The 14th Headies award will hold in January 2021, and a Nigerian stand-up comedian, Bovi Ugboma, is set to create a new record as the only person to ever host the show three times. He hosted the show for the first time in 2015 alongside award-winning dancer, Kaffy Shafau.
He was initially slated to host the event on October 25, 2014, but the organizers had to change the venue and date due to some logistic reasons. He already had a previous commitment on the new date they chose, so he could no longer anchor the show. Basketmouth hosted in his place alongside media personality, Toke Makinwa.
When he finally made his headies debut in 2015, he received glowing reviews and commendations from viewers for a job well done. But the reviews were not surprising as Bovi had spent at least a decade preparing for the big stage.
After bagging his degree in Theatre Arts from Delta State University, he served at the National Television Authority (NTA), Lokoja, during his NYSC year. He then moved to Lagos in 2004 and took a role as Richard Mofe-Damijo’s assistant.
In 2007, he made his acting debut on Extended Family, a sitcom he wrote and produced. The series was successful and he was set on a stable career path: acting, performing at comedy clubs, and writing jokes. Another big break came when he travelled and performed with Opa Williams’ Nite of A Thousand Laughs.
In March 2013, just one year before he was first announced as the host of the 9th Headies, he debuted his one-man stand-up comedy show themed ‘Man on Fire’. Then in November 2013, he hosted Flytime Promotions’ ‘Rhythm Unplugged’ alongside Grammy award-winning Haitian musician, Wyclef Jean. At the end of 2013, he had successfully proved himself to be a great host.
By 2014, when Smooth Promotions, organisers of the Headies Awards were going to choose a host for the ninth edition, he was already poised to take the stage. His colleague, Basketmouth already proved that comedians were the best hosts in 2008. Bovi broke a lot of hearts when he decided not to host the show anymore.
In 2015, he made up for his inability to anchor the previous year by giving a stellar performance at the live show. The next year, four-time Headies award-winner, Falz hosted the show alongside award-winning actress, Adesua Etomi. The Headies did not hold in 2017, because a fire destroyed millions worth of equipment in the offices of the organisers earlier that year.
Bovi was back to anchoring the award show when the Headies returned in 2018. This time, multi-talented act, Seyi Shay joined him as the co-host at the Eko Convention Center. He got a breather in 2019 when rapper Reminisce replaced him alongside his co-host this year, Nancy Isime. Reminisce failed to wow the audience, and many people longed for the days where Bovi hosted with grace, eloquence and humour.
This year the 41-year-old is back for the third time, and the first time in Headies history, to host the big awards. The Executive producer of the Headies Ayo Animashaun told Netng that Bovi is already working to deliver yet another great performance.
The organisers say the awards will hold in January 2021, but they haven’t announced a date and venue. While we wait for more details on the event, we will continue to keep our fingers crossed for Bovi’s third, and hopefully, best return to The Headies‘ stage.
