OMOTOLA:THE QUEEN AT AFROMEDIA EVENT

By Niyi Tabiti

Omotola has denied wanting to become the Nigerian version of Beyonce, though she adores her and has a large portrait of the American diva in her office and another one in her 'heart'

[caption id="attachment_2147" align="alignleft" width="305" caption="Omotola"][/caption]

Omotola would not want to be seen as the JLO of Africa or Halle Berry replica but she cuts the picture of a real diva. Some think she is arrogant but her flamboyant lifestyle could be a reason why some are just envious.After making her impact in Nollywood, Nigeria's vast movie industry (The biggest in Africa) the actress is pursuing a vigorous career in music.Now that is no news, after all, her recent album launch was a glamorous event that brought together celebrities from within and outside the country.

The gist here is that the sexy mother of four seems to waxing stronger. She is giving it all her all despite critics here and there that she is just wasting her time in music sector.

Recently, she performed at the talk of the town Afromedia event at Eko Hotel, Lagos. D'banj and other notable artistes performed at the same event yet Omotola proved that she is good enough.

For now, she is seen as the most serious music act produced by 'Nollywood'

Remember, Jim Iyke and Genevieve Nnaji are some of popular faces in Nigerian movies who have tried to launch their music career in the past. Stephanie Okereke once said she was going to release a single but till date, we are still waiting.

-gistmaster.com

PEPSI,ROYAL EXCHANGE JOINS NIGERIA IDOL SPONSORSHIP LIST-WINNER GETS N5 MILLION

[caption id="attachment_2140" align="alignleft" width="480" caption="Nigeria Idol hosts-Misi, Anis"][/caption]

As Nigerian Idol makes to start airing on Sunday November 21, 2010 Speculations as to whether the grand prize has been increased reached high points this week with the introduction of two additional sponsors- Pepsi and Royal Exchange

Apart from fast rising telecommunications giant Etisalat, sources say that with the introduction of Pepsi and Royal Exchange, the team at Nigerian Idol has increased the winner’s take home by 5 million Naira.

‘Yes, the grand prize has increased with the introduction of our new sponsors, but we will have to direct you to our PR team” Communication’s Manager Adaora Mbelu said when contacted last week.

A spokesperson at BlackHouse Media, publicists for the show corroborates Mbelu; even explaining further “Of course, there are new sponsors on the project and Pepsi Cola is one of them. And yes the grand prize is now 7.5M. Royal Exchange has also signed up, it just gets bigger and bigger.

No words on the figures these big spenders are committing on the project.

Fans of the Idols Franchise all over the world are familiar with the large Coca-Cola cups on American Idol Judges’ tables since 2002. The question now is if Nigerian Idol is treading that part with Pepsi Cola?

Will we be seeing Pepsi cups on the judges’ table when the show starts?

Like American Idol, Nigerian Idol aims to find the best singer in country. The former has over the year amassed a followership of 25 million, and till date is the most watched reality TV in the world. Nigerian Idol will discover that one talent who will go on to become an international superstar and music ambassador- Selling millions of records and packing concert venues across the world.

The first season of Nigerian Idol will be aired across Nigeria on several local TV stations and cable networks as well. For five consecutive months you will have the pleasure of watching Nigeria’s  biggest music talent competition on Thursdays and Sundays and have the opportunity to root and vote for your favourite Idol wannabe.

Yemisi Fajimolu will be hosting the first season of Nigerian Idol. Popularly known as Misi by her radio fans, she will be playing the role of famous Idols host Ryan Seacrest alongside Anis Holloway, a former reality show contestant

The show will air on 15 Channels including AIT, STV, NTA, CRBCTV Calabar, GTV Abeokuta, Galaxy TV, PRTV Jos and KWTV Ilorin

Others include DBSTV Asaba, ESBC Enugu, IMOTV, DITV Kaduna, HITV, TVC and Superscreen

Nigerian Idol is brought to you by Etisalat, in association with Pepsi and Royal Exchange

