I WAS WORRIED ABOUT MY FIGURE - NANA AMA MCBROWN

Most versatile Ghanaian actress cum musician, Nana Ama McBrown has for the first time spoken about her recent figure and the motivation behind the new looks.

The actress who was in Kumasi to promote her new movie Yello Cece in an interview with Dave Hammer on HELLO FM disclosed she was gradually getting worried over her figure as she seemed to be getting out of shape, a similar feeling many of her fans had already expressed on social media and on several entertainment review shows.

Nana Ama explained although she was mindful of her diet and exercised a lot, she couldn’t believe she was still putting on so much weight but was however rescued by a highly placed Ghanaian figure who introduced her to a medication that has since been instrumental in her new figure.

She disclosed many fans were somehow shocked at her new looks and wondered if she was sick.

Nana Ama McBrown explained she liked her new looks and was doing everything right to maintain it.

ACTRESS MERCY JOHNSON SAYS THANK YOU

2013 has been an incredible year for me. I couldn’t ask for more. It is one year I won’t forget in a hurry.

My fans were amazing. They stood by me and took on my fight. The critics played their parts too. I took the constructive ones, made adjustment and became a better person.

How can I forget 2013, the year I had the honour of being the most searched Nollywood actress for the third consecutive year. I am most grateful to the fans who worked the keyboard or keypad reading about me online.

I am grateful to my team, the media and management company, Bigsam Media that became like sponge, wiping away the negative past and soaking in the future. I am most grateful.

Social media, Twitter most especially, played significant role in reaching out directly. The teaming fans on Twitter and other platforms, this is for you; thank you for loving, tolerating and being there for me.

Gentlemen of the press contributed in no small measure to my year, without you, no one will reckon with the brand, thank you.

My colleagues, directors, producers and marketers who made the job easier for me, I am most grateful. Without what you do on set, my best won’t manifest. Thanks.

To the companies all over Africa that did business with me, I owe you. Thanks for the confidence in my brand. 2014 will be better.

To those who buy or watch movies because of me, you have kept me at the top still in 2013. You are part of my success story. I am most grateful. God bless you.

And to the most wonderful man in the world, Prince Odi Okojie, if there were to be reincarnation, I will take the step of faith with you again. Odi, you are a good man, wonderful husband and loving daddy. I am blessed to be your wife and blessed will you continue to be among men.

In 2014, there will be new direction for the brand, keep your fingers crossed while God and my team work out the magic.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year.

MY WIFE TAUNTED ME TO GO BACK TO COMEDY – KSM

Kweku Sintim Misa, comedian, actor, TV host and playwright has pinned down his success in theater to a challenge his wife threw to him after he returned to Ghana.

KSM revealed his wife taunted him back into comedy which he appeared to have abandoned for radio. He was recollecting high-points of his career on Multi TV's Tarzan's Take last Sunday.

KSM told Tarzan of his promising start in acting inspired by his sister Ghanaian actress Joyce Anima Misa Amoah. " I used to follow her when she was going for rehearsals at Drama studio at the University of Ghana", he said.

Enamored by theater, he pulled off a play by writing, producing and acting out a solo performance in 1976 titled 'Mellow Madness'. He played all five characters.

KSM later travelled to the United States to study for a major in acting and directing at Trinity College in Connecticut, USA. He subsequently earned a Master of Fine Arts in film production from New York University.

But after returning to Ghana in 1997, the comedian and playwright ventured into radio.

"When I came back there was a bit of a break - because of circumstances I decided to do some radio"

He hosted Talk Shop, a dialogue on controversial national issues on Vibe FM. Despite its success, the ace comedian's wife had other ideas of what his personal success should be.

"Two years later, my wife said you [kraa] you have forgotten all your acting. You have now become a radio man... I don't know whether she was taunting me to remind me that I have a craft"

But that brief dare pushed the decorated theater man into thinking seriously about his craft.

"That inspired me to write the Saga of the Returnee, out of her daring me", he confessed.

After finishing the script in a couple of months, he produced 'the Saga of the Returnee' and it turned out to be an instant success.

The CEO of Sapphire Ghana Limited, a media content development company admits that to date, that play was the most successful he has ever done. He replayed it 13 times and all sold out.

