The Nation Newspaper

Category: Entertainment

  • Why Nigeria Info sacked me – Matse

    Why Nigeria Info sacked me – Matse

    Popular On-Air Personality, Matse Nnoli has been sacked by AIM Consultants, owners of Nigeriainfo FM.

    She recently issued a statement detailing the reason for the termination of her appointment with the talk radio station. The budding broadcaster lost her job few months after she tied the knot.

    Read below the statement…

    Dear all, compliments of the day to you.

    I believe a lot of you must have heard of the recent termination of my job as an OAP (On Air Personality) on 99.3 Nigeria Info Fm. Well, it is true.

    I have read on several blogs that I was sacked for being arrogant, rude etc. Even recently that I lacked discipline. If I lacked discipline, I wouldn’t be successful in my career. I believe discipline, integrity and honesty goes hand in hand with true success. Ask those who have met and known me and they will tell you that this is what I live for. I am not perfect, I have made mistakes but who is perfect?

    I prefer to be silent on matters like this but since silence is assumed to be consent, I will not consent to my hard earned reputation being dragged to the gutters. I worked too hard for it.

    On the 2nd of September 2013 while on admission at First Consultant Medical Centre, Lagos. I received an email while on my sick bed, announcing my termination. Honestly, I was not angry but a bit shocked. I had been too sick lately due to my pregnancy and was not at my best but I expected my company to be supportive of me. Yes, I wanted them to be supportive of me because I had worked hard over the years to bring them much glory.

    I know that I will see all sorts of articles and comments to discredit me but I simply ask this of you all. If you have ever met me and I was unpleasant to you, feel free to vent but If you don’t know the real me and all you have heard are insinuations, hold your peace.

    I love people and always wish them well. My mentees and honest colleagues will testify to this.I love progress because I believe the sky is big enough for all the birds to fly. AIM Consultants. I am not mad at you. I believe when one door closes, another one opens. I have served you well over the years, brought you accolades. So please, let me go in peace and insiders in the Organisation who do not like guts should not use it as an opportunity to tear me down. I am a good person and YOU

    ALL KNOW THIS!

    God bless AIM Consultants, I learnt a lot from you and I am grateful. God bless us all!

  • Lagos Govt endorse Eko int’l film festival

    The Lagos State Government has officially endorsed the Eko International Film Festival which is hosted annually in the state.
    This was contained in a statement made available to the Nation by the organizers of the film festival which is currently on her 4th edition and it’s billed to come up from 18-23 November, 2013.
    The President of Eko International Film Festival Mr. Hope Obioma Opara expressed his appreciation over the endorsement and pledged to work with his team in realizing the dream of building a big film festival in the mega city of Lagos.
    He said that there is no way a film festival can be well recognized at the global level without the endorsement and support from the host state and the country at large adding; “film festival outside the direct film business is a platform that can be used to explore the tourism potentials of a country and bring in direct investment to the state and the country in general.”
    Responding, Barrister Bukky Agbamiloja, who represented the Commissioner for Tourism and Intergovernmental Relations, assured that the Lagos government is set to bring the world film market to Lagos by this endorsement.
    This year’s Eko International Film Festival with the theme: Nollywood in the Global Film Market. And with the backing of the host state, it is a mile stone in establishing an international film festival in every city of the world.
    The festival which seeks to raise the standards and quality of the Nigerian film industry to the extent that it elevates the industry to world class status, is also aimed to put Lagos and Nigeria on the world map as an international center for arts and global film market and promote the country’s economy and tourism potential by creating opportunities for international co-productions and distribution, thus bringing the world film market to Nigeria.
    The festival boasts of immense benefit ranging from the attraction of local and foreign investments and the attraction of international tourists to the tourist destinations in Lagos.
    The organizers of the festival are currently receiving entries from different countries like Iran, Serbia, Holland, South Africa, Germany, France, Spain, United Kingdom, USA, Nigeria and Nigerians in Diaspora will be open till October 15, 2013.
  • Official launch for WAPTV

    Official launch for WAPTV

    ONE year after it started showing, WapTV has announced that it is set for an official launch on Tuesday, September 24 at Banquet Hall, Sheraton, Lagos by 7pm. The family entertainment channel began transmission on October 1 last year, and since then the TV Channel has gained followership from diverse viewers because of the channel’s entertainment-filled programming.

