The Nation Newspaper

Tag: star

  • STAR to reward football fans

    STAR to reward football fans

    Football fans in Nigeria are anxiously awaiting the debut of a new football platform called Star Football Superfans, which is set to recognize, celebrate and reward the passion of football fans.

    Sponsored by Nigeria’s premier beer, Star Lager, the campaign is set to run in selected bars across the country as well as on the radio, online and TV. Over the course of 14 weeks, it will reward football fans across Nigeria with over N28m in cash and other consolation prizes.

    Popular social networking sites are already abuzz with fans licking their lips at the prospect of being rewarded handsomely for their knowledge of the beautiful game. While some fans are excited at the prospect of winning the attractive prizes, other fans are overjoyed at the opportunity to showcase their football knowledge as well as their passion for football.

    Edem Vindah, Nigerian Breweries Corporate Media and Brand PR Manager had this to say regarding Star Football Super Fans, “The love that the fans have for their football and their Star is something that deserves to be rewarded and it has also presented us with a good brand synergy as we have always been regular and passionate supporters of football in Nigeria, exemplified by our #ShineOnNigeria campaign during last year’s World Cup in Brazil. This is another avenue for us to demonstrate our commitment to supporting football and rewarding Nigeria football fans for their passion and loyalty.”

    The campaign kicked off on the radio and at selected bars across Nigeria on Friday, March 6, 2015 and the online leg has also kicked off. The TV game show will premiere on April 2, 2015.

    The game show will be hosted by award-winning sports TV personality Mozez Praiz. On his part, he expressed delight at being chosen to host the show and promised viewers a wonderful time when it premieres.

    STAR Football Superfans is another customer engagement and reward initiative by STAR, which continues to project its position as the nation’s number one drink.

  • Star The Winner Is: Winner gets prize amidst fanfare

    Star The Winner Is: Winner gets prize amidst fanfare

    Micheal Achu, winner of the just-concluded Star The Winner Is, was the cynosure of all eyes last Friday, as he was presented with his prize of N10million and a brand new 2014 Volkswagen CC. Not just that, Achu’s package also came with a recording deal with Universal Records, as announced by Nigerian Breweries Plc., organisers of the music game show.

    Apparently overwhelmed, he screamed several times, shedding tears of joy, as friends and relatives gathered to share the glorious moment with him.

    The well-attended event which held at the Nigerian Breweries Bar, Iganmu, Lagos, was also attended by fans of the show and officials of sponsoring company. Notable celebrities at the event include show host Uti Nwachukwu, former Mr. Nigeria Bryan Okwara, Yaw, Dotun, Temi and Mannie of cool FM, Chris Ihidero Destiny Amaka and OluwaseunP amongst others.

    Interestingly, another lucky winner emerged at the victory party, when Uti Nwachukwu hosted a mini Star The Winner Is, by conducting a duel round between two guests; Kenny Blaize and Belinda, with the latter coming tops and smiling home with a prize of N50, 000.

    Although the maiden season of Star The Winner Is has come and gone, viewers have not stopped talking about the twist that gave Achu the enviable diadem.

    Achu and co-finalist, Job Idoko were offered N2 million to walk away or wait to see the 101 Jury results which would reveal who actually won the duel round.

    Apparently, Job fell more to the pressure and walked away with the money – this automatically qualified Achu as winner of Star The Winner Is Season 1.

    However, when the real result was revealed, it turned out that Job had higher votes, but it was late, as he had forfeited his spot to Achu.

    That way, Achu became the crowned winner of the first season of Star The Winner Is.

  • Star The Winner Is: Contestant shows trait of Jennifer Hudson

    Star The Winner Is: Contestant shows trait of Jennifer Hudson

    It appears that American singer, Jennifer Hudson, has a protégé in Star The Winner Is contestant, Jahtell Ilem, who gave a stunning rendition of Am Changing during the last edition of the show.

    Hudson is an amazing vocalist, a situation that made the crowd to be excited about her the vocal power.

    Jahtell delivered Hudson’s song almost flawless, similar to how the latter rendered it on the musical drama film, DreamGirls.

    In her first duel round of the night, Jahtell also serenaded the audience with a rather astonishing performance of a BoyzIImen classic, I’ll make love to you, which made her a clear winner of the round.

