NAIROBI - Groove Award 2011 nominees were unveiled on 30th March 2011 and some perennial big names were missing on the list including M.O.G, Eko Dydda, Wernono Family, Holy Dave, Esther Wahome, Kambua and Emmy Kosgei. It could be that they did not submit their music and were not interested in the awards. It could also be a host of other reasons.

The chairman of the Panel of Judges for the awards David Kuria gave the overriding criteria for nominations. Here are the four key pointers.

. Song submitted must be gospel
. Submission must be of high quality production / presentation
. Nominees' lifestyle should be a reflection of the gospel
. Submitted work must have been commercially released between 1st Jan 2010 and 31st Dec 2010.

The last point talks about commercial release on mainstream media. It is important for you to take your single to the radio/TV station where it must be picked up for airplay (submitting the song without getting airplay will not count as commercial release, lol) Check out our article on submitting your music to radio stations. If your music is not played on radio or TV, ensure that it is distributed nationwide to all the major retail outlets.

Of course the most obvious point is that one must submit their music to be eligible. Watch the video below and continue voting here