DEE MAAT, ATUMPA, FUSE ODG WIN AWARDS AT BEFFTA AWARDS UK 2013

Day 2 of BEFFTA awards saw stars come out in large numbers to celebrate one another in an extremely glamorous evening with a record-breaking 88 awards given out.

BEFFTA UK awards held over 2 days celebrated talent from entertainment, film, fashion, television and arts.

The two nights hosted by BEFFTA founder Pauline Long, Capital Xtra radio personality Abrantee Boateng and poet Alim Kamara were truly inspirational with some of the most unsung talent being honoured.

Fuse ODG won Best UK Afrobeats; Atumpan won International Afrobeats Acts; Kwame Koranteng won Best Male Fashion Designer and UK-based Ghanaian stylist Dee Matt won the award for Best Wardrobe Stylist.

Amongst personalities to receive special honorary awards was entertainment icon BB Seaton, supermodel Nana Afua Antwi received young achiever award and veteran community event organiser and founder of Miss Jamaica UK received BEFFTA female lifetime achievement award.

Full list of BEFFTA UK 2013 winners:

1. Best Female Act: Beverly Knight

2. Best Male Act: Wiley

3. Best Unsigned Act: Roucheone

4. Best Gospel Act: Lurine Cato

5. Best International Gospel Act: Emmy Kosgey

6. Best International Act: Jose Chameleone

7. Best UK reggae Act: Vivian Jones

8. Best International Caribbean Act: Bennie Man

9. Best Producer: Mafia and Fluxy

10. Best Video Director: Dego Visionz

11. Best Music Video Producer: Mastermind media

12. Best Music Video DOP: Nang TV

13. Best Music Video: Dbanj(Oliver Twist)

14. Best record label: Stringray Records

15. Best Comedian: Anne Kansiime

16. Best Newspaper: Trumpet

17. Journalist of the year: Noellin Imoh

18. Best community website: CaribDirect

19. Best Hair Stylist: JDFK

20. Best Wardrobe Stylist: Style Check by Dee Maat

21. Best Make-up artist: Libeks Beauty Consultant

22. Best Beauty Pageant: Miss Black Africa

23. Best Beauty Queen: Chanice Thompson

24. Best Beauty Pageant Director: Dele Onabowu

25. Best Former Beauty queen: Gloria Elongo

26. Best film director: Niyi Towolawi

27. Best film Actor: Ikenna Obi

28. Best film Actresses: Yvonne Hays

29. Best Film: Turning Point

30. Best Short Film: Violet( Directed by Jett Jermaine)

31. Best screenwriter/Scriptwriter: Freddy Kruga

32. Best Cinematographer: Nelson Spyke

33. Best film Producer: Theodora Ibekwe

34. Best events promoter: Focus Organisation

35. Best Art Director: Reuben Joseph

36. Best Spoken Word artist/Poet: Alim Kamara

37. DJ of the year: Dj Mkhukhwini

38. Best UK Afrobeats: Fuse ODG

39. Best UK Caribbean act : Stylo G

40. International Afrobeats Acts: Atumpan

41. Best Photographer: Josh Daniels Photography

42. Best Male Fashion Designer: Kwame Koranteng

43. Best Female Fashion Designer: Zuwa Re

44. Best Fashion Choreographer: Malisha Da Queen

45. Best male model: Hassan Reese

46. Best female model: Siobhan C Ridguard

47. Best Modeling Agency: Face4Music

48. Best TV Actress: Moji Bamtefa

49. Best TV Actor: Wil Johnson

50. Best TV Station: VOX Africa

51. Best TV Show: Naija Bites (OH TV)

52. Best TV personality: Mary Shittu

53. Best presenter: Uncle and Mistar

54. Best Web series: Brothers With No Game

55. Best online TV: Tea With The Duchess

56. Best Voice Over artist: Patrick Mckenzie

57. Best Author: Ferdinard Lawson

58. Best theatre production: Epic Adventure of Nhamo and Manyika Warrior

59. Radio Station of the year: Tropical FM

60. Radio personality of the year: Veronica Gordon

61. Magazine of the year: Keep The Faith Magazine

62. Blog of the year: Kickin’ it with the kinks

63. Best dance act: Unique Silver Dancers

64. Best dance choreographer: Ezekiel Koleosho

MUSIGA MUST DISSOLVE ALL FACTIONS IN THE UNION

“…See, we searching for the answer, cus we wanna live happily ever after... We should open another chapter, so we could write the story again... Cus we killing the game, the game The game 3x Cus we killing the game, the game The game 3x”

Indeed… Songs are a very powerful means of easy communication, and the song titled ‘Killing The Game’ by Obour featuring Okyeame Kwame and Richie which sparked a sizzling hullabaloo between Okyeame Kwame, Obour, Obrafour and Guru with ‘Kasiebo’; I will say 'Killing The Game' is a clear prophesy of what has been happening in the music industry after its last election held.