WHO’S DOING WHAT AT NIGERIAN IDOL 2010

Licensee-         Optima Media Group

Judges-            Audu Maikori, Jeffery Daniel and Yinka Davies

Host-               Yemisi Fajimolu(Misi), Anis Holloway

Sponsor-          Etisalat , Pepsi and Royal Exchange

Production-     Rapid Blue Format

PR-                  BlackHouse Media

THE WORLD RECEIVE THE FUTURE AWARDS TEAM IN SA,UK

[caption id="attachment_2133" align="alignleft" width="480" caption="Chude Jideonwo, Gbenga Ogunbode of TIEC, Isabella Ogunseye, Adebola Williams and Dapo of Oloja.com"][/caption]

Fresh from Benin City, where it engaged with over 1000 young people in conjunction with the University of Benin-based CFI, the organisers of The Future Awards moved on for the international phase of its annual Town Hall meetings.

The South African Town Hall Meeting held at Club Hush on Friday November 5 and was organised in partnership with Storm 360, which held a reception for Storm artistes who had swept nominations and awards at the Channel O Awards. “We thought it was a fine opportunity to keep the Nigeria flag alive by participating in the activities of The Future Awards this season,” said Kenneth Oliko, Communication Coordinator for the awards.

That train quickly moved to the United Kingdom. On Wednesday, 10 November at the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation in East London, the official UK town hall meeting held. Youth leaders including Gbenga Sesan (two time winner of the awards), Subomi Plumptre, Oladapo Opayinka and others joined the meeting, which lasted two hours. Other guests included London-based entertainment heads Ayo Shonaiya and DJ Abass, Funmi Ajose-Adeogun amongst others.

There was a performance by a new act called Tipsy as well as comedy and a discussion about Nigeria and its issues. Discussions centred on the role that Nigerians in the Diaspora can play in changing the country. “I am not a young person,” Mrs. Ajose-Adeogun said to laughter, responding to a participant who claimed that living in Nigeria was “a waste” of his life. “But I have known this country since I came here as a student in 1976 and then after which I returned to Nigeria to work. I came back because I knew something we all need to know: there is only one place where you are truly a First Class citizen and that is Nigeria. We have a responsibility to build that country; even if for our sakes.”

The #IamNigeria campaign, with videos from 2face Idibia, Stephanie Okereke and others was also shown to the guests.

After London, it was on to Cambridge, where The Future Awards took its message to students under the Cambridge University Nigeria Society. The awards organisers, Adebola Williams and Chude Jideonwo joined awards’ nominee and award-winning journalist, Tolu Ogunlesi as he spoke with a cross section of undergraduate and graduate students on Saturday, 13 November at St Edmund’s College.

The event, called “A Taste of Nigeria” tried to “showcase Nigeria's many facets and rich culture” and ended with talks from the three guests, who spoke about the awards, this year’s campaign, how people in the Diaspora can be a part and other issues.

Jideonwo also took the opportunity to speak about the RSVP campaign of the EnoughisEnough Nigeria movement, an advocacy coalition, which he founded through The Future Project. The RSVP (Register, Scrutinize Vote, Protect) campaign is geared towards ensuring that Nigerian youths are actively involved in all the process of the 2011 election.

“The international Town Hall Meetings are aimed at re-awakening the original Nigerian consciousness in Nigerians representing Nigeria everywhere,” Williams, who is Operations Director of the award’s noted in his remarks. “This we do because The Future Awards are targeted at building a generation of Nigerians who are committed working to participate in achieving the Nigeria of our dreams and to lead that charge.”

Nominations for the awards kicked off on October 1 and have been extended to November 21. Nominees must be Nigerian citizens and must be aged 18 – 31. Nominations are on www.thefuturenigeria.com and categories include Best Use of Science, Business Owner of the Year, Professional of the Year (Corporate), Creative Artist of the Year, On-Air Personality of the Year and 15 others.

MANGO SUPER SALE!

