards, Best Music (video) Director award, Achievement in hair and make-up and Achievement in fashion photography awards.
Understandably, what triggered the greatest debate in the question and answer session following the briefing was both the choice of judges and the non-representation of certain award categories in a ceremony meant to acknowledge the contribution of all talented people in the world of glamour and style. Among the concerns expressed was the ability — or lack thereof — of the Board of Governors to pass judgment on fashion, considering that the majority had no direct link to it. The fact that some of the 60 judges could well be nominees also, did not sit very well with the journalist fraternity either.
With regard to the awards, there was a general feeling that some professions had been short-changed. For instance, while there are seven awards in the category of fashion, there is none to honour fashion journalism, which is after all, responsible for promoting the fashion industry. Similarly, both film and television directors have been neglected, as have been fashion choreographers. Considering that according to Tom Darlow, the Brands Director at the multinational, the awards ceremony “is a serious awards programme” meant to also recognize “those working in the background to produce the best of what entertains or delights” one does feel that leaving out these important categories was not justified.
For the time being though, the press launch ended abruptly with Fareshteh Aslam, Awards Manager, not being able to field questions satisfactorily, ending up in a group of journalists from the vernacular press getting impatient and declaring lunch open!
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