    Consequently, she joins Philip, Brenda, Happiness, Rhema and Naomi ,winners from previous episodes, to battle for N10million and a brand new car in the semifinal round.

  • Red Star Express bemoans difficult operating environment

    Chairman, Red Star Express Plc, Dr Mohammed Koguna, has expressed worry over the difficult operating environment, noting that the economic and business environment continues to be challenging for most companies, including Red Star Express.

    According to him, the increasing rate of insecurity in various parts of the country, particularly the Northeast, including Abuja, which is one of the company’s high revenue generating territory, slightly impacted on its business.

    He noted that the inability of the privatised power sector to increase output as envisaged, as a result of issues with gas supply and power distribution, rising inflation cost and decaying infrastructure continue to pose great challenges to businesses in the country resulting in maintenance and operations cost.

    In an address to shareholders at the company’s general meeting, Koguna said despite all these challenges, the Nigerian economy remains one of the fastest growing economies in the world with comparable high indices in foreign direct investment.

    He said Red Star Express has been positioning to key into the increasing potentials noting that the company is embarking on various expansion projects that will spur phenomenal growth in the company and the process for the actualisation of the strategic investment projects are being put in place.

    “Embarking on these projects we are certain would improve the quality of service offered to customers, increase our market share and ultimately improve margins,” Koguna said.

    According to him, the company posted a turnover of N6.4 billion in the year under review achieving 21 per cent increase in revenue compared with N5.3billion achieved last year. The profit before tax increased from N544.9 million to N603.9 million, showing an increase of 11 per cent, while profit after tax grew by 33 per cent, moving from N331.77 million to N403.63 million.

    He pointed out that the company has maintained its commitment in the creation of wealth for shareholders, in appreciation of their support at all times adding that the company would be distributing gross cash dividend of 35 kobo for every 50 kobo shares translating toN206 million, representing a growth of nine per cent compared to N189 million paid last year.

    He further said that as part of corporate social responsibility, the company considers the community as a social partner.

    “Red Star Express considers the community as a social partner and thereby established the Red Star Foundation ten years ago as part of its corporate social responsibility. The objective of the Red Star Foundation is to partner with our host community through addressing support for education , poverty alleviation, skill development, and environmental responsiveness. In the area of education, twenty scholarship awards were given out to students from different schools in the western and northern regions of the country. While in the area of poverty alleviation, four homes [old people’s homes and orphanage homes ]were beneficiaries of the “I care project”. A sum of #2,018,170 representing 0.5 per cent of our profit after tax was appropriated to the foundation,” Koguna said.

     

     

  • Star The Winner Is: Applause for Rhema

    Star The Winner Is: Applause for Rhema

    As the quest to becoming the winner of N10million and a brand new car heightened, contestants face tougher time on the fourth episode of Star The Winner Is last weekend.

    In what can best be described as a night of glitz and fun, the show featured 10 performances with contestants desperately battling to outdo one another.

    23-year-old Rhema Osbourne emerged victorious, securing a well-deserved spot in the semi-finals. With good looks and an amazing vocal range to complement, Rhema impressively rendered Chris Brown’s Don’t Judge Me, Liquideep’s Fairy tale  and Lionel Richie’s Hello earning him the status of the jury’s favourite.

    Other contestants from the episode, Temisan Francis, Haitee Olajorin, Micheal Emeka, Uju Prince and Treasure Clement also rendered quality performances, but they couldn’t impress the 101-jury members.

    The last round of the episode was a particularly heated one with sultry singer, Treasure, and Rhema going head-to-head in the battle. Treasure, however, lost the round, thereby forfeiting an opportunity to walk away with N400, 000.

    Winning the episode propelled Rhema to join Philip, Brenda and Happiness from three previous episodes in the race for N10million and a brand new car.

    Star The Winner Is sponsored by Star Lager is a singing game show in which singing only seven songs could turn around the life of a lucky contestant.

     

  • Girls take the day on Star The Winner Is show

    Girls take the day on Star The Winner Is show

    With keen interest for the prize of N10 million and a brand new car, Star The Winner Is TV game show resonated at the weekend with a battle that pitched the males against their female counterparts.

