NO MONEY FOR KUMAWOOD STARS' TRIP TO BRAZIL

Right after the government through the ministry for youth and sports unveiled 15 member celebrity ambassadors for the World Cup, Kumawood actors led by Bill Asamoah expressed their malaise towards the list.

There were reports after Bill Asamoah's outburst that government later sponsored a group of seven Kumawood actors with tickets to travel to Brazil and support the senior national team. The seven according to Wayoosi were supposed to travel to Brazil on Saturday at 10pm but as at 12pm on Monday, June 16, the group excluding actress Kyeiwaa were in Accra.

What stopped them from travelling to Brazil on Saturday to watch the first Black Stars match which comes off tonight? According to Kumawood actor Wayoosi, the non-governmental organization known as Sports Education and Management which is sponsoring them to Brazil has not paid them for their services.

Wayoosi stated that he made the non-governmental organization aware that he will take part payment of his fee before he leaves Ghana for the World Cup but they have not fulfilled the request.

Wayoosi added that he will stay behind and watch the matches on TV should the organisers delay their traveling for seven days.

When Edward Colman, CEO of Sports Education and Management was contacted, he said all is set for the Kumawood actors to leave the country but confirmed that the amount to be paid to them is not ready which has delayed them from travelling.

He added that the list of Kumawood actors travelling for Brazil are ten contrary to earlier reports that they were seven. According to Edward Colman, the cost to travel each person to Brazil is $7,700 with a pocket money of $2,300 summing up to $10,000. He explained that the $7,700 for each individual covers the feeding, accommodation, and upkeep of the person in Brazil.

He said the organization needs $18,700 to travel the ten Kumawood personalities to Brazil. He further pleaded with individuals and organizations to come to their aid to generate the money

The list of stranded Kumawood actors in Accra are Akua Ataa Kyeiwaa, Wayoosi , Yaw Daabo, Niini, Fumyaa, Kwame Frederick, Jones Agyemang and others.

IS UCHE JOMBO THE RICHEST ACTRESS IN NOLLYWOOD?

Uche Jumbo has gone to the US and is staying there until next year after Childbirth. Before she travelled, I could not believe my ears when I was told that she has produced her sixteenth movie, as we speak now Uche has about eight movies yet to be released, some of them are scheduled to be released in June 2015, that is a big one from the lady who started in Nollywood as a ‘waka pass.’ And I learnt she is the only actress who has attained such feat and produced that number of movies in Nollywood, one paper even reported that she is the richest actress in Nollywood, I don’t want to believe that though.

Uche Jombo has had over one hundred movies to her credit. As a screenwriter, she has written and co-written several movies, some of which include: Visa to Hell, The Celebrity, Games Men Play, Girls in the Hood & A Time to Love. Uche Jombo went on to produce her own movies which includes Nollywood Hustlers, A Mother’s Fight, Lies Men Tell, After The Proposal, Under Your Skin, Unconditional, Almost Perfect, Oge's Sister, False, A Long Night, to mention but few.

SAMINI OPENS DANCESTARDOM PUB

Last Friday saw the grand opening of Samini’s Dancestardom Lounge and Restaurant in Dansoman, Accra.

The centre comprises a night club, restaurant and a sitting area which overlooks a performance stage. It also has a small practice golf court.

The Dancehall King told Graphic Showbiz at the event his desire to run a business that would run on a daily basis is what motivated him to open his pub.

He promised that Dancestardom was not going to take him away from music since he will not be managing the day to day affairs of the place himself. He said being the owner of the pub was a totally different business from Samini Music and the High Grade Family.

Touching on the clientele for Dancestardom, Samini said “Everybody is invited to my pub. I didn’t set it up for any particular target audience, it is for everyone. If you come here, if whatever that is going on suits your standard, you are welcome to enjoy it”, he said.

According to Samini who is recognised for albums like Dankwasere, Samini and Dagaare, for now, he would be performing at Dancestardom from time to time but he would have a defined schedule later. He said that he would encourage other artistes to use his premises to perform.

“It is a business open to everybody and not just artistes. The place can be used to shoot videos, host events such as wedding receptions, parties among others. It is a place for every function”, he said.

While at it, the multiple award winning artiste also advised his fans and underground artistes to stay focused and apply positive attitude to work. “As individuals, we should always be on our toes and adapt new trends not necessarily following what others are doing.

“Be firm in whatever you do. Believe in your art and modify it to suit current trends”, he added.

At the event, Samini’s parents and some family members were there to support him. When Showbiz spoke to his father, Mr. Andrews Samini, he said that he has always been supportive of his son ever since he started singing in church. He said he never stopped him from what he wanted to do.

“I must admit I initially wanted him to do science back then when he was still in school but when he told me it was music he preferred, I didn’t stop him at all. I motivated him and asked him to persevere and today, I am very proud of him”, he said.

Some celebs who graced the occasion were musicians Chase, Ezy, Atumpan, Miss Naa of YFM and actress, Gloria Osei Safo.

STOP COMPLAINING AND WORK HARD – EDEM TELLS MUSICIANS

Ghanaian Musician, Dening Edem Hotor, popularly known as Edem, has stressed how tough it was as an Ewe rapper to break through the music scene which was mainly dominated by English, Twi and Ga artistes. ?

Edem disclosed on XFM’s WANABEE show with Thompson C.D Nortey that coming from a poor background and a relegated region, he decided to divert his course into music because that was his only choice to grab early success in life.

Responding to a question on the state of the Ghanaian music industry, the “Koene” hitmaker disclosed how disappointed he was and added that there has not been any improvement on issues of royalties and copyrights which are yet to be dealt with.

He therefore cautioned artistes to find other alternatives to make money instead of complaining all the time. Edem advised his fellow musicians to demand from promoters what they deserve.

The founder of “I am Edem foundation” said he decided to work mostly with Hammer because of his patience and the effort he puts into his projects comparing him to American Music Producer, Dr. Dre.

The award winning artiste advised underground artistes not to allow difficulties they encounter curtail their vision and ambitions.

He entreats the public to buy albums.

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.