UP to-70% starting Nov17 up until Dec5.
It's going to be a smashing MANGO sale in Lagos and Abuja. Get more Glam into your wardrobe with fantastic bargains from MANGO this season.


Abuja: Ground Floor, Store 13, Silverbird Entertainment Centre, Abuja
Lagos: 18, The Palms Shopping Mall, Lekki, Lagos, Lagos
Contact: Mango Lagos – 08099995599 | Mango Abuja – 08099994499

LINKS TO LATEST LIFESTYLE NEWS

All the links to excite you more are here courtesy of www.gistmaster.com 
 DSTV is going 'tough' with competitors.Quite unbelivable, they have crashed the price to the extent that soon 'aboki' selling sweet and biscuit around the corner of your street will be able to have one.lol...meanwhile right beside you is the picture of the beautiful MD of MNET Africa.
 read the story here DSTV GOES 'HARD' ON COMPETITORS

You can also read about the mother of all 40th birthday parties coming up in Lagos.Princess Cynthia Andrew the top Lagos female socialites and her friends are already painting Lagos red.See the details of the November 21 2010 event here. click HIGH SOCIETY WOMAN, CYNTHIA ANDREW CELEBRATES 40TH IN LAGOS

Read the story of how Spice intends to become Africa's number one lifestyle channel. At a recent press conference in Lagos, the company and their consultant, Mai Atafo reveal their plans Click SPICE TV PLANS BIG FOR 2011
Now, the Big Brother Africa all stars is over and all eyes will now shift to Nigeria in West Africa as the great search begins for the Next Movie Star. Click the link to read the interesting details of the top TV reality show.

NIGERIA:DSTV GOES 'HARD' ON COMPETITORS

[caption id="attachment_2120" align="alignleft" width="362" caption="BIOLA ALABI MD MNET AFRICA"][/caption]

By Niyi Tabiti

By the time you are reading this piece, loads of trailers will still be off loading its content of DSTV dish and decoders in various locations in Nigeria. Why? There is already a mad rush for it.

You can now get a DSTV for N9000. This was something that the least package was sold for about N25,000 some weeks back.

Gistmaster.com correspondent sighted trailers loaded with the dish at Ikeja some days back. "the sudden reduction coupled with other things shows that the company is ready to knock out its competitors off the market" said Garuba Ajilo, a businessman.

The only visible competitor was HITV and since they lost the broadcast rights for European Premiership on its cable channel, it was a big blow that would take sometime to recover. Nigezie, a youth based music channel also left.Though they decided to add up others, it has not been the same again for HITV .

Now with all the peps of showing is several TV channels (especially African magic which is now in different tribal languages), they have been able to come low. Even competitors won't believe that DSTV can now come so low.At the moment, even an 'Okada' rider or roadside mechanic can afford to buy one. A furniture maker who just his own DSTV at the new price of N9000 said that it is unbelievable that he can now use DSTV which use to be categorized a luxury item only meant for the rich.

now, young enterprise, especially football showing centres can now afford to erect to boost their business. Sulaiman Adekoya, a local musician explained to gistmaster.com in Yoruba that it good that the prices of pay TV has crashed in Nigeria. We must thank HITV that  took up the challenge in the first place. They were the ones that brought the price down in the first place being a Nigerian company. They also ensure that enough people get employment by constructing their own viewing centres and charging a stipulated fee so that people can come and watch premiership league.

Before now, only the rich has the opportunity of watching these games in the comfort of their homes.

The price crash seems to be the right period for DSTV. A Nigerian, Uti Nwanchukwu is still the man of the moment as he was recently declared winner of the Big Brother Africa all stars edition packaged by MNET

For those who are keen observers of pay TV in Nigeria,  DSTV has not done badly for a number of reasons. Since Multichoice, a south African company launched it operations  in Nigeria some years ago, it has engaged in many exciting things, though some still think it has not done enough.

