The judging for the 18th Annual MTN South African Music Awards has been completed, and the stage is being set for another star-studded celebration of music on April 29 and 30 2012. The nominees will be announced on March 8 2012, toasting the cream of South African music across 32 categories.

Recently-appointed South African Music Awards CEO Randall Abrahams said he was “happy with the number of entries received that was on par with previous years. This shows the resilience of the local music industry and the amount of talented artists engaged in producing music”.

This year, the MTN SAMAs are returning to Sun City in the North West Province, where the event has been staged successfully for a number of years. South African music’s biggest occasion will now take place on a Sunday and Monday night. This development, explained Abrahams, was aimed at simplifying and streamlining the mammoth event’s production and logistics while broadening the potential television audience.

“We are in the advanced stages of planning a professional event of the highest standard that befits the stature of the MTN SAMAs as South African music’s premier event,” he said, adding that further details of The 18th Annual South African Music Award Celebration would be revealed in the build-up to the awards.