Africa’s got talent!
No that’s not the name of another reality TV series but a statement on how talented the contestants of the Project Fame West Africa are. The remaining 7 students in the academy got the chance last weekend to perform their own compositions and they were pretty good. With the assistance of their music director, Ben Ogbeiwi and a visit by J. T Taylor of Kool and the Gang fame to the academy, the students were in high spirits to prove their worth to all of West Africa and the world.
Tamara crowned Miss Malaika Ghana
A beautiful 20 year old medical student of the University of Ghana, Tamara Aku Dzormeku was crowned Miss Malaika Ghana 2008 last Saturday at the National Theatre in Accra. As Miss Malaika, she will as a youth Ambassador in the fight against malaria for a year.
Tamara beat 9 other beautiful, intelligent, and clever young ladies for the coveted crown. The contestants thrilled audiences with intelligent insights into social issues ranging from health to politics. Ghana’s upcoming general elections took center stage as one of the issues that were discussed that night. There were also amazing musical performances from Tinny, Sidney, R2Bs, Okyeame and several others. » Read more…
Samini digs into his roots on third album
On his sophomore effort, he changed his name from Batman to Samini to carve a true African identity for himself as well as to reflect his coming of age as a musician. As if Samini wasn’t true to his roots enough, he digs even deeper into his roots on his upcoming third album, ‘Dagarti’.
The 21-track album explores the music and culture of the people of Dagarti in the northern part of Ghana, where Samini originally hails from. Samini’s modern take on the traditions of his people results in a masterful artistry especially on his title track, ‘Dagarti’. ‘The concept behind this album is driving the masses to know their roots. You have to know where you are coming from to know where you are going. ‘Dagarti’ promises to take the whole world by storm!”…he describes his new album. » Read more…
Right to Dream Soccer Academy thrashes Ultimate FC
Right to Dream Soccer Academy, Africa’s rep to the 2008 Manchester United Premier Cup world finals, proved its superiority in African academy football when its under-15 and 17 teams thrashed visiting Nigerian team, Ultimate FC 4:0 and 5:0 respectively last Saturday. It formed part of the friendly matches lined up for the Lagos-based amateur second division team during their one-week tour to Ghana.
Ultimate FC has toured the Ivory Coast, Togo and Benin playing against some of the best under 15 and under-17 teams on the West coast. They first played in a friendly match against the Shooting Stars of Achimota at the Azumah Nelson Sports Complex in Kaneshie, Accra. They lost 2:0 in the under-15 category and drew 1:1 in the under-17 division.
According to Coach Tunde Johnson, Ultimate FC could not perform creditably in Ghana due to the stress of traveling and the lack of basic needs such as training pitch and accommodation for his team. He however hoped to return to Ghana with a better prepared team to redeem the image of his team.
The Arrival of Kweku T?
Move over Naeto C! There’s a not so new kid on the block. If you watched Big Brother Africa season 2 then you would remember that Ghana’s rep, Kweku Tutu a.k.a. Kweku T was an aspiring rapper. And if you live in Ghana then you would know that Kweku T has been a struggling musician for an even longer period. Although spotting some success on the ‘underground’ his musical career never quite took off.
Anyway all that is about to change as the man who popularized Ghana’s ‘charle’ jargon all over Africa readies his debut LP, ‘Higher Life‘. The first single off the album, ‘Move’, featuring D-Black, is already enjoying some heavy rotations in Ghana. Kweku T has also started promoting the song in South Africa and would soon move to Nigeria, Kenya and the rest of Africa. So is this the time for Kweku T? Well he has certainly arrived and when he blows in your face, remember you heard it from me first!!
Exquisite Face of the Universe causes a stir in the pageant world
A couple of weeks ago, First Royal Events, an events organizing company in Ghana hosted the 2nd Edition of its international modeling competition dubbed Exquisite Face of the Universe. The event is meant to showcase Ghana as a tourist attraction centre and bring to bear Ghana’s advancement in the beauty, fashion, textile, modeling and entertainment industries. Finalists selected form all over the world met in Ghana for the finale which was held at the Ghana National Theatre on October 18. Miss Lebanon was declared the Face of the Universe.