ALL EYES ON AFRICA AS NEXT MOVIE STAR SEARCH BEGINS

[caption id="attachment_2114" align="alignleft" width="319" caption="Ifeanyi williams"][/caption]

On Wednesday, November 10, sixteen youths, drawn from across ten African countries, entered the Next Movie Star House in search of fame, pride and glory. They came well prepared. For the past two weeks, the housemates had been going through several training and grooming sessions by accomplished professionals as part of the organizers’ commitment to engendering an informative, entertaining and educative show. The executive producer of the show, Sola Fajobi says, “This year’s show is going to be especially very interesting because we have housemates from ten African countries who are all very talented in their own rights. The housemates are also conscious of the fact that they need to dig into the depth of their talents to convince viewers who would determine the ultimate winner that they deserve the NMS crown knowing full well that winners and contestants of NMS have gone on to achieve continental glory.”

This is the sixth edition of the NMS which birthed in 2005 to serve as a springboard for unheralded talents to enter the Nigerian movie industry in grand style. Over the years, the show has produced countless movie stars including Portia Yamahan, Tonto Dike, Annie Macaulay, Moyo Lawal, Eyo (who was on the last Project Fame West Africa), and Lydia Forson, the Ghanaian contestant in 2007 that went on to become a joint winner of the best actress award at the 2009 Africa Movie Academy Awards. Kevin Chuwang Pam who won the 2009 Big Brother Africa was a first runner up in the NMS in 2006 while Uti Nwachukwu, winner of the just concluded Big Brother Africa All Stars, was first runner up in the NMS 2007 edition. The 2010 NMS would be broadcast on NTA network every day until December 10.

EXHIBITORS ON PARADE - PART 3

WOW , we are on our third listing and there is still more to come .
Well today we have quite an interesting bunch. Just browse thru and see for yourself.

AFRICAN@LONDON – Its all about fabric – print, plain, voile, guinea. If you think you have seen it all, take a peek at what they have got, and you know there is so much more you have not seen.

MUD- Make Up -Make-Up Designory (MUD) is an international make-up company that recently launched in Nigeria, and has been creating genuine make-up products and providing quality education for over the past decade. In the international community, MUD has been the expert choice of make-up professionals, as its renowned make-up schools have produced renowned make-up artists on a global scale.
With a huge focus on true quality make-up, MUD promises long lasting wearability, flawless application, and radiantly accurate color.
All cosmetics products ranging from foundations, powders and bronzers to eye shadows, lip sticks, and brushes

MARIAM ILAKA -A simple debut collection done with bits and pieces of fabrics and trimmings in my archives. This collection is not based on a particular theme but a color world consisting mainly of black and white as an introduction of Mariam Ilaka.....a fashion company whose brand colors are black and white. In design direction this collection is very commercial...a cautious test of the Nigerian fashion market. It consists mainly of chic and classic easy to wear dresses with embroidery, beads and tulle details. The silhouette and stylelines are simple with injections of exaggeated shoulders,voluminous skirts and fluid dresses.

Republic Of Foreigner - REPUBLIC OF FOREIGNER (ROF) is a women’s apparel brand established with the aim of bringing out the spirit of freedom in all the ladies out there! Inspired by vintage dresses, fairies & pixies, beat poets, endless summers of love, and film, the creators developed a brand based on fun, love, and freedom! "We're like hippies just spreading the love…!"

ROF offers a wide selection of desirables--modern & vintage inspired clothing and accessories derived from the global fashion sphere.

All of the brand's fabrics are handpicked with care for style, wearability, and quality

Xclamations! by tomi rotimi
This line has been well known over time for their creative collections of linen designs, but this season, they are testing the waters with a jersey collection tagged - SUPERLATIVES -Xclamations is an African fashion label based in Nigeria. Our designs -are original classic pieces that are are always in style.

FLAWLESS STYLE Introducing to Nigeria, Flawless Style!

Flawless Style is a luxury lifestyle brand, which comprises of Flawless Hair, Flawless Skincare and Flawless Cosmetics.

