John Berger of the Honolulu Star-Bulletin discusses the dominance of new artists and Hawaiian music artists in this years awards, and notes a ‘there’s some backstage controversy brewing’. First, my congratulations to all nominees.
The controversy that John refers to is ‘the decision of the HARA Board of Governors to define “The Hawaiian Music Hall of Fame Presents — Na Lani ‘Eha,” an album recorded by board member Ku’uipo Kumukahi and the Hawaiian Music Hall of Fame Serenaders, as the work of a female vocalist rather than a group because the other members of the quartet play instruments and sing backing vocals.’
Disclaimer: I am replying to this issue on my own behalf and am not speaking on behalf of my colleagues on the HARA board.
While I was not a member of the selection committee for the awards this year, I was on the periphery of the discussion regarding this entry and some others that were tough calls. For some historical context, this same kind of ‘controversy’ erupted a few years ago as well, when Amy Hānaiali‘i Gilliom was nominated as “Female Vocalist” for the CD release “Amy & Willie”, and they were not entered in the Group category. Some critics, myself included, believed this was a circumvention of the rules in an effort to keep label-mates A&W and Nā Leo from competing with each other in the “Group” category. Here is the wording of the criteria for the Female Vocalist category:
“Best performance by a vocal duo or group of newly recorded material.”
Please note the “vocal” part. Amy was the featured vocalist on all cuts on her collaboration with Willie, though he did provide backup vocals if my memory serves. One could argue that they are still a vocal duo, but an interpretation needed to be made, and the selection committee in that year made a tough decision which bothered a lot of people. While it definitely did not break any rules their interpretation led to a lot of second-guessing.
On the “Nā Lani ‘Ehā” recording, Ku‘uipo is undeniably the featured vocalist, and the Hall of Fame Serenaders providing backup vocal and instrumental support. Perhaps it is their being credited on the cover that bothers John. If they had been entered as a group there likely would not be any controversy, but how do you define a group? If Ku‘uipo’s name alone appeared on the cover, would he be objecting? To that I ask this: If Keali‘i Reichel’s backup singers and musicians took a name, and he chose to credit them on the cover to give them some recognition, would that preclude him from entering as “Male Vocalist of the Year”? What is more important – the performance or the CD title in determining which category the release should be entered?
I will say this – it is my firm belief than any appearance of a conflict of interest is a conflict of interest, and the fact that Ipo is a member of the HARA board only provides HARA critics with ammunition. I can tell you that there was no favortism granted to her, at least on my part, because of her status with the board. If anything I was more critical because of my desire that everything the board does be beyond reproach. In the end, because a precedent had been set and her entry into the Female vocalist category not a clear violation of the entry rules, I supported it.
This could have been avoided if the rules were written more clearly and in more detail. The less interpretation needs to be done regarding entries the better, as far as I’m concerned. This is something that the board will be taking up this summer, and we have a long list of issues that need to be address regarding a number of categories. I will report the details of those discussion, and make sure that the changes are clearly articulated to the membership.
