Nominees for the Africa Magic Viewers Choice Awards have been announced.

Nominees for the highly anticipated Africa Magic Viewers Choice Awards were announced recently, during a special edition of the MNET lifestyle TV programme, 53 Extra.

Leading the way is South African hit, Otelo Burning, with 14 nominations while Nigeria’s ‘The Mirror Boy’ grabbed 11, just in front of Man on Ground.

Other titles scoring multiple nominations include Perfect Picture (8), Two Brides and a Baby (7), Maami (5) and Skeem (5). In total, there were 110 nominees chosen from 43 different productions from Cameroon, Ghana, Kenya, Nigeria, South Africa, Tanzania, Uganda and Zambia.

Meanwhile, some of the most eagerly awaited categories also boasted high profile nominees.

In the category for Best Actress in a Drama, the nominees are Bubu Mazibuko, Genevieve Nnaji, Nolwazi Shange, Funke Akindele and Jackie Appiah while in the Best Actress in a Comedy category Funke Akindele, Lilian Esoro and Mercy Johnson are all in the running.

In the Best Actor in a Drama category, the nominees are Fabian Adeoye Lojede, O.C Ukeje, Kenneth Uphopho, Edward Kagutuzi and Jafta Mamabolo. Nominees for Best Actor in a Comedy are Hafiz Oyetoro, Kunle Bamtefa, Bovi Ugboma, Francis Odega and Ikhide Isaac.

In the Best Movie Overall category are Skeem (Tim Greene), Man on Ground (Akin Omotoso, Fabian Adeoye Lojede, Hakeem Kae-Kazim and Rosie Motene), Jozi King (Jamie Ramsay), Otelo Burning (Sara Blecher) and The Mirror Boy (Obi Emelonye).

Put together by Multi Choice and headline sponsor, Amstel Malta, the AMVCA recognizes and rewards excellence in African film and TV.

The AMVCA comprises of 28 honors in 26 categories, including six categories where viewers will be given an opportunity to vote for winners while the other 18 technically focused categories will see winners selected by an expert industry based judging panel.

Members of the judging panel include Allison Triegaardt, Armand-Guy de Beer, Bongiwe Selane, Deborah Odutayo, Ebou Waggeh, Eileen Sandrock, Njoki Muhoho, Phad Mutumba and Richard West.

Ensuring that the awards specifically recognize outstanding achievements, the AMVCA did not name nominees in two categories (Best Documentary and Best On-line Video), as the nominee selection team had preferred to award certificates of encouragement instead to all entrants.

Shedding light on the expectations, M-Net Africa’s MD, Biola Alabi, said, “We want the AMVCA to be transparent, credible, respected and fair. So we selected people to the nominee selection team who embrace this philosophy. We will do the same when selecting the industry-judging panel that will pick winners in certain categories. We know that everyone associated with these awards must be diligent and conduct themselves with integrity during what are challenging, tough processes. At this time, I must also say that we are truly delighted with the list of nominees and we wish them all well. Roll on March, we couldn’t be more excited about the big night and promise TV audiences an event to remember”!

Viewers can also start casting their votes for the six all-important viewers voted categories.

Voting began on January 28 at 9:00 p.m. Nigerian time and closes at 10:00 p.m. on March 3, 2013. Viewers can vote via WEB, WAP or SMS.

The first ever Africa Magic Viewers’ Choice Awards will be screened on DSTV and GOtv on Saturday March 9, live from Lagos, Nigeria.