The music industry has now become a game ‘union-field’ being played by very aggressive union members and its umbrella body; MUSIGA leaders who are being blamed for their partiality 2 years after being voted into office. The industry is now full of factions involving various sub-unions and its heads; and the now 'endorsed umbrella body', Music Council of Ghana fighting against the MUSIGA for its bad leadership.

Sub-unions including Association of Music Rights Owners (AMRO), Musicians and Dancers Association of Ghana (MUDAG), Veteran Musicians Association of Ghana (VEMAG), Professional Musicians Association of Ghana (PROMAG), Music Council of Ghana, Composers and Authors of Music Association of Ghana (CAMAG) and even the Ministry of Tourism, Culture and the Creative Arts (MTCCA) is also alleged to have left MUSIGA to its fate, and now approved Music Council of Ghana as head of musicians as stated in a press release signed by Grace Watara (Mrs.), National General Secretary of MUDAG.

Although factions are nothing new in organizations, factionalism in MUSIGA began way back 2 years ago during the MUSIGA elections where numerous rumours and accusations between contenders who vied for the Presidency of the union and their various supporters.

Rumours and accusations like the distribution of rLG laptops and mobile phones as well as doling out GHS50 and GHS300 to buy votes by the Obour camp, as alleged by supporters of various camps.

Although some of these accusations labeled against the sitting president of MUSIGA, Bice Osei-Kufour (Obour) may have had some light truth in them; none of the ‘rumour-advocates’ were able to back their allegations with specifics (pictures or recorded voices) and since the ‘human head is not a pawpaw or egg to easily cut it open to view the actual truth in a matter’, it was left to fade away.

Three years in office, there still are related issues- resulting in the resignation of some key members as well as some regional heads of MUSIGA- citing personal issues with the Union heads and its administration and other unknown ‘monetary’ reasons.

The level of allegations and mishaps in the music industry by various union heads and members increased when it was reported that His Excellency, President John Dramani Mahama, had credited a whooping sum of GHS2,000,000 into MUSIGA’s bank account.

Almost every division under the musicians umbrella body wanted their share of the money, yet their requests were either ignored or withheld either by some insubstantial excuses like ‘we are yet to sit and draw a good budget plan for the money given us’ or ‘send us a letter outlining your budget plan for the amount of money being requested’ or ‘we are yet to close a deal on the main reason behind the money before we can go into coffers.’

Upon all the reasons given, it yielded no good news to the ‘share of money-applicants’ to solve their union impediment as well as support some union members and that lead to various secret ‘meaned-meetings’ to plan ‘coup d'état’ against the Obour administration.

Then, the question of ‘who on this earth will reject honey being poured into his or her mouth and who will be given his or her share of a gift and still go complain bitterly to family members or public for not being treated unfairly’ came into mind.

I was briefly baffled when I saw the president of Music Council of Ghana, Ekow ‘perform’ during MUSIGA Peace Concert at the Independence Square, claiming we are one people, yet seem to be the second major brain behind some of these factions going on in the music industry. Is he really a peace-leader?

I once remember meeting with George William Dickson, the said fingered and witch-hunting personality by MUSIGA for their mishap at the Amakye Dede Spot where issues of that occurred during the last election was sorted out; the fact that he is not satisfied with Obour's 'ADWUMAPA' for the union, why not go on a demo' or set up an 'Entertainment Judgment Debt committee' to look into matters?

Just as Obour rapped in ‘killing the game’,

‘…y3afaili, yen nyinaa afaili (We have failed, indeed we have all failed)

Ato me adwendwen Kwame y3 b3y3 den ni?...’ indeed President Obour and his administration has in a way failed, and discouraged its members and music lovers of the faith they entrusted in them.

Personally, I think MUSIGA needs to restructure its regulations, not in a way to favor either its administrative body or its sub-union bodies and members, but a fair regulation to redeem its respect and execute its responsibilities as Ghana’s umbrella body for musicians; or lose its value.

KSM TO STAGE ‘CONFESSION OF A GH MAN’ ON DECEMBER 25

KSM is set to hit the big stage with another December 25 comedy. This year, Ghana’s foremost satirist presents an act dubbed Confessions of a Gh Man- an absolutely hilarious comedy of how Ghanaian men think and operate.

