I HAVE NOT DISRESPECTED MUSLIMS – HERTY BORNGREAT

Ghanaian Gospel musician Herty Borngreat’s approach of getting her fans active and interactive with her regular “type Amen” posts is not new someone like me and you might have come across similar posts of hers if you spend more time on Facebook.

This approach which normally asks you to “type Amen” on posts just to avert curses or avoid any bad happening has been very helpful as her page is always active however, one of such posts has incurred the wrath of many in the Islamic faith as a recent post that had Prophet Mohammed bow to Jesus Christ with the inscription “every knee shall bow” has caused a lot of uproar among both Islamic community in Ghana.

After publications of her disrespecting Muslims broke last week and went viral, the artist has expressed dissatisfaction at the news and blamed journalists for not contacting her for the reality of the situation.

In an interview with News One, the management of the artist disclosed the picture was a Photoshop image embossed on a snapshot of her Facebook page to make it seem as if she was the one who published it.

“It is a very dangerous lie people are spreading about me. An evil lie that can spark a religious dispute and religious hatred and I want to use your medium to urge all well-meaning people in the media to help me to tell the world it is not true. That photo did not come from me or my camp. We have never uploaded or published such a photo and I suspect it is a Photoshop some people with a bad motive have designed to cause hatred for me.

“I believe in peaceful religious tolerance and co-existence because our belief in one God should unite us rather than divide us. Some call Him Allah, some call Him Adonai, some call Him Jehovah but God is one and that is what should unite us. I know the calamity religious disputes have brought to other countries. We don’t want that to happen in Ghana,” Herty told NEWS-ONE on Sunday.

She continued: “My attention was drawn to that report on Sunday morning and when I searched it on Google, I was shocked that people would write such a thing about me without even cross-checking from me. Why would I put out a photo that is offensive to the sentiments of Muslims? I have a very good relationship with the Islamic community.

At the last Salafest at Nima, I was there to perform for my Muslim family and I hope to be there this year because I have a lot of respect for Muslims and a huge fan base from the Islamic Community. I would not insult Muslims, I have not insulted Muslims and I feel disappointed by the false report.

“I call on all persons who have seen that report to disregard it. It is not from me and we are investigating to get to the bottom of it. Today, I am the victim, tomorrow it may be someone else and if we do not unite to speak out against such things, we do not know what it may lead to in future. Religious disputes and conflicts and discrimination are things we must all guard against.”

The comments from the management somehow seem interesting to me as the account that posted that picture is an account of hers unless we are meant to believe the usual concert party thoughts of “The account was hacked” or “The account does not belong to us”, which I would be very shocked.

I believe it is time, our people suffered the repercussions of their actions and stopped their easy of massaging issues.

I ADMIRE IYANYA—JULIET IBRAHIM REVEALS

Iyanya, Nigeria’s fast-rising music artiste, to some people, is not in the good books of Ghanaian actresses, who probably must have felt bad with the way he allegedly treated one of their ‘sisters’, Yvonne Nelson, who he reportedly dated and dumped later.

At the Ghana Music Awards held some weeks ago in Accra, it was reported that Yvonne Okoro initially snubbed the Nigerian singer, after he made efforts to drag her to the stage to dance with him.

As then reported, Iyanya, while performing at the event, called on his alleged former lover’s namesake to come on stage with him to probably ‘shake’ her waist, but she declined. It was said that Iyanya was later forced to meet with Yvonne Okoro on seat, called on her severally until the lady was embarrassed and forced herself to heed to the call.

However, while some Ghanaians may not like Iyanya for what he ‘did’ to Yvonne Nelson, by only interested in Yvonne Nelson’s ‘waist’, Juliet Ibrahim sees Iyanya as an admirable and talented act.

According to Juliet, while speaking in an interview on AY Show, confessed that Iyanya is one of the Nigerian artistes she admires, just like Flavour, another Nigerian music star.

Juliet stated that she likes Iyanya mostly in his R&B form, describing him as a good and talented singer

'BACK IN THE DAY' 2014 CONCERT SET FOR SEPTEMBER

This year’s edition of the ever-popular Back in the Day musical concert will take place in September at the Accra International Conference Centre (AICC).

Unlike previous ones, this event is aimed at taking Ghanaian music to another level. It promises to shake the venue with live performances from god fathers of hiplife music.

The annual concert which started two years ago is being organised by Empire Entertainment to celebrate some of the 1990s great artistes and tunes.

It would give Ghanaian music lovers the unique opportunity to relive the glorious days of a young but vibrant hiplife music genre.

Over 10 hiplife artistes who made a huge impact in the 90s with great hiplife tunes would grace the stage this year to bring back the hiplife memories.

Last year’s concert witnessed performances by Ghanaian superstars like T-Blaze, TH4Quages, Reggie Rockstone, Obrafour, Naughty By Nature from the States, among others.

Last two year’s concert which was the maiden edition witnessed performances by Ghanaian superstars like Vision In Progress (VIP), Tic Tac, Abrewa Nana, Dogo, Chicago, Ex-Doe, Sony Achiba and Ded Buddy.

The rest were Keteke, Native Funcky Lords, Obrafour, T-Blaze, Slim Busterr, TH4Kuages, Joe Frazier, Akatakyie, Kontihene, Lord Kenya and a host of others.

This year’s event, according to the organisers, is all about remembering the good old days of hiplife and the forms of music that shaped the genre into what it is today.

The Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Empire Entertainment, Bola Ray, disclosed that the list of the artistes billed to perform on the show would soon be made public.

He stressed that all the artistes billed to perform at the show would leave no stone unturned in their bid to make the show grand, adding that they would turn the venue upside down with extraordinary performances.

He, however, assured music fans that AICC, which is the venue for the event, is expected to be filled with expectant music lovers who would witness the best from the carefully selected artistes whose live musical performances over the years have held many audiences, home and abroad, spellbound.

DANCEHALL WILL RULE GHANA – JON GERMAIN

Musician and television presenter. Jon Germain. has categorically stated that Dancehall and Raggae will put Ghana on the international map.

The ‘Still Here’ singer told News-One in an interview that they believe both genres will rule the country someday.

“I said this on TV long ago that Dancehall and Raggae will rule Ghana. I said this because the people who do Raggae and Dancehall in Ghana are the people whose music crosses our borders. If you are listening to Rocky Dawuni or Osagyefo on radio in Jamaican, people will wonder who these people are. These people most of the time perform live; they don’t mine, they just do straight real performance,” Jon stated.

When I made that prophecy, I expected and waited patiently for it to happen and I feel the prophecy is finally coming through, he added.

Jon Germain’s ‘Still Here’ was nominated in the Music Video of the year (Raggae) for this year’s BASS Awards.

The singer added that the “BASS Awards has always been supportive. It is an award that I have always congratulated for being able to come up with a scheme, which will award people who do Raggae and Dancehall in Ghana. I’m wondering why the song wasn’t nominated but the video was. But it is interesting to find out that my video, which I shot in London, has been nominated. People, who shot the video, are very happy about the fact that the idea we came up with has been nominated for the BASS Awards.”

The second edition of the BASS Awards is slated for August 30 at the National Theater.

MR BEAUTIFUL BLAMES OKRAKU MANTEY

Comic actor ‘Mr. Beautiful’ has said that event organisers in Ghana, especially music producer Mark Okraku Mantey are to take part of the blame for the poor stage performance of several musicians of this country.

The issue of some artistes not taking their stage performances serious during entertainment events has over the years been a major concern to entertainment pundits and patrons of such events.

“Someone should tell Mark that he is part of this problem which is reigning in Ghana today. It is something we need to say to his face. Why does Mark not use those who mime and do not know anything about stagecraft when he is organising his show but he goes for the likes of Paa Bobo?

“The Veterans in this industry like Mark Okraku and Bandex among others are all part of this big problem which we can no longer control. But if only we can eliminate these musicians who are bad performers from the big shows, they will learn to put up great performances when they are invited for shows,” Mr Beautiful stated on Peace FM’s Entertainment Review.

The actor urged event organisers not to contract artistes who cannot deliver well on stage. He said such a measure would motivate these artistes to learn and master their stage acts.

On the other hand, Mr Beautiful advised artistes to concentrate on developing great stage acts rather than allowing their celebrity status to get into their heads.

“Like Paa Bobo, Amakye Dede, Kojo Antwi and others who rock concerts, no Hiplife artiste can match up to them in terms of performances. Instead of rehearsing constantly for shows, the Hiplife artistes and others are almost always at Celsbridge Pub, Accra Mall to take pictures, post them on instagram and call them selfies. If their managers and the producers will make them learn, they will learn,” he said.

GHANAIAN STARS DON’T PRINT MONEY –PRINCE DAVID OSEI

Ghanaian actor Prince David Osei has jumped into the debate about celebrities and attire repetition, saying he sees nothing wrong with it.

According to the actor, Ghanaian stars “do not print money”, therefore it is neither wrong nor demeaning for them to wear a particular attire more than once or twice to public events.

“Yes it is right to repeat a dress; we are human like everyone else. We don’t print money,” he disclosed when he was asked if it is right or wrong to repeat a dress.

David’s comment comes at a time when fellow actor Yvonne Okoro has been tagged “broke” because she repeated her yellow Karen Millen modern tribal dress which she wore in August 2012 at Showbiz Honours on a movie set in Nigeria.

Subsequent media reports claimed that the actress decided to repeat the dress because “she is broke.”

But Yvonne replied her critics saying, “I will repeat my dress any time I want to. I don’t owe anybody any explanation. Billionaires and millionaires all over the world can repeat dresses and its fine. Who is arresting me for doing so, the inspector dress or the FBI of clothes?”

A number of Ghanaian celebrities, including Prince David, have described the tag as unfortunate. 

TOURISM MINISTRY LAUNCHES NATIONAL THEATRE SEASON

The Deputy Minister of Tourism, Culture and Creative Arts, Dzifa Abla Gomashie, has launched the ‘National Theatre Season’ on the calendar of the Ministry at the Ashaiman Senior High School.

The Deputy Minister, who also launched the National Drama Festival for second cycle schools, said with the influx of foreign culture, it was important to imbue into young people the values of their cultural heritage and the true essence of those values.

“Drama embodies the aspirations of people and involves the interaction between traditional values and the demands of modern life. Drama gives us an insight into our history, philosophy, religion, creativity and experiences,” she said.

She noted that the National Drama Festival would give the Regional Drama Festival a new dimension as winners from the 10 regions would have the chance to interact with colleagues from other regions.

She said the dissemination of positive values was very important, and “for this reason, it would be desirable for the plays to reflect themes on nationalism, tolerance, good governance, productivity, cultural renaissance, among others.”

The Drama Festival for Senior High Schools would open at the National Theatre on September 25-28.