    That episode of the duel had been tagged ‘Boys VS Girls’ by show host, Uti Nwachukwu, who so far, has inpressed many with his delivery.

    Incidentally, the evening turned in favour of the ladies, who knocked out the men, and leaving Brenda Adigwe to join Philip Otuya in the semi final rounds of the competition.

    Franchise for the popular American vocal game show was acquired by Star, a premium brand of Nigerian Breweries Plc., making it Nigeria’s first ever music game show.

    Performing hit songs from a wide variety of genres, Brenda, Godson, Victoria, Tasie, Sandra and Henry kept the 101-jury on the edge of their seats all the while, as they voted for the brightest voices in each duel.

    Singing Nessun Dorma by Pavarotti, Opera singer Sandra Osamor proved incredible, when she seized all 101 votes from the jury, beating her opponent, Tasie Richard whose rendition of 2face’ Only Me did not impress the judges.

    When it was obvious that Brenda had stolen the hearts of the 101 jury members, Sandra made a very smart decision to walk away with 400,000 naira, thus, she was knocked out of the final round.

    Interestingly, Brenda delivered an impressive opening of the episode, performaning Pharrell’s hit single Happy. She went on to thrill the audience with a rendition of Royals by Lorde and a sensational delivery of Seyi Shay’s single Murda, thereby claiming her spot in the semi finals.

    Perhaps like the contestants, Uti, is also relishing the new experience that comes with the show. “It is a whole new exciting experience for me and I am undeniably humbled by the love that my fans have shown me as host of this incredible show,” he said. “It is completely different from anything else on Nigerian television right now and I cant tell you enough how delighted to be a part of such a pace setting feat’.’

    The show’s airs every Saturday on African Magic by 10:00pm, Sundays on AIT and wapTV by 10:30pm and on Thursdays, on ONTV at 10pm.

    In the music game show, an unusual 101-jury, consisting of music enthusiasts and specialists, vote for the best performer. The contestants must test their nerves by resisting a cash offer from the host, Uti Nwachukwu, to leave the game for good or wait for the jury votes to see if they have made it to the next round and one step closer to the life-changing grand prize of 10Million Naira and a brand new car. 

  • Iheanacho, a super star in the making

    Iheanacho, a super star in the making

    Kelechi Iheanacho was always going to be a star. Most Nigerians never doubted his precocious and prodigious talent as soon as they watched him play for the Golden Eaglets.

    Along with Prince Izu Omego, Yahaya Umar, Ifeanyi Matthew and Success Isaac, Iheanacho was among the brightest sparks as Nigeria finished second at the 2013 African U-17 Championship in Morocco.

    However, powerful striker, Isaac was widely regarded at the time as Nigeria’s best player but fate was to play a role in Iheanacho’s rise to prominence.

    Four goals in Nigeria’s opening game at the 2013 FIFA U-17 World Cup against Mexico coupled with an unfortunate injury to Isaac in the next group game against Sweden meant the burden of expectations was now heavily laid on the shoulders of Iheanacho.

    He did not disappoint. He led from the front with several inspirational displays and also weighed in with his fair share of crucial goals as Nigeria won the U17 title for a record fourth time.

    Iheanacho’s eye-catching displays did not go unnoticed as he was named winner of the golden ball-accolade reserved for best player of the tournament.

    It was only a matter of time before he joined a big European side and Manchester proved to be his destination.

    The City manager, Manuel Pellegrini is a wily, shrewd individual with a sharp eye for unheralded talent and he wasted no time in throwing Iheanacho into the deep and against Kansas City in City’s opening pre-season game.

    Iheanacho did not let the Chilean down as he completely ran the show with a display that typified class, ease of movement, quick thinking and impeccable passing.

    The teenager shone against Kansas, dictating play for City, testing the opposition goalkeeper with several blistering drives.

    He struck the final nail in the coffin of the MLS leaders with a well-taken fourth goal as City ran out 4-1 winners.

    Pellegrini was effusive in his praise of the 17-year-old after the game as he described him as “the future’ of the club.

    “Kelechi is just 17 years old and he’s a very important player for us in the future.

    “He demonstrated today what he can do in the future. It depends on the way he takes this profession, but I think he’s a good talent,” the former Real Madrid Boss said. Iheanacho excels as deep-lying number 10, and is seemingly most effective playing behind the striker. As he proved against Kansas City, he has a very keen eye for a pass and is blessed with wonderful creativity for a player so young. He however declared that many felt he did not have a future as a professional footballer.