    Managing Director of wapTV, Wale Adenuga, says: “It will be an unforgettable night of entertainment and enlightenment to let stakeholders know the journey so far, where we are right now and our next step. Indeed, after one year since we started redefining Nigerian Television Entertainment, we want you to know we are just getting started.”

    The Official Launch/First Anniversary is strictly by invitation and will air at a later date on wapTV, StarTimes across Nigeria and other African countries including Kenya, South Africa, Tanzania, Rwanda, Uganda, Mozambique, Central Africa Republic, Democratic Republic of Congo, Burundi and Guinea, Adenuga discloses.

  • Chidinma still balling on MTV Base

    Chidinma still balling on MTV Base

    LAST week, she emerged the first female artiste to ever make the number one spot on the MTV Base Official Naija Top 10, but graceful songstress, Chidinma, is showing signs of not leaving any time soon.

    With the stunning video for E Mi Ni Baller, which was shot by Clarence Peters, in this week’s episode, DJ Neptune joins VJ Ehis in the studio to run through the week’s top bosses in the Naija music scene on the Official Naija Top 10.

    D’Banj moves into number 2 spot with Don’t Tell Me Nonsense while P-Square’s Personally drops one place to number 4, giving way for Burna Boy who moves up one place to number 3 with Run My Race.

    Staying put are Timaya at number 6 with Ekoloma Demba and DJ Xclusive at number 5 with No Time.

    The Official Naija Top 10, powered by Star Music, is put together by a panel of judges comprising Nigerian broadcasters, music specialists and tastemakers, working with MTV Base to pick the winners and losers in the week’s chart. On the panel are Onos Ovueraye, DJ Humility, DJ Jimmy Jatt, DJ Xclusive, Big Time, DJ Caise, Toolz and Osagie Alonge of Nigerian Entertainment Today.

  • More mansions for Genevieve

    More mansions for Genevieve

    ACCORDING to emerging Information, star actress Genevieve Nnaji has purchased a luxurious home in highbrow Parkview Estate situated at Ikoyi. The property, acquired by the actress who moved into a new mansion Oniru Estate area of Lekki last year, is graded at a whooping N220million.

    Findings show that the actress now owns three mansions in exclusive and expensive areas of Lagos, as she recently built a multimillion naira mansion for her parents in Lekki, bringing to three the number of her edifices.

  • Curiosity over Half of a Yellow Sun subsides

    Curiosity over Half of a Yellow Sun subsides

    EXPECTATIONS were high about the screen adaptation of Chimamanda Adichie’s award-winning novel, Half of a Yellow Sun, up until its first public showing at the Winter Garden Theatre, Toronto, Canada. But the transferred excitement which stems from the success of the book, having sold a million copies, translated in 30 languages and won the author the Orange Prize for Fiction in the UK in 2007, left viewers doubting if the film will match the success of the book.

    Motion pictures are supposedly stronger medium of storytelling, but most viewers who have read the book left with obvious reservation, bordering on the filmmaker’s interpretation of their favourite characters in the literature.

    It is understandable, as this is one of the challenges of adapting a popular book into a film, for which a mental picture has largely been created. But perhaps Half of a Yellow Sun – the movie falls short of much expectations that it got so much probing questions during the Questions and Answers session.

    For example, a white man in the hall wanted to know if the images and moments in the conflicts are not consciously alluded to other struggles like scenes in some movies on the Rwandan genocide. The director, Biyi Bandele, in responding, said curtly that it is a historical story and that he has pictured the events as they happened.

    Asked how he thinks the film will be received in Nigeria, Bandele, who is making his directorial debut with the movie, said he has no idea whether or not Nigerians will like the flick, but expresses hope that since the movie is based on an ‘incredibly successful book which has been read by many,’ it may be the same for the film.

