Preparations are in top gear for the Rwandan equivalent of the Kora Awards. Sunday Times has learnt that the local stars are gearing up for the Salax Awards, which will bring together the good and the great of the country’s growing music and entertainment industry.And perfection is the obvious goal, especially when thousands of people will be coming in for the Salax Awards slated for March 31- at the Petit Stade in Remera. And perfection is the obvious goal, especially when thousands of people will be coming in for the Salax awards ceremony slated for March 31- at the Petit Stade in Remera. The event will be telecasted live to the public, and the artistes are ready to make their presence felt at the 2011 Salax Awards.The glamorous night will be spiced up by various music performances from our own finest artistes."I love it, man. I really enjoy attending the Salax Awards’ ceremony and seeing all the artistes and the performance. So I can’t wait to see the organisers put all this together,” said a local music fan.There are 14 categories: "Best Male’, ‘Best Female’, ‘Best Afrobeat, ‘Best Album’, ‘Best Gospel’, ‘Best Group’, ‘Best Hip-Hop Artiste, ‘Best New Artist’, ‘Best Producer’, ‘Best R&B’, ‘Best Song’ and  ‘Best Video’. The nomineesKing James, Jay Polly, Riderman and Kamishi are in the category of ‘Male Artiste’, while in the ‘Female Artiste’ category are Knowles, Miss JoJo, Paccy  and Young Grace. The category of ‘Best Group’ includes names like Dream Boys, Urban Boys, Just Family, TNP- and those competing in the category of ‘Best Hip-Hop Artiste’ are Jay Polly, Riderman, Danny, Nanone and Paccy. Kitoko, Kamichi, Uncle Austin and Rafiki are in the ‘Afrobeat Artiste’ category- and the ‘R&B/Pop Artiste’ nominees are King James, Tom Close, Emmy and Knowles.Vying for the coveted award in the ‘Gospel Artiste’ are Dominic Nic, Aline Gahongayire, The Blessed Sisters and Liliane Kabaganza. Khizz, TNP, Christopher and Jozy are battling it in the ‘New Artiste’ category.Nominees in the ‘Video Director’ category are Bernard, Gilbert. K, Arnauld and Meddy Saleh. In the category of ‘Audio Producer’ are Lick lick, Clement Ishimwe, Junior and Pastor P.In the ‘Best Song’category; ‘Aho ruzingiye’, ‘Bella’, ‘Mumutashye’ and ‘Twanze gutoberwa amateka’, while the nominees for ‘Traditional Artiste’ are Inganzo ngari, Jules Sentore, Tuyisenge and Indangamirwa.Speaking to the press, Mike Karangwa, Chairman of Ikirezi Group Ltd, a local company that organises the Salax Awards, said that the winners of the 4th edition of the awards stand to receive prestigious prizes."We shall award all the winners in their respective categories, but the overall Best Artiste of the Year will obviously get the biggest prize,” Karangwa notes.Now to the big news. Even Rwandan artistes in the Diaspora have also been allowed to participate in various categories.The criteria for selecting the nominees were as follows: the artiste/group must be Rwandan, whose studio work was produced between January1 and December 2011; their songs must not have featured in the previous editions. The Salax Awards – a brief historyIn 2009, a group of students from the National University of Rwanda (NUR), alarmed by the explosive success of rock ‘n’ roll –formed Ikirezi Group Ltd which launched the Salax Awards. Salax was established to recognise outstanding achievements in the talents as they relate to the country’s growing entertainment industry. Musicians, producers, filmmakers, painters, poets and athletes are eligible to win the awards.Ikirezi Group aims at working as a team to motivate, encourage, and support the talent in Rwanda, with a unifying goal to encourage artists to push their abilities to international standards.