Category: Entertainment

Popular event host/wedding MC, Derekumor Ebiaremene Claude aka Shadow_mcfr has lamented since he met daughters of President Muhammadu Buhari, Halima Buhari Sheriff and Zara Buhari indimi, at a recent event in Abuja, he has been getting a lot of phone calls from family members and friends for financial assistance.

Many of the callers, he said, think he has collected his share of the national cake.

Shadow_mcfr, in a post on his Instagram handle, however said he only threw jabs at them and took a picture with them at the wedding ceremony of son of Borno Commissioner for Women Affairs and Social Development Mrs Zuwaira Gambo.

The ceremony held at the BMO event centre and garden, Abuja.

The colourful ceremony attracted wives of past Presidents, Governors, wives of Governors, members of the Federal/State Executive Council and Captains of Industries.

THE organisers of Dream Alive talent hunt led by comedian MC Pikolo, have called for entries for the 2023 edition of the platform that discovered Jonzing World signee Rema and Alpha P.

The talent hunt platform is committed to creating a unique platform in activating the overall entertainment prowess of the youths spanning virtually all segments like music, movie, comedy, dancing, instrumentalism, folklore and other forms of entertainment.

According to the organisers, contestants are expected to participate at the hunt show which will go a long way in attracting and generating massive interest in the average young Nigerians artistic talents that could be harnessed towards improving the economic stability of the country by showcasing their jaw-dropping skills which are yet to be tapped into.

Speaking about the 2023 edition, MC Pikolo said, “This year’s edition goes beyond talent hunting as the organisers have included empowerment programs for winners of the talent hunt. This is added to further encourage them and financially boost their entertainment careers. At DreamAlive Talent Hunt show, we are sincerely passionate about our youngsters’ artistic development, committed to their becoming admirable and award-winning entertainers/ entrepreneurs and giving them an avenue of becoming the greatest in their chosen artistic careers.”

NIGERIAN filmmaker Funa Maduka is one of the 16 jurors granting awards at the 2023 Sundance Film Festival, which kicks off on Wednesday, January 19, 2023.

Maduka is distinguished as one of the three jury members of the World Cinema Dramatic Competition, alongside Shozo Ichiyama and Annemarie Jacir.

The 2023 Sundance film festival will take place between January 19, 2023, and January 29, 2023, in person in Utah. Sixteen jurors will grant the awards for feature and short films, which will be announced on Friday, January 27. The jurors of the 2023 edition are Jeremy O. Harris, Eliza Hittman, and Marlee Matlin for U.S. Dramatic Competition; W. Kamau Bell, Ramona Diaz, and Carla Gutierrez for U.S. Documentary Competition; Shozo Ichiyama, Annemarie Jacir, and Funa Maduka for World Cinema Dramatic Competition; Karim Amer, Petra Costa, and Alexander Nanau for World Cinema Documentary Competition; Madeleine Olnek for the NEXT competition section; and Destin Daniel Cretton, Marie-Louise Khondji, and Deborah Stratman for the Short Film Program Competition.

Maduka is an award-winning filmmaker and the former head of International Original Films at Netflix where she worked with the world’s top global and emerging filmmakers. Over six years, she was positioned at the frontline of the company’s global expansion, managing the launch of the film offering across 100+ countries. She pioneered Netflix’s move into international film production, building a development slate across Europe, the Middle East, Asia, and Africa. Meanwhile, her film acquisitions brought Netflix its first film nominations at both the Golden Globes and the Academy Awards.  

NIGERIA’S Tungba artist, Dotun Future has hinted at the release of his new album in 2023 ahead of a U.S. tour.

Dotun and his D’Future band have teamed up with Sammek Moments Entertainment for the tour, which will see him performing in at least 13 locations including Maryland, Atlanta, New York, Houston, Chicago, among others.

It was gathered that the tour is also being put together in partnership with the alliance of Yoruba organizations, clubs and other well-established cultural associations to promote the values and morals of various Nigerian cultures while Dotun Future is in the US.

With numerous awards and recognition under his belt from African Traditional Music Festival, City People, Global Excellence, and Vicky Entertainment Dotun Future and his band recently bagged a nomination at the Yomafa Global Awards for Best Gospel Juju Artiste in the world.

As the dates to his tour gets closer he would be performing at some venue alongside Laolu Gbenjo.

Dotun and D’Future band have successfully released five albums which includes Alanu Mi, Give Thanks, Tributes to my mother, Baba ta le ran and Appreciation.

BUILDING on the box office successes of the past decade, Darlington Abuda, the lead producer at Peekaboo Productions, unveiled the company’s 2023 movie slate which features an eclectic lineup of films.

Abuda’s announcement presented some of the company’s 2023 projects including ‘The Illustrator,’ ‘My Boyfriend is a spy,’ ‘All in one night’ and ‘Japa.’

Speaking on the company’s plans for the year, Abuda said Peekaboo Productions has continued to grow by leaps and bounds every year, by taking on exciting new projects and working with top-of-the-line production companies including Corporate World Entertainment Limited, Filmone Entertainment, Rok Studios, Williams Uchemba Productions, and Umenze Media to name a few.

“But this year is really going to be impressive because we are taking things a notch higher with a full slate of creatively explorative projects that will all make an avantgarde statements because each film will be unique, interesting characters and compelling storytelling will be the common denominators in every title that will be produced by the company this year,” he said. 

In addition to the film slate, Abuda said his production outfit will also be working and collaborating with some partners to produce movies for theatrical and streaming platforms. “After an unprecedented year for Nollywood with great box office strides as people lost their fear of covid and the cinemas once again started recording good numbers, we are open and excited to also work with willing Investors to create titles that will be a sumptuous feast to the eyes.”

He went on to say that as an incubator helping to launch the careers of the next generation of creatives, he will be working with some selected directors, producers and actors to ensure that there is always a pool of talents in the industry. “It’s hard, as for emerging creatives, to find safe, on-going mentorship and providing online and direct guidance is part of our goals for this year, and they were able to receive creative and strategic guidance.”

Abuda was named the highest grossing producer for 2010-2019 and also for 2021.

RAVE of the moment, Seyi Vibes has opened up on his sound saying it’s Afro-soul that emanated from conscious sounds.

In a chat with Dadaboy Ehiz on Apple Music 1, Seyi Vibes said those who know him, know that he does conscious tunes.

“I would describe my sound [as] Afro-soul. I do conscious music a lot, anyone that knows Seyi Vibez knows me with a lot of conscious sound, so when I started doing the South African amapiano to my fusion, I started putting my conscious sound on it, even though there are fast beats, there are slow beats, I started adding my conscious sounds to it so that makes it more of my genre. I’m not trying to sound like no one, it’s just pure me. The way I sing from way back, I also know how to put it on fast beats, so everything’s just going. My sound is just afro soul, some Fela Kuti vibe, some Islamic vibe, some celestial thing. It’s a mixture of a lot of things.”

The Afrobeats singer further described Burna Boy’s rendition of his song as the biggest motivation saying, “From Burna Boy, it’s the biggest motivation I have to up to now. It’s the biggest motivation, like “Seyi don’t stop, just keep up. They insult you, they like you or not, don’t stop! Just keep moving.”