    Nigerians from home and abroad had thronged the pseudo wood ambiance of Winter Garden Theatre for the premiere of the Nigeria’s touted highest budget film. It was the first official public presentation of the film, believed to have the capacity of enhancing the world’s perception of Nigeria’s ingenuity in the business and art of filmmaking.

    A Nigerian/UK collaboration, costing eight million dollars; the film is said to have pooled 70 percent of the fund from Nigeria, with Bank of Industry, founder and former Managing Director of Guaranty Trust Bank, Fola Adeola, and Aliko Dangote as major financiers.

    Whereby the huge fund spent on the movie could be said to justify the quality of picture, cinematography, foreign cast and crew, teeming home actors and library archive footages, content interpretation does not appear to be gripping enough.

    “The only thing that I can take away from the movie are the few scenes played by Onyeka Onwenu; that woman gave life to the story,” stated Benjamin Itodo, a Nigerian student at the University of Toronto, who said he paid 35 Canadian dollars to see the film.

    But Kenyan film enthusiast and distribution house agent, Clarido Williams, who appeared to share Itodo’s view on Onwenu’s role in the film, queried if it is not the same Nollywood film character that is being criticised that has provided a comic relief for Half of a Yellow Sun.

    There were murmurs and side talks in the theatre, especially among Nigerians who felt that some props did not match the pre-colonial Nigerian era. There was also a wrong spelling of Aba, a town in Eastern Nigeria, and the pronunciation of some Igbo words by the lead characters despite the impression given that the film had engaged a language instructor.

    The project received great criticism when British actress, Thandie Newton, was announced as the actress that will play the Nigerian girl in a lead role. They had also doubted that Chiwetel Ejiofor would play the Igbo young man role better than some known Nollywood actors. But supporters of the initiative have based the strength of the project on foreign collaboration and the available market potential in UK and other countries. Unfortunately, the film is yet to get any buyer at the festival, even though it is being promoted more as one of the British Film Institute investments brought to the festival.

    Shot at the Tinapa Film Studios in Calabar, Nigeria and in the United Kingdom, Half of a Yellow Sun is Bandele’s first feature film. The filmmaker who lives in the UK said he is motivated by the desire for Nigerians to tell their stories rather than have foreigners tell them from their perspective.

    Set in 1960s Nigeria, the story follows the inter-twining lives of several characters before and during the Biafra War between 1967-1970: Ugwu, a 13-year-old village boy who becomes a houseboy for a university professor full of revolutionary zeal; Olanna, the warm, progressive and beautiful daughter of well-to-do city-dwellers; and Richard, a white English ex-patriot who falls in love with Olanna’s twin sister, Kainene. British Hollywood actors Thandie Newton and Chiwetel Ejiofor take on the lead roles of Olanna and the revolutionary Professor Odenigbo, with Anika Noni Rose as Olanna’s sister, and John Boyega as houseboy Ugwu. Joseph Mawle plays the English writer, Richard, while other notable actors in the cast include Genevieve Nnaji, Gloria Young, Zach Orji, Tina Mba and veteran Nigerian singer/actress, Onyeka Onwenu. The original sound track for the movie was produced by Cobhams Asuquo and singer-songwriter, Keziah Jones.

  • 9ice goes to school

    9ice goes to school

    NO, it’s not the sequel to Onuorah Nzekwu’s 1963 classic novella, Eze goes to School. News has it that hip hop star, Abolore Akande, popularly known as 9ice, has gone back to the ivory towers. It was disclosed that 9ice has gotten an admission to study Law in London.

    The Gongo Aso crooner is reliably revealed to be studying Public Safety and Common Law at Capella University of London.

    The singer may not have abandoned his signing career for academic pursuits, as he is running an online programme. The hip hop singer allegedly dropped out from school when his career started booming six years ago.

  • ‘Project Fame’ celebrates African legends

    ‘Project Fame’ celebrates African legends

    LAST week, she emerged the first female artiste to ever make the number one spot on the MTV Base Official Naija Top 10, but graceful songstress, Chidinma, is showing signs of not leaving any time soon.