    “A lot of the boys thought maybe I was too small, too skinny to be a good player. But I realised now with that God is preparing something special for me,” he said.

  • Star shines at OAAN Awards

    Star shines at OAAN Awards

    Star lager beer, produced by Nigerian Breweries (NB), won three awards at the just-concluded Outdoor Advertising Association of Nigeria (OAAN) Awards.

    They are the Grand Poster, Best Creative, and Grand Prix awards.

    At the Eighth OAAN Exhibition and Poster Awards at the Eko Hotel, Lagos, Star was awarded the Grand Poster Award for producing the best creative brands in the eight categories. They included dairy/food/beverages, non-alcoholic drinks, alcoholic drink and electrical/electronics.

    Other categories were public service, telecoms/ICT, household and financial services.

    President OAAN,   Mr. Charles Chijide, said: “The award was initiated to reward excellence in outdoor creativity.”

    According to him, it was the association’s way of appreciating the cerebral work that has gone into creating the messages through which advertisers connect with their various targets using OAAN platform.

    The Marketing Director, Nigerian Breweries Plc, Walter Drenth, said since  2012, NB had been focusing on improving outdoor advertising creativity for all the brands.

     

  • STAR hosts revellers to crossover toast

    STAR hosts revellers to crossover toast

    Last night, premium brand of Nigerian Breweries Plc, STAR, hosted what is considered the largest celebratory toast in Africa, with thousands of guests raising their glasses for an auspicious event and celebrations into the New Year.

    The toast, which held at the grand finale of the Lagos Countdown at the Eko Atlantic, attracted thousands of revelers eager to countdown with their favourite brand into the New Year.

    Amiable host, Gbenga Adeyinka, entertained guests with a flurry of jokes and urged the audience to raise their glasses just a few minutes to midnight with thousands joining in the ceremony.

    The special toast was done with a purpose-designed Star Magnum bottle which popped as the clock ticked midnight. Hundreds of thousands of Lagosians, tourists, music fans and celebs clicked glasses and sipped on STAR, as happy new year wishes took over the venue.

    Senior Brand Manager, STAR ,Ita Bassey, expressed appreciation to the thousands who had turned up en masse to countdown with the brand right from the flag off of the Beer Village on December 8th, to the Grand Finale. “This has been a special season for us, made even more so because we were able to share it with our consumers. It’s a very inspiring time for us. We are thrilled that so many could take part in the special toast – the very first of its kind in Africa- and celebrate the new year with us.”

    “From all of us here at STAR and by extension, Nigerian Breweries Plc, we are wishing Nigerians a very prosperous year ahead. 2014 will definitely be a year to ‘shine on,” Added Kufre Ekanem, Corporate Adviser, Nigerian Breweries Plc.

    The Lagos Countdown, in just two years, has become one of the most highly anticipated moments of the year, attracting thousands of Nigerians and foreigners to the Eko Atlantic venue.

    This year, STAR Beer Village was once again one of the most exciting focal points of the Countdown. In less than three weeks, it became a melting spot for thousands of Nigerians and foreigners alike eagerly engaging in the exhilarating line-up of activities such as Karaoke Night, Freestyle Wednesday and Friday, among others.

    Consumers were generously rewarded with lots of fantastic prizes, such as generators, TVs, bags of rice and other gift items.

  • Nigerian stars share spoils in Sweden

    Nigerian stars share spoils in Sweden

    IF Orebro and Pitea If had to do with one point each in the Swedish Damallsvenska league fixture that ended 1-1 on Sunday afternoon.

    Person put the visitors in front in the 50th minute as Orebro struggled to find the back of the net. Pitea’s hope of earning three points were however dashed as Sanaa Talonen scored a last gasp goal to earn a point for her side.

    The duo of Faith Ikidi and Francesca Ordega were active in side’s draw while Sarah Michael was also on for Orebro for 90 minutes but could not find the back of the net.

    Umea on Saturday earned three points through a Lina Hurtig second half strike away at Sunnana.This loss keeps Perpetual Nkwocha’s side mired in the bottom of the table.