This year’s Ghana Music Awards
Nominee jams which took place over the weekend in Tamale will go down in
history as the most dramatic so far in the 15 years of VGMA.
Right
from the airport main artistes billed to perform including Samini,
Sarkodie, Castro and other almost got stranded when officials of Africa
World Airline (AWA) decided to leave the stars behind at the airport
even though all the artistes were present before passengers began
boarding because according to them "they had closed counter".
Mrs.
Theresa Ayoade and George Quaye of Chaterhouse somehow were able to get
the next available flight for all the artistes to arrive safely in
Tamale on Saturday evening after the airline sorted out a technical
problem which delayed the flight for almost an hour.
The much
anticipated show started at about 9pm on Saturday evening April 5 as
planned with some Tamale based artistes followed by new artistes Cabum,
Eno, MzVee, Episode, AK Songstress and Strong man who have been selected
for the “VGMA Unsung” competition. The new acts put up great
performances to entertain the crowd.
Gospel sensation Joyce
Blessing then took over the stage and turned the show into a big church.
Immediately Joyce Blessing left the stage a very strong wind preceded a
heavy rain storm which abruptly ended the show that was barely getting
warmed up.
After the rain, organizers had no choice than to
postpone the rest of the performances to the next day Sunday April 6
because all the equipments including the sound, light, LED screen,
backdrops among other things were soaked in water. Even though
Charterhouse-the organizers went through a hard time convincing
remaining artistes; Samini, Sarkodie, Edem, Stonebowy and Castro to
spend an extra day in Tamale, they agreed to wait for the love of their
fans in Tamale.
On Sunday evening music fans gathered again in
their thousands to continue from where they left off. The night saw
memorable performances from these carefully selected artistes. Edem
brought energy and precision on stage. Castro proved why he is still
relevant and strong both in the studio and on stage after 15 years of
doing music.
Fast rising dancehall crooner Stonebowy showed how
fast he has matured from an underdog to becoming a great live band
performer. His splendid performance attracted loud cheer from the crowd.
Samini as always gave the crown just the right dose of his brand of
music.
He communicated with his fans intermittently and surely
got them to wave their handkerchiefs. He also gave a feel of authentic
Fante Rap with live band by the new High Grade Family act Kofi Kinaata.
Sarkodie
who undoubted is the most popular artiste in Tamale presently, turned
the show upside down when he mounted the stage. The crowd rapped along
every single song Sarkodie dropped as though they rehearsed with him.
Sarkodie himself was touched by the genuine love his fans showed him.
It
was almost a great show by all standards until something very serious
and so sad ended the show just when Sarkodie was warming up.
Keep
reading for video and pictorial details of what really happened at the
Tamale Sports Stadium forecourt on Sunday April 6 between the Police and
the crowd.
Checkout the exclusive pictures below:
It is only normal for any guy to look
at this figure twice. I say normal because guys naturally love ‘meat’
and therefore I do not find any reason for fast rising Nigerian actress
Evia Simon to be worried if guys really want to have word with her or
appreciate her figure.
At least most women dread for men to
admire them but do not. The pretty actress expressed her displeasure
over the way men reacted when they saw her and described it as
embarrassing.
I find their reaction annoying sometimes and
embarrassing. Some even go as far as screaming and they let me know I am
the reason they are screaming.
One of the craziest things a guy
ever did was to leave his car parked along the roadside and entered the
same cab with me just to have a word with me because if he had kept on
driving he would have missed me.”
I am not the type of girl who
is only interested in money. I believe in love. To me, love comes first.
I hate to have anything to do with a guy because of his money.
The
actress has so far acted in movies like ‘Three Generals’, ‘Stubborn
Generals’, ‘Ifunanya’, ‘Oga Madam’, ‘Men in Bondage’, ‘Girls Cot’, ‘When
Love Dies’ and many others
Ghanaian movie producers in Kumawood
who intend to involve foreign actors in their movies should expect to
pay a levy to the Film Producers Association of Ghana (FIPAG) and the
Actors Guild.
The measure, according to Asare Hackman, president
of FIPAG, is meant to protect the Ghanaian movie producers and the
industry as a whole, but “not scare off foreigners”.
The
leadership of FIPAG has expressed worry over what they term the influx
of Nigerian actors into the local movie industry. A few Nigerian acts
have been spotted in some famous Kumawood movies; a situation which
appears to be gaining grounds in Ghana. The situation, according to the
President of FIPAG, would prevent some Kumawood actors from getting
roles in movies.
“The coming of Nigerian actors and actresses
into Ghana to shoot our local movies is a worry to me and FIPAG as well.
It is a worry basically because most of our local films are not in
English. You know we have a huge market for Twi movies in Ghana and if
we allow these artistes to come and take the role of Ghanaian artistes,
it means that we are depriving our artistes here in Ghana from getting
jobs,” the FIPAG boss told News One.
This new trend, according to
Mr. Hackman, came into being because there was no regulation to check
the situation “making it look like it was free for all.”
“Now we
have put a system in place. Before a foreign artiste comes to Ghana to
shoot a movie, the Ghanaian producer who engaged the artiste will pay a
levy to FIPAG and the Actors Guild before the artiste will be allowed to
work,” he stated.
Some Kumawood producers have argued that if
they pair the Nigerian actors with Ghanaian artistes, the possibility of
sales of the movie increasing is high.
“At least what we have
put in place now will check the situation. People are starting to be
cautious about which foreign artiste they bring down. Indeed, some
producers can afford to pay all the sanctions but what we are trying to
do is to try to put some measures in place to check the industry.
We
should be careful about the seed that we are sowing as producers
because if we are not careful, the likes of Lil Win and Kweku Manu will
start to charge according to how much the producers pay these Nigerian
artistes to act for them,” he added.