    With the stunning video for E Mi Ni Baller, which was shot by Clarence Peters, in this week’s episode, DJ Neptune joins VJ Ehis in the studio to run through the week’s top bosses in the Naija music scene on the Official Naija Top 10.

    D’Banj moves into number 2 spot with Don’t Tell Me Nonsense while P-Square’s Personally drops one place to number 4, giving way for Burna Boy who moves up one place to number 3 with Run My Race.

    Staying put are Timaya at number 6 with Ekoloma Demba and DJ Xclusive at number 5 with No Time.

    The Official Naija Top 10, powered by Star Music, is put together by a panel of judges comprising Nigerian broadcasters, music specialists and tastemakers, working with MTV Base to pick the winners and losers in the week’s chart. On the panel are Onos Ovueraye, DJ Humility, DJ Jimmy Jatt, DJ Xclusive, Big Time, DJ Caise, Toolz and Osagie Alonge of Nigerian Entertainment Today.

  • My love for stage plays —Lolo 1 of Wazobia FM

    My love for stage plays —Lolo 1 of Wazobia FM

    Those who have encountered her agree that she is fun to be with. Omotunde Adebowale Davies, popularly known as Lolo 1 of Wazobia FM, is one of the most celebrated OAPs in Nigeria. Chatting with her at her office on the Island is a moment to remember.

    The graduate of Law from the Lagos State University practiced for some years before venturing into entertainment, which she has been doing for almost 10 years now. In this interview with DUPE AYINLA-OLASUKANMI, she talks about her annual project Oga Madam Live on Stage and other issues related to her work and person.

     

     

    WHY did you decide to take part in a stage play?

    I have always loved stage plays. The cast is a very powerful one, so when I heard about it and the people involved, I decided to join. The script also is very interesting. Also, because I am hilarious, having that as part of the play caught my attention.

    Does rehearsing for the show not interfere with your normal schedule?

    As humans, we all have different sides. It is just like seeing a human without a shadow. We all have many things we love to do. The most important thing is to set your priority right and make sure they don’t clash or affect each other. I have already mapped it out. During weekends I work on this and during the week I am doing my programme on the radio.

    How long have you been into acting?

    Well, people might not have seen me on the big screen but I have done a couple of grand stage plays. This is me and this is secular. Maybe I have also joined a couple of churches to get some projects done.

    How did you end up being an OAP?

    I am a lawyer by training but we all have what we love to do. I love entertainment; it has always been part of me. It was not something that I had to pray about. It is a talent that I have been given to make people laugh, be happy and joyful. So it was really a smooth transition for me to move from legal practice to entertainment. I have been doing it for almost ten years now and there is no stopping me. I have been to Radio Nigeria, I have been on Radio1, I have done Metro Fm and now I am with Wazobia FM. I have also worked a bit with Cool FM.

    Is there anything that can make you quit this job?

    I can’t say. Maybe when we are done, ready to go and be with the Lord. That would be when I have explored everything I want about entertainment. I have a comedy show coming up in November; it is what I do annually. It is a comedy-music show, called Oga Madam Office Live on Stage: Diary of a Lagos Gal. That is what it is called this year. I am gearing up for it. Asking me to quit the entertainment world is just like telling me to stop breathing.

    How long has this project been in existence?

    This will be the second season in Nigeria. I did it last year; I have done London this year, so it is my second edition in Nigeria. The comedy is just about me. I am bringing Lolo’s craziness to the stage. Everybody loves me on radio because of my humorous side. I will be getting support from other artistes and it will take place at the Muson Centre.

    What other side is there to Lolo that we don’t know?

    Funny enough, I love to read. There is no time you check my bag that you won’t find a book in it. When I am not reading a book, I am watching movies. I have a desire to direct one at some point in my life. I love to watch a movie from a director’s angle. So I am not just looking at the story but the characters too. Those are the things that relax me. My favourite place in the world is the beach. If I want to really think or be happy, I just drive there, sit on the sand and just look at the sea.