Flawless Hair offers the best quality, luxurious 100% virgin Remy hair, hand selected from only the best sources around the world. Flawless hair comes in a variety of textures and styles. Choose from extensions for weaves, braid hair, Full Lace Wigs, Frontals, Closures and Lace Front Wigs. Flawless Hair also stocks the best in hair care products.
We cater to the needs of every individual client. Flawless Hair is the authorised distributor of Indique hair in Nigeria.
Flawless cosmetics and skincare is the authorised distributor for Becca cosmetics in Nigeria, an exclusive range of make up and skincare products for the woman who wants nothing but the best! Becca contains carefully selected, skin-loving ingredients designed to protect and nourish your skin while you look your best. Flawless Style… Your one-stop shop for your Luxurious beauty requirements!-

HIGH SOCIETY WOMAN,CYNTHIA ANDREW CELEBRATES 40TH. DETAILS OF THE NOV. 21 PARTY

[caption id="attachment_2109" align="alignleft" width="300" caption="photo:Princess Cynthia Andrew"][/caption]

By Niyi Tabiti

Guess what is the talk of the town birthday? it is no other than the the 40th birthday of Princess Cynthia Andrew.Going by preparations on ground, the high society ladies and many of friends promise to make it the mother of all parties.

At the moment the Estako North, Edo State born Cynthia is one of the commanders of the social circuit in the South West. She used to be married to one of the sons of the Alaafin of Oyo until they decided to go their separate ways. Though  Cynthia has been linked to different men, she is said to be very much involved with one of the South West governors.The governor use to be a force man and he is known to be very generous.

The governor, according to those in the know has been spoiling the young lady silly with all the luxury of life.gist merchant hinted gistmaster.com that he is one of those sponsoring Cynthia's birthday.

Cythia's 40th birthday party will hold on November 21 at 10 Degrees event  centre, Oregun, Lagos. At the moment, the Aso Ebi is going around. gistmaster.com gathered that the lace is going for N46,000 (About 200 Pounds Sterling).Most of her friends in Lagos and Abuja have already bought their own.Colour is blue for males and pink for females.

As part of her party rules, no woman is allowed to make her dress in iro and buba. It has to be stylish with modern touch.Men on their own are not allowed to wear agbada or cap to the birthday.

She will also use the opportunity of the birthday to launch her love foundation.

SPICE TV UNVEIL PLANS FOR AFRICA NUMBER ONE LIFESTYLE CHANNEL

[caption id="attachment_2103" align="alignleft" width="480" caption="L-R: OHIMAI ATAFO, CONSULTANT, FAITH INEGBE, BRAND MANAGER, SPICE AND OGECHI OKOLIE, SPICE SENIOR BRAND MANAGER DURING THE UNVEILING OF SPICE TV FASHION AND STYLE TV MAGAZINE 2011 PLANS AT THE SHERATON HOTEL, IKEJA – LAGOS ON FRIDAY 12 NOVEMBER 2010."][/caption]

Gistmaster.com

Spice TV, African’s top Beauty, Fashion and Lifestyle TV magazine program arrived on the scene with a view to add an edge and panache to the beauty, fashion and lifestyle entertainment industry has rolled out its plans for the year 2011. Spice TV which is from the stable of CMA (Consolidated Media Associates) content provider of Soundcity, Televista and Village Square TV is at the pulse of social and urban beauty, fashion and lifestyle activities which spotlights the biggest names in the fashion industry on African continent.

Spice TV a fully operational channel can be viewed on digital TV platforms like Startimes Nigeria and on free-to-air satellite every weekend across Africa and is currently working towards exclusive satellite carriage while maintaining an online presence on www.myspice.tv.

According to Ohimai Atafo on behalf of the Spice TV brand team, he mentioned in a recent interview” we are excited to mark positive growths and improvements on the Program because in addition to currently existing contents and events like Fashion Files, All Access, Runway Fiesta and Spice Haute Party etc, the channel is set to unveil new TV content and events in the year to come.