However, some players in the
movie industry have held that no producer is mandated to pay FIPAG or
Actors Guild any levy should they decide to bring down foreign actors.
They also warned that the move by the union might create problems for
Ghanaian actors who also ply their trade in Nollywood.
Famous face of Efiewura, a local
drama series, Auntie B, born Harriett Naa Akleh Okantey, has said she
has not received her award after 2 years of winning the Best Female
Actress in TV Series at the Ghana Movie Awards in 2012.
She made this revelation while speaking to Don Billy on the Mixed Grill Morning Show on www.hedjorleonlineradio.com.
“I
was asleep and I started receiving congratulatory messages and phone
calls from friends and loved ones but I didn’t know what it was about,”
she said.
“I had just received an award from Kumawood so I
thought they were replaying the video not knowing Nana Ama Macbrown and
Gloria Sarfo received a different award on my behalf at the 2012 Ghana
Movies Awards,” she recounted.
She said she thought it wise to
take the award on set when she meets with Nana Ama Macbrown to shoot the
next episode of the Efiewura series but to her surprise, she was told
that the award was collected by the organisers before they left the
event.
She made it known to Entertainment Today that she has been
in touch with Fred Nuamah who is one of the organisers of the Ghana
Movie Awards and she was assured that she would receive it but that has
not happened.
“I have wasted lot of credits and money on this
issue so I have even decided not to comment on it any longer. I was
shocked when Fred Nuamah came on TV in 2013 to say that all the actors
and actresses on the night have received their award,” he said.
According
to her, she heard rumours that some major players in the industry said
she didn’t deserve the award that is why she hasn’t been given the award
till date.
Nollywood actress Chika Ike, has revealed that she is set to marry again once the ideal man walks up to her.
According
to the brand Ambassador of energy drink, ‘Bullet,’ who was once married
to Tony Eberiri in 2006 before they officially got divorced in 2013,
said that she was once a victim of domestic violence when she married
and almost lost her life in the process.
“I don’t want to talk
about the divorce because it is already in the past and I have since
moved on. I am still open to marriage and I might give it a second shot
because I believe in love. For now, I am most concerned with my own
happiness”.
Speaking about the high rate at which celebrities'
marriage are crashing, Chika said: “Celebrities also make mistakes. I
don’t think they have a bad time combining their successful careers and
managing the home front or their marriages on the side.”
“All the
talk about some men being afraid to walk up to a female celebrity and
ask her out does not make sense to me. Any man that cannot walk up to me
and toast me is not manly enough. I don’t have a long list or criteria
for my ideal man. All I want is that he must make me happy.”
Ever since hiplife artiste, D. Cryme
came to prominence with the release of his debut hit single, Kill Me Shy
in 2010, the artiste who refers to himself as ‘Twi Pop General’ has not
had it rosy sustaining hie fame and popularity.
It seems all his
songs after Kill Me Shy which earned him the Hiplife Song of the Year
gong the following year at the Ghana Music Awards did not meet the
expectation of music lovers.
But the Tema-based artiste has
debunked the perception that his popularity has waned and says he is
sill as popular as when he hit the limelight some four years ago.
He
told Showbiz last Thursday that different issues about life inspire
artistes during the composition of songs and his latest, 'No Mercy' just
came to mind when he was strategizing on how to bounce back in style.
“That
is not to say that my popularity has waned. That is not it all because I
still amass a large following on social network and it shows that my
fans are still behind me.
“No Mercy is just to ask people to
watch out for me as I do my own thing with music this year without an
iota of mercy”, he said.
Earlier this year, he released a new
song, Memories On The Wall which featured R&B singer Chase, and soon
after it has received considerable airplay, D. Cryme is back with No
Mercy.
Produced by Mix Master Garzy, No Mercy is a danceable hiplife tune unlike Memories On The Wall which was in the Slow tempo vain.
No
Mercy tells the story of a lady who has deceived many men and taken
their affections for her for granted until she meets D. Cryme who is
poised to teach her the lesson of her life showing her “no mercy.”
Last week, the blogosphere was
bubbling with the news of the death of the mother of popular Nollywood
actor, Jim Iyke. The 67 years old woman died on Monday, March 24, 2014.
In
a press statement made available to nigeriafilms.com by the actor’s
publicist, Mitch Ngaman, it stated that Jim Iyke’s mother, “Mrs Ngozi
Gladys Okelue Esomugha, was born on May 3, 1947, and succumbed toa long
battle with illness.”
The statement quoted Jim Iyke:- , “she (her
late mum) was a force of nature. My big sis, my 1st wife, my
confidante, my rock, my critique, my greatest fan and regal leader.
“She
was a radiant, gorgeous woman with a smile bigger than the sun and
always ready to embrace anyone for all the good and even wrong reasons.
“My
sun is gone. The dull numbing ache in my heart will never be pacified
by any woman alive. Not my lover, sisters nor even a daughter I may one
day bear.
“The relationship of a mother and an only son is
uniquely eternal and spiritual, transcending human comprehension. Mine
with Gladys is even far strangely beyond that.
“They say it’s a blessing if a son buries his mother and not the other way around. I'm not sure they’re entirely right.
“They
also said one never recovers from the loss of their mother. I hope they
are right! May I never recover from the memories of your celestial
love, sacrifices, warmth, your contagious laughter and merciless wit.
“Your
enthusiasm for life and service of others was infectious. I’ll miss you
each and every waking moment of my life. I know you're in a better
place now.
“I’ll carry on everything you stood for ‘til my last days.
“You came and saw and conquered.
“Adieu Gladys from your boy Jim.
“I love you till the last breathe I take.”
Meanwhile, the family is yet to announce the funeral rites.