It will be recalled that, last year, KSM staged Secrets of Gh Girls to the delight of patrons who thronged the National Theatre on Christmas day. The two shows held on that day were sold out with many more people looking for tickets.

A sold out reloaded version of the show was staged this year on Valentine’s Day at the National Theatre as well as in Kumasi, at Golden Tulip.

In all the 5 times the show was staged, audiences were treated to rip cracking stories of the nature and modus operandi of Ghanaian Women.

This year’s Confessions of a Gh Man is a sequel to Secrets of Gh Girls. KSM puts the spotlight on Ghanaian men to reveal their many antics and shenanigans.

Sources within Sapphire Ghana have revealed that this year’s show will present interesting and surprising angles that will simply thrill the audience.

KSM is Ghana’s most successful comic whose one-man shows have dominated the country’s entertainment scene for almost two decades.

GHANA MUSIC PLAY SECOND FIDDLE TO NIGERIA MUSIC IN GHANA

A few months ago, the Chief Executive Officer of Scratch Studios Ghana, Kofi Amoakohene advised Ghanaian DJs to focus more on Ghanaian music at the first edition of the Ghana DJ Awards.

According to him, the practice of playing more foreign songs at the expense of Ghanaian songs hindered the growth of our musical identity.

Since I share his sentiments, I also set out to advocate for DJs to play and give more attention to Ghanaian music than they give to foreign music, especially Nigerian songs. I therefore made myself an unofficial ambassador of Ghana music.

What I intend doing was that, whenever I went out, I will encourage DJs to help elevate the Ghana music industry by giving more play time to Ghanaian songs. Unfortunately, I dropped idea before it started because of a bad encounter I had with a DJ in Accra during a fashion show.

I had gone to ask him if he could play some Ghanaian songs after about two hours of Nigeria songs he had played. He said he would do that, so we smiled and I left to be with my colleagues.

After couple of songs, there were still no Ghanaian songs blazing from the loud speakers. All I heard were songs from the Wizkids, P-Squares, Davidos, 2Faces, Timayas, DBanjs, Tiwa Savages, Iyanyas and the likes.

I respectfully approached the DJ again and this time around, he shouted at me and asked if I was invited to watch the show or asked to dictate to the DJ on which songs he should play.

The way he went about it was very physical, so I said well, let me leave this guy alone. And that was how I gave up that dream. This is because I anticipated similar situations from other DJs should I dare interfere in their job again.

Ghanaian DJs are playing Nigerian songs. Ghanaian bloggers are blogging about Nigerian artistes and their songs. Event organisers in Ghana are paying huge sums of money to Nigerian artistes to headline concerts in Ghana. Ghanaian artistes are singing and rapping like Nigerians. Who should be blamed?

I'm against banning of Nigerian or foreign songs in Ghana uprightly but the fact that Ghana songs play second to those songs even in Ghana is not right.

In a bid to give listeners what they want, radio station owners, DJs and radio presenters just pay more attention to Nigerian songs. A DJ can play 10 Nigerian songs and cut in with just a song from Ghana. This should not be tolerated in Ghana. I'm against banning of Nigerian or foreign songs in Ghana but the fact that Ghana songs play second fiddle to these foreign songs right here in Ghana is not right.

Some of these radio station owners, DJs and radio presenters argue that, local songs are substandard hence why they do not play them. However, are we saying that all Ghanaian songs are of bad quality and all Nigerian songs are good?

Also television stations play these Nigerian songs on air free of charge, yet expect Ghanaian artistes to pay before theirs are played.

As if not enough, this trend does not stop at the radio and television stations, even when one makes his way to pubs or nightclubs, they are met with the same trend. Are Ghanaians not the owners of these facilities that give more attention to foreign songs? Who should be blamed?

There are several areas that, Ghana trail Nigeria. So far as music in concerned, Ghana is trailing Nigeria by several miles in terms of promotion, marketing and patronage but what accounted for all that?

The fact that Ghanaian songs play second fiddle to their Nigerian counterparts even in Ghana means there is a problem. Until the appropriate minds are able to first of all find the problem, Ghana will continue to lag behind.

I understand that, there is a policy in Nigeria which requires that about 70 percent of songs played on radio and television be of Nigeria content. From the look of things, Ghana needs such a policy.

Such a policy can help to keep foreign songs at bay for the benefit of Ghanaians songs. I do not see the reason why songs from both countries should compete for the same slots in Ghana. For now, the question is who is to be blamed?

‘NORMAL’ GOSPEL NOT FOR ME - NICHOLAS OMANE ACHEAMPONG

Gospel musician Nicholas Omane Acheampong has the knack of standing out in a crowd. Apart from his usually peculiar haircut, his lyrics are always unique and some of his catchy lines often become popular phrases.