He went on to do 'Afia Siriboe', and Politically Incorrect where KSM’s live performances use comical characters to illustrate the key social, economic and political issues concerning Ghana.

KSM has also created what has become one Ghana’s most popular talk shows: Thank God It’s Friday (TGIF).

It was the first broadcast of its kind to fuse serious talk, education and humor. Since its inception, the show has featured gripping stories from entrepreneurial street vendors, dancing presidents, pioneering scientists, leading artists, and many more exciting characters.

KSM recently won the Radio and Television Personality Television Entertainment Show Host of the Year (2011) for his work with TGIF.

XCLUSIV FOTOS: ACTRESS PORTIA ASARE MARRIES A PASTOR!

Beautiful and calm Ghanaian actress Portia Asare Boateng is now happily married to a man of God.

Portia’s dream to marry a God fearing man finally came to past over the weekend as she wholeheartedly said “I do” to her preacher lover.

Portia Asare revealed earlier this year in an interview with News One that she needs a God-Fearing man to marry. “I am very single and waiting patiently upon the Lord to give me a man who is God-fearing because I have not been very fortunate with men,” Portia said and God has indeed answered to prayers.

The very simple and colorful wedding ceremony took place on Saturday December 21 2013 at the International Central Gospel Church (ICGC) in Tema Community 5.

The lucky man who has taken over Portia’s heart is Rev. John Wilberforce Aidoo who according to Peaccefmonline.com investigations is a Pastor at the Grace Baptist Church and he is also a full time Lecturer in one of the tertiary institutions in the capital.

Some known faces present to support Portia on her special day included: Television Presenter Amanda Jissih, Actor Peter Richie, Clement Bonney aka Mr. Beautiful, members of Women in Creative Arts (WIPA) among other known faces in the movie industry.

She has acted in countless Kumawood movies. Portia last starred in Kwaw Ansah’s production, The Good Old Days – Papa Lasisi Good Bicycle, and she played the role of Maame Mansa, a mother and wife of Joe E Mensah and she also played wife of Ekow Smith Asante in The Good Old Days- Suffering To Lose also directed and produced by the legendary Kwaw Ansah.

Check out exclusive pictures from Portia Asare’s wedding:

LIL WIN AND KWAKU MANU ANGRY AT MOVIE AWARDS ORGANISERS!

Kumawood superstars, Kwadwo Nkansah Lil Win and Kwaku Manu have unleashed their anger on Ghana Movie Awards organisers.

Nkansa Liwin who is not happy about his single nomination this morning on XFM, an Accra-based radio station said he should have been nominated for the ‘A PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTOR IN A LEADING ROLE’ instead of ‘A PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTOR IN A SUPPORTING ROLE ‘. Kwaku Manu who is also not happy with the nomination list says Ghana Movie Awards is based on personal interest of the organizers.

Kwadwo Nkansah Lil Win questioned the organizers why he has been nominated again for ‘A PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTOR IN A SUPPORTING ROLE’ since he won the award for the same category last year.

In his opinion, organizers of the awards should have nominated him for the ‘A PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTRESS IN A SUPPORTING ROLE’ stating that “ you can’t nominate someone for upcoming actor of the year and nominate him again in the same category the following year. You have to nominate him for bigger category if he meets the requirement. My movies prove that I could have been nominated for that category.
 
I won award for this category last year and instead of nominating me for the lead role, they have put me there again’.

The father of one added that the organizers of Ghana Movie Awards have not called to tell him about his nomination and if they don’t call him before the main event, he won’t be present at the event. He said friends who saw it on various websites called to give him the information about his nomination but not from the event organisers.

Lil Win continued that awards are not really important to him because they are not free and fair. “If my fans love what I’m doing, I have to keep it up and do it more. I’m not focusing on awards because they give it those they know” he told Nana Mensah on XFM 95.1 in Accra.

Kwaku Manu who arrived from America days ago also speaking on the mid-morning show, ‘Brunch2Lunch’ on Radio Univers 105.7 on Tuesday stated that awards are not organized in Ghana but ‘metals’ are given to friends based on personal interest of the organisers. He said movie award organizers have made it so obvious that the awards are meant for Accra actors but not as it is supposed to be, looking at its name.