    Are there any negative sides of being a popular radio personality?

    You have to be there for everybody, show up for everybody’s show or events. When you have to go for events, you just have to represent because everybody expects you to. Sometimes it can be really stressful for us women. I’ll speak for myself as a female OAP. For the guys, it is simple but for a woman, you have to make yourself up, tidy your wardrobe, hair, shoes, bags and jewelry. If we don’t represent, people will crucify us. The pressure is a lot. That is why you see a lot of people live above their means because they just want to keep up. Sometimes I just want to wear iro and buba’ and go my way. Sometimes I just don’t want to wear make-up.

    As you said, there are many sides to every human. Who is Lolo1?

    I am a very simple woman, fun and energetic. I love life and love to do fun things. I am a simple woman at heart, but I have my own side too. I am extremely extroverted too. So I have a nice balance too. My philosophy in life is to ‘do to others, what you want them to do back to you’. I believe life is an endless circle, moving around.

    How easy is it to communicate in pidgin?

    (Laughs) I say pidgin is just a language. It is just like asking a Ghanaian, how do you speak you language? It is the same thing. It is a language of communication, just like you speak English, Ijebu, Efik and any other language in Nigeria. Everybody is an average pidgin speaker; you just might not speak it as good as some people, because every place has its own style. But there is nobody that won’t be able to communicate in that easy English to anyone.

    How do people react when they recognise you in public?

    People are getting less shocked now. Maybe because I am a little more visible than I used to be. At the moment, radio presenters are getting more visible because we go for events, red carpets, interviews, and people are getting to know us. I still get the normal shock. People ask: ‘is this how you look? You can speak English?’ It always makes me laugh. Recently, I got my youngest fan that walked up to me at a wedding and wanted an autograph. It was so cute. I have been coping.

    Let’s talk about your new hair style

    Oh, well I tell people that a lot of us don’t live our lives. We just do what people expect of us. What is the difference between having a weave-on and a hair cut? Is it your hair? This is even more of my hair, than all the women on Brazilian hair. So why should I be afraid to walk with my natural hair? What makes you think that this cut is the one that is not good? This is natural. It is still my hair. I have no attachment on it. Is it because I left more hair someplace and cut the other that is the shock? This hair has been on forever. My mother calls it Galax (laughs). In this time, we call it Mohawk. It has different names. I just wanted to do something unique that will stand me out, something that won’t blend me with the crowd. Everyone who sees me, turns around and asks, who is she? It is good for me.

    And what was the reaction when you came into the office wearing the new look?

    Oh my God, my boss looked at me and opened his mouth. But everybody just laughed, saying ‘it is Motunde, she does things to shock people.’ Everybody had their expressions, but they are all settling into it now.

  • I’m not crazy about marriage Nollywood actress Toyin Alausa

    I’m not crazy about marriage Nollywood actress Toyin Alausa

    Toyin Alausa comes across as a soft spoken actress but, taking a tough stand, she says that she does not subscribe to the notion of having cliques in the industry. Though prominent in the Yoruba movie scene, the actress made a name for herself starring on sitcoms including Family Ties, Treasures, Edge of Paradise and Doctors Quarters. A single mother, the dark-skinned actress speaks with DUPE AYINLA-OLASUNKANMI on life as an actress, entrepreneurship, spinsterhood and her desire to return to school among other issues.

    MOST of your colleagues have ventured into movie production. What are you waiting for?

    We cannot all be producers. We cannot all be directors, and make-up artistes. I guess everyone should be able to find where they fit in and can then work effortlessly. Producing a movie is not easy, except you have made up your mind to go into it with all you have. I have friends who produce. I have been on set with actors who direct, act and produce. For me, I don’t have a problem with that. It’s a matter of choice but I would rather want to give money for someone to produce for me while I act, than for me to produce and act.

    You have not been very active on the screen. Why is that?

    The scripts have not been coming regularly like my fans would want. That is why you don’t see me in movies like my colleagues. One thing I can tell you now is that the little that I have done, my fans have loved me for it. I know they love me. Every time I go out, I know the number of times I have to stop to answer my fans. Most of the time, they tell me they want to see more of me.