Starting with the Spice Red Carpet and Spice Fashion Police, which will  be launched live at the Soundcity Music Video Awards (SMVA) 2010. There will be program content to follow, like : Spice Super Model , Spice fashion week and Spice style Awards

Faith Inegbe, Brand Manager -Spice stresses the fact that the Spice Super Model is model search with a difference and will be focusing on developing and celebrating both male and female models unlike most model search that focus solely on females within the industry. The show will give young aspiring individual with interest in modelling a platform to express themselves and a window of opportunity to launch an international career.

“The Spice Fashion Week seeks to emulate what is currently being experienced in major fashion cities like New York, Milan, Paris and London” added  Ogechi Okolie Spice Senior Brand Manager. She further stresses that the Spice Fashion Week will be an excellent opportunity for Nigerians (and a few international) designers to show off their upcoming collections.

The fashion show will be as entertaining as it will be  engaging with a wide publicity coverage across media including newspapers, magazines, the  internet and television so that the public can experience the latest trend in fashion.

Spice TV intends to crown the year with a one of its kind Fashion and Style awards as never been seen before in Africa. The award is an outstanding merit award created to celebrate individuals and companies that have achieved remarkable results in the beauty, fashion and lifestyle industry, this is in line with the value and essence of the Spice brand.  The overarching idea to support, encourage and recognise hard work and growth in our ever evolving and dynamic beauty and fashion conscious continent. The awards will be a yearly event which will run through 3 to 4 months period with public nominations, voting, expert assessment process and the grand finale itself.

The award will seek to recognise certain area and personalities although not limited to the following;

• Style Icons of The Year


• Designer of the Year


• New Designer of the Year


• Model Of The Year


• Beauty & Fashion Publication of the year


• Beauty & Fashion program of the year


• Beauty & Fashion Photographer of the year


• Make up artist of the year


• Hair Stylist of the year

Spice TV is set to brings freshness and augment the Beauty, Fashion and Lifestyle entertainment in Nigeria and Africa at large. with a strong vision a fully  dedicated and capable team , it is certain that the glitz and glamour of Hollywood, the fashion of Milan, New York and Paris and the lifestyle of Monaco and Dubai will be brought ‘live’ to your screen by Spice TV in 2011.

NOLLYWOOD ACTOR, MIKE EZURUONYE MARRIES NKECHI IN LAGOS NIGERIA

[caption id="attachment_2093" align="alignleft" width="332" caption="Mike Ezuronye"][/caption]

By gistmaster.com

It was a landmark ceremony yesterday at Landmark Event Centre, Oniru, Victoria Island, Lagos when top nollywood actor, Mike Ezuruonye wedded his dearly beloved, Nkechi in grand style

No doubt the ladies man must have seen something unique in Nkechi. The couples' traditional wedding took place  in Imo State, Nigeria sometime in May 2010.

gistmaster.com gathered that their love story started 2 years ago.They met when Mike was on location in Abuja. Mike was at a residence to shoot and Nkechi was in the country from her Canada base at that time. She was visiting her godmother who happens to be the owner of the house Mike and co were using for the movie shoot.Before anyone knew what was going on, they have sealed their  the ' I will love you forever' contract.

Unlike the wedding of top comedian, Basket Mouth, which was lowly patronized by her fellow Glo ambassadors, this one was a festival of celebrities, with each one of them trying to out do the other with state of the art automobiles.

From actress, Rita Dominic who stepped in the rich style of her attire and chauffeur driven limousine to Ini Edo Ehigwina who came in a head turning Chrysler, others  such as Kate Henshaw,Ebube Nwangbo (She came in a hummer), Annie Macauley also came in eye popping cars.Others at the event included the duo of KC Presh,Psquare, Stella Damasus Nzeribe, Stephanie Okereke, Empress Njamah and others.Timaya was also around for a short time.

[caption id="attachment_2094" align="alignleft" width="290" caption="Mike Ezuronye and wife, Nkechi"][/caption]

Here is wishing the newest celeb couple in town all the best!!!