It was Tabitha Kum in 2002, Zaphnat Paneah in 2012 and now Nicholas has hit the music scene with yet another out of the ordinary song, Mahashala Hashbaz which was released a couple of weeks ago.

The 38-year-old musician told Showbiz last Thursday that “as an accomplished gospel singer and child of God, I don’t do cheap music. My songs are thought -provoking. One must think deep to understand my music and it is because I do a lot of research before coming out with a song.

“I do not put in a lot of money to promote my music because I do good songs. You see, Ghanaians always want to hear you sing the ‘normal’ gospel music but I am unique and that is why my songs are also unique.

“Also, I don’t just wake up one day and choose the titles for my songs. I do a lot of research and wait upon God to give me the direction. You don’t need a Master’s degree to come out with such titles but when the spirit of God is upon you, you will always do great music,” Nicholas pointed out.

Talking about his equally intriguing video clips, Nicholas said “most people describe my videos as out of the ordinary because of the costumes and props I use. I always try to explain my songs to the ordinary viewer through my videos.”

“I cannot dress in modern clothes when I am talking about Moses in my songs. I should dress like Moses and carry a staff like he did because I want to tell a story of what happened during his days. It would be inappropriate to wear a suit to convey the message I want to put across.”

His latest album is Mahashala Hashbaz. According to Nicholas, it means ‘the enemy will be destroyed.’ Nicholas said he had a message in a dream to read Isiah 8. When he woke up, he prayed about the dream and read the Bible.

“I came across the name Mahashala Hashbaz after reading Isaiah 8 and decided to adopt it as the title of my new album. I consulted my spiritual father, Prophet Emmanuel Badu Kobi of Glorious Wave Church International about the dream and he encouraged me to do the song,” he revealed.

ACTRESS JULIET IBRAHIM'S DRESS

Actress, Juliet Ibrahim on Friday evening premiered her first self-produced movie, ‘The Number One Fan’ at the National Theatre. The star-studded premiere which was hosted by Big Brother The Chase’s Sierra Leoneon housemate, Michael Bassey was well attended by cast and crew as well as several A-list guests. Amongst the stars in attendance were Alex Ekubo, Vivian Achor, Big Brother housemate, Maria, Beverly Afaglo, Vicky Zugah, and Gloria Osei Safo.

...and Selly's The Number One Fan features a cluster of stars both from Nigeria and Ghana, the likes of Juliet Ibrahim herself, Yemi Blaq, Selly of BBA Fame, Keitta of BBA Fame, Zainab Sheriff of BBA fame, AY The Comedian, KC Ejelonu, Emmanuel V Mensah, Kofi Adjorlolo, Stephanie Owusu, Narsh Smith, Prince David Osei, Eddie Nartey, Ruweida Yakubu and Introducing Sonia Ibrahim .

NKANSAH LIWIN AND WIFE OUTDOORS BABY, ALL WHITE AFFAIR

Unlike the christening of the baby born to the Queen’s palace in London with worldwide attention, popular Ghanaian actor Kwadjo Nkansah Liwin and wife hav finally christened their baby in a closed door star studded event in Kumasi.

Kwadjo Nkansah Liwin who had earlier stated he thanked God his son never looked like him explained it was one of the regular jokes he cracked and asked people not to take that serious.

GHANAIAN ACTRESS DISPELS BLEACHING RUMOURS

Ghanaian actress Salma Munim has dispelled rumours making the rounds that she has started bleaching to catch the attention of producers to earn her lead roles in movies.

This because over the last few years, there is the perception that light skinned actors sell more making them the preferred choice of producers for leading roles, regardless of their acting capabilities.

As a result of this, some dark skinned actors and actresses have been rumoured to have resorted to bleaching to be cast in such roles too.

” I will not bleach and I have not bleached. I am confident with my body and skin tone and I like the way I look”, she told Showbiz last Monday.

The 25 year old actress made it clear that she is against bleaching because she is fully aware of the health hazards that it leaves in its trail.

“I admit being light skinned is nice because it gives you some confidence but bleaching is not good because of the damage it causes the skin. Moreover I don’t need to be light skinned to get roles. I know my capabilities and movie makers I have worked with can attest to that” she said.

Touching on other issues, the Passion and Soul actress revealed that she would not mind being in a relationship with a celebrity even though she believes “it will take some ‘X factor’ for us to sustain the relationship”.

Salma who hails from the Upper East Region has been in the movie industry for almost a decade.

She has since featured in a number of movies including ‘The Will’, ‘Seduction’, ‘No Apology’, ‘Crazy’ and ‘Five Brides’.