    Did you lobby for the ones you got in the past?

    They just came to me. I did not have to go to anybody or lobby to get those scripts. They know where I fit in and what I can do. When I get those scripts, we discuss. If it is good, I get it done and if it is the other way, I just say, I’m sorry, maybe some other time. I hardly reject scripts, except if the pay is not good and the script too is not challenging.

    You are known to always play the good girl role in most of your flicks except probably Family Ties. Don’t you think you are being typecast?

    Iyabo Williams was a very challenging role for me in Family Ties. That role that I took is in every woman, but it depends on how you bring it out and operate it. But back to your question, I don’t think I am typecast. I know my season will come.

    Have you considered going into other ventures?

    I intend working on my career as a caterer. At some point, I stopped because I want to be more established. You see, I do the shopping, cooking and serving all by myself. But now I want to make it a standard one like the eateries we have around. Where I can only do the monitoring part and have people who will be doing the running around when I am on set.

    Some actors and actresses are of the belief that joining one of the caucuses in the industry will help their career. Do you share that view?

    I really can’t say that this is the reason I have not belonged to any of them but I know that I am not a clique kind of person. I cannot really be in a group of people or camp, and not be flexible with the other camp. I want a situation where I can work for any set of people or group without getting in the way of the other. I think being in a caucus will limit me, and can cause rivalry too, which I do not need for my career. I am saying this because it has robbed me of a contract before and I will not let it rob me again. I started doing soaps with Wale Adenuga, and I went to AK Media, but I found that if there is a role for me, I will be told that because I already have with the other, I cannot have that one too. I don’t want all that again, and that is why I want to be free, to be able to work with anybody that is competent to work with.

    If acting is what you love doing, what would you say is your strong point that makes producers want you in their films?

    As an actress, when I get a script, the first thing I do is to read the entire script and digest my character. Then I can say my strong point is the ability to be able to interpret that character that I have read, and try to read the mind of the writer. And why he decides to make that character what she is in the story. That is why I have worked with the kind of people that I have worked with, because inasmuch as they want to bring out the best in you, there are times you deliver and they don’t tell you, but you see the satisfactory look on their face.

    From the way you carry yourself, you do not come across to people as a dropout. How did you groom yourself?

    I am flattered, but that is the reason I promised myself that I have to go back to school. When I tell people that I am a drop out, there is this look that I get. In order to make myself proud, I need to go back and get my degree, which will also help in some of the things I am working on. I do not want to bring an idea out and something from nowhere will steal it because I am not educated. I am also a good listener; I pick words and go to the dictionary to look them up. I read papers, listen to news, read novels and anything educative. Getting an education does not necessarily mean that I intend to also work in an office, because I can tell you that I am not cut out for office jobs.

    Some people might not agree with you…

    To be frank with you, I am not that settled to work in an office. I cannot sit in a position from morning to evening, it is not me. I cannot be all suited up, not being able to wear my jeans, I love to move. I can go to four or five places in a day, depending on my schedule for that day. So working in an office can never work for me.

    As a single mother, do you hope to get married again?

    I cannot say that I do not think about marriage but I have attained a certain level of maturity. Marriage is not what one can rush into and you do not force it. Because of our culture there are so many things and I see too many broken marriages. One of it is not being fully prepared before going into it. And that is the reason I want to be fulfilled as a spinster by impacting on my generation and being satisfied with myself before getting involved with somebody else. For me I am not crazy about marriage, if it comes, fine. I have a friend and it is defined, because we are mature people, we are friends and there is no strings attached.

    Can you say your child is one of the factors holding you back?

    I must confess, I do not have issues with men. I like them and they like me too. But I have made some grievous mistakes in the past and I try to be reasonable. I have a son who at his age right now needs monitoring, a best friend and undivided attention. At least until he is mature enough for him to take decision on his own. I can then probably invite a man into my world to take over. Because I do not want any form of competition between my son and any man. It is not a factor; I just want to dedicate this time of my life to him.