However it appears that the name of the competition has caused a bit of upheaval in the world of pageants. The use of ‘Universe’ may have infringed on some rights of the ‘Miss Universe’ contest. The Insignia Group, producers of the Miss Universe™ Ghana pageant have issued an unqualified dissociation with the “Exquisite Face of the Universe” as well as its organizers. The Miss Universe™ organization has stated categorically that it has no connection whatsoever with the event covered in recent publications of the Ghanaian media. » Read more…
Who wins hottest Radio Hit of 2008?
Its official! The nominations for the MTV Africa Music Award Listener’s Choice are here.
Reflecting the importance of radio to the African music industry and music fans, the Listener’s Choice Award celebrates the tracks and artists who triumphed on the radio airwaves in 2007/8. So who made the cut or, better yet, who will win? The nominees for the Listener’s Choice awards, chosen exclusively by radio listeners across Africa are:
D’Banj (Nigeria )– ‘Why Me’
Naakaya (Tanzania) - ‘Mr Politician’
Jax Panik (South Africa) - ‘Cigarettes and Cinnamon’
JB Mpiana (DRC) – ‘Zadio Kongolo’
P Unit (Kenya) – ‘Una’
Toniks (Uganda) ‘Beera Nange’
Ofori Amponsah Featuring Samini (Ghana) - ‘Odwo’ » Read more…
Jamming Reggae and More Drama on Project Fame
The drama continued with judges and faculty disagreeing on the choice of students put on probation this week on Project Fame West Africa. After Saturday’s highly emotional double evictions of Ijeoma and Wilmot, the students were tasked to perform some reggae hits.
Benedicta, Onyemeachi, Praise, Dorcas, Inyanya, Caroline, Nii, Sopriye, Annette, Bisola, and Kojo, sang: ‘Red, Red Wine’, ‘Wild World’, ‘No Woman No Cry’, ‘Waiting In Vain’, ‘Jah Love’, ‘Reggae Nights’, ‘Me Love’, ‘Now That We’ve Found Love’, ‘Dedicated To The One I Love’, ‘Redemption Song’, and ‘Different Colors’ accordingly. » Read more…
50 Cent DVD Causes Death in Malawi
US rapper, 50 Cent has been fronting his gangster swagger even since his run away success of his debut album ‘Get Rich or Die Tryin’. Well, the influence of his music video has led to the death of a 17 year old boy in Malawi, according to police reports.
The incident happened at Area 36 Township a highly congested new residential site near Malawi’s capital city Lilongwe. The 17 year old, Tikule Fradreki died after he was hit with a brick thrown by his supposed rival Francis Chikondi, 19, who is now in police custody. Tikule was not in school; he was working at one restaurant at Lilongwe market and saw two boys he knew very well fighting heavily over the DVD. He intervened with an intention to stop the fight when another boy, Chikondi, sprung from outside the fight and smashed him with the brick, according to statement from the country’s police. » Read more…
West African Vibes on Project Fame?
The night of West African hits on Project Fame last weekend was filled with drama as 5 students were put on probation by the judges. However, before we get into all that I must register my complete disappointment with the choice of songs for the contestants. When I heard that they were going to perform hit songs from West Africa, I was like, great! I knew I was going to hear some renditions from the repertoire of some of the best musicians out of the west coast.
However it turned out be a celebration of Nigerian musicians as 12 out of the 15 songs performed were all by Nigerian artists. Either the organizers are conceited, thinking that Nigeria is bigger than the rest of West Africa; or they are completely clueless about the remarkable list of great musicians out of the sub-region. Whatever the case, it was a poor account on the ‘academy’. In the least, contestants from the Ghana, Liberia, and Sierra Leone could have performed a song each from their countries instead of being forced to sing songs by Nigerian artists. » Read more…
And The Winners Are…
As I expected, the big money spenders cleared a majority of this year’s Channel O Music Video Awards (MVA). The awards ceremony came off last Thursday night (Oct 9) at the Carnival City, in Johannesburg, South Africa and was emceed by Channel O’s own Nonhle Thema and Kabelo ‘KB’ Ngakane.
There really isn’t much to say apart from saying that here is the full list of winners: » Read more…
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