VODAFONE ICONS- MIXED EDITION KICKS OFF ON FEBUARY 26TH…

Barring any last minutes hitches, the second edition of the Vodafone Icons singing competition will kick off on selected national television stations beginning Sunday February 26, 2012. The head of corporate communications, Carmen Bruce- Annan has promised viewers and followers of the show an improved version of the last year’s.


Dubbed it, ‘Vodafon Icons, The Mixed Edition’, this year’s unlike the previous ‘Divas Edition’ will mix both ladies and gentlemen in groups of three to compete among themselves for the ultimate prize fame and cash.

At a Press preview of the first episode of the new season at the Silverbird Cinema yesterday for journalist, host of the show, Benny Blanco said,”everything about the show has changed except me and Gena West”.

Indeed, two of the judges from the previous season have been replaced by Radio personality, Miss Naa and Sound engineer Appiah Dankwah popularly known as ‘Apietus’ in showbiz. This year’s auditioning kicked off in Tamale on 20th January and ended in Accra at the La Palm Hotel on 12th February.

If scenes from the first episode is anything to go by, then this year’s Icons will be fun to watch, One memorable scene was when a 54year old man turned up to audition in Takoradi. The Winning group of the this edition will walk away with 60,000 Ghana Cedis, a recording contract, performances on the same stage with an international act at the Vodafone ‘020 Live’ Concert and a brand new 4x4 car.

Viewers can vote by texting the name of your favorite group to Vodafone short code 1738. Last year’s female winners of the singing competition, R n M are already enjoying stardom with the release of their singles and music videos and have performed on various entertainment stages in the country.

Vodafone Icons, ‘mixed edition’ will be shown on TV3, Etv Ghana and GTV
Source: XfmNewsCenter

I Will Do Better Than Lumba

With the political season almost here, musicians have begun jostling for attention and hip life artiste, Kwaw Kese, has thrown in the first salvo, indicating he would do better than what Daddy Lumba did for the NPP if any political party approaches him to do a song. Since Jewel Ackah did the anthem Arise Arise for the National Democratic Congress (NDC) in the 90s, it has almost become an unwritten rule for musicians to perform for, align themselves either with or compose a piece for the political parties. Indeed, some political parties adopted popular hits to run their campaigns or as their theme songs. The New Patriotic Party (NPP) used the popular Cindy Thompson’s Awurade Kasa in 2000. However, during the 2008 elections, musicians were contracted to compose songs for political parties’ campaign and it looks like the trend has come to stay. Who can forget Daddy Lumba’s 'Nana Winner' for NPP’s presidential candidate Nana Akuffo Addo or Lucky Mensah’s ‘Come Back’ for President Atta Mills. Talking to 'Showbiz', Kwaw said although Daddy Lumba did a brilliant work for Nana Addo, the Abodam man believes he has the talent to compose a piece that Ghanaians will love better. “All my songs have been hits and with the amount of money I will demand from the political parties, I will do a wonderful song. Lumba is good but I believe I will do better than him”, kwaw Kese said. The King of the Streets who is noted for songs like Popping, Na Ye Atal, Odamu and Ma Kwan Ndam said he would look for the best sound engineer, get the right lyrics and make sure Ghanaians really enjoy the song. Kwaw sees no problem singing for any political party because he is a businessman, more so, he said Ghana is a democratic country and everyone has the right to freedom of expression. He disclosed that, he will work with any political party that approaches him with a good sum of money. “It could be NPP, CPP, PPP or NDC. Whichever comes with the amount I am looking for gets my services. So a party could be the last to approach me but if the money being offered is the juiciest, I will go for that,” he added. Although he wouldn’t mention the amount, he said the money should be just right to keep him going for the next 20 years if he decides to stop doing music.   Kwaw Kese Asked the reason why he has decided to sing for a political party this year, Kwaw said as a musician, one needs to do other things to avoid going hungry. Rebuffing the idea that his music career could be jeopardized if he is seen to be aligned to a particular political party, Kwaw said “I am selling a product and any party who wishes to buy is welcome but I don’t think I will be doing any wrong here” he added. He says he doesn’t have any political party in mind yet neither has he written any song but once he receives the cash from the political party, he will put pen on paper and put something good together. “I am keeping my fingers crossed for a political party to approach me. I have been waiting for a long time to do this”, he added.

Source: Graphic Showbiz

Ghanaian rapper D-Black to launch clothing line

Ghanaian hip-hop sensation D-Black will soon unveil his clothing line called Black Avenue Clothing, targeting consumers in the age group of 10-40 years.

The line created this year itself, was developed with an eye to present comfortable and reasonably priced premium street wears for the youngsters and fashion lovers who have adopted the rapper’s style of hip-hop/hip-life.

Polo shirts, T-shirts, sports jackets, sweat shirts, vests and fitted caps will be included in the collection.

D-Black, the Ghana born musician, entertainer and entrepreneur, earned himself a recognition in 2010 with launch of his solo album ‘Music, Love & Life’, which gave him several awards and nominations.

Following the successful journey of two years, he is now all set to commercially venture in the Ghanaian markets with launch of his new collection in June this year.

The man who has a keen eye to spot talent and an innate sense of entrepreneurship, instituted his personalized record label Black Avenue Muzik in 2008 while he was in university, and since then has been a driving factor in Ghanaian hip-hop music.

In spite of being an urban clothing line in the Ghanaian market, the new collection would be quite reasonably priced for the real hip-hop and hip-life music fans, D-Black said.

The new line would be quite trendy and the apparel pieces would be made from best quality fabric to afford the wearer with a sense of comfort and confidence, he added.

Black Avenue Clothing’s first line ‘The Revelation’ would hit the markets in June this year, just before the release of D-Black’s sophomore album, ‘The Revelation’ in August/September.



Source: Fibre2fashion. com.