“Let’s be truthful here, how can you organize movie awards and nominate about three or four people from Kumasi. People might say because I wasn’t nominated that is why I am saying this but it is not so. I don’t pray for awards when I go on my knees. The organizers have made things so obvious. Everybody can see that”

“You can sit in the house and say I love this man, which is how our awards have become. Whether is Kumawood or what awards, it is not important. I even heard about radio awards and how people were complaining.”

The ‘I’m kiss you’ coiner cautioned that they either improve on their performance or stop organizing the awards.

2013 Ghana Movie Awards organized by Ghollywood Production (GP) Limited comes off on Monday, December 30th, 2013 at the Accra International Conference Centre.

“MUSICIANS WHO ARE NOT DANCERS CAN'T OWN ANY DANCE” - SLIM BUSTERR

The heat in the industry seems to be getting hotter and interesting as each day passes by. While some musicians are busy claiming they are the “Kings and Queens” of some particular genres, others are also claiming ownership over Azonto, Alkayida and some other dance types in the creative industry.

Over the weekend, Flex newspaper had an interview with dancer and musician Slim Busterr on issues bordering on the entertainment industry, prominent among which was his take on diss songs and the fight over the ownership of Azonto and Akayida dances.
  
In his response, he said 'diss' songs are part of every music industry and sometimes serves as a reminder for some sleeping artistes to up their games. He explained saying that even though it appears unhealthy for the industry, it has its own advantages. Aside that he said what irritates him is when a singer or rapper who finds it very difficult to dance to his own song on stage and in his music videos comes out to claim ownership of a particular dance in the industry.
 
“I wish the media will ask these people the right questions because some of these musicians and choreographers making noise about ownership of these dance can't even do them well and don't even know the origin of these dance yet claim ownerships of it. I think it`s high time we ask some of them to shut up. Some musicians for some reasons are only taking advantage of especially the up and coming ones. Enough is enough; they should stop enjoying the fruits of another man's labour,” Slim said.
  
The 'dance machine' who has been dancing for the past 27 years is not interested in claiming ownership of a particular dance but believes the right thing must be done to keep the industry going. According to him, the efforts of hard working musicians must be recognized and celebrated. He said at his age and experience in the industry, he's more or less like a 'watch dog' to the industry now and is ready to bark at any person who for some reason will like to take what doesn't belong to him or her.
 
“I believe if anyone wants to claim ownership of a dance, the person should either be a dancer himself or a choreographer and not just mentioning the name of the said dance in your song and then tell the public in interviews that you created it. You should be someone who can create a new dance in your videos or at the release of each of your album. Because every dance that has gained international recognition was created by dancers and performers and not just musicians,” he vehemently stated.

“YOU DON'T NEED NEGATIVE STORIES TO ATTRACT READERS”: HAMMER OF DA LAST TWO

We all know that publicity is what a company or individual receives when something prominent happens and when the notable event is good, the publicity usually attracts new client and gives the company something to brag about in future.

Most times bad publicity is unintended, a company or individual does something they think is positive and end up getting bad reaction from people. Oscar Wilde (an Irish writer and poet): once said 'there is no such thing as bad publicity.' He explained that the only thing worse than being talked about is not being talked about.

But popular Ghanaian sound engineer/producer Hammer of the last two has lamented that there is a thing call bad publicity and that bad publicity is not helping the Ghanaian entertainment industry in anyway.
   
Hammer who made this revelation to Flex newspaper stated that he has been reading almost all the stories in the various entertainment newspapers, websites and also follow stories in the entertainment media.
 
Giving his observations about these stories, he lamented that the negative stories about the arts is over-shadowing the good ones so journalists and arts writers should try and do something about it. He added that Ghanaian entertainment journalists don't need only the negatives to attract readers, but most of the time; the positive stories also attract more readers as well.
 
Hammer of  The Last Two, born Edward Nana Poku Osei, stated that the entertainment media is doing a great job and whether the industry likes it or not, the entertainment media has become a powerful tool but all he can suggest to the media is to try and work together with the artistes so together we can or help promote the industry.
 
“The artiste needs the entertainment media and the journalist also needs the artiste, but when it appears the media is always searching for the downfall or the bad side of the artiste, it is quite worrying,” he lamented.