STYLE MEETS COLOR @ SELBANI ARTS WORLD

Show business in Ghana is on the rise and thus celebrating the right people matters to us. When I took the task of knowing about SELBANI ARTS WORLD, I wasn’t mistaking because I had once seen them beautifully organized the first Ghana Fashion Train in Accra, though they have been part of other fashion shows including Fashion in the Club, GTP Wax Style, and First Choice Hair Style Show.

They did touch my hearts and I decided that someday soon, I will dig further into their world. Along my search, I found out that they are a dedicated and focused entertainment company with loads to boast about.

SELBANI ARTS WORLD currently in Ghana stands out tops among others. It is an avenue where they add color to your world. It is an entire world were their specialty lies in fashion shows, beauty pageants, award nights, salsa nights, competitions, African culture nights and other events.

They have grown over the years and now they stand tall in the areas of grooming models for all occasions, ushers for special occasions, waiters and waitresses for special occasions, actors and actresses, ladies for musical clips, ladies and gents for pageants, special salsa trained dancers, good appellation recitals for all occasions event coordinators, dances of most areas, all types of choreographies and systematic aerobics for weight shedding in all aspects. They also do offer Consultancy service in all the fields here.

With over a decade in existence one will be wrong to say that ‘they haven’t come of age’, they sure have to understand the test of time and to attest to their worth, we did get confirmation from Nestle Ghana Ltd, Media Magic Research System, Global Media Alliance, Anglo gold Gh., Danny’s Decorations, Multimedia Gh., Ghana Tourist Board, TV 3 Net Work, Metro TV Net Work, Golden Beaches Hotels, Zadokes Tours, Adom Fm, University of Ghana, University of Education, Strategic Communication, First Choice Hair and Nails, GTV, Creative Eye Advertising, Unilever Ghana Ltd, Ghallywood (Ghanaian Film Village), Charter House, amongst others.

I went on in my knowing why and what stands this ‘world’ intact, their credentials speaks volume. Take a walk with me as we see below:

• Choreographers and Organizers of - Heavenly Fashion Night in Tema
• Lecturers of postures and walking for - Academy Film of Acting in Accra for 2 years
• Choreographers and Co- Organizers of - Miss Nigeria @ 47 2008 in Nigeria
• Choreographers and Co-Organizers for - Golden Miss Legon 2007 in Accra
• Nestle Ghana Long service Awards 2007 (Salsa performance and Ushering at Akosombo Volta Hotel. For 3years 
• Choreographer and Co-Organizer - Close-up Salsa Fiesta at Trade fair Centre in La, Accra.
• Choreographers for the 10^th Annual and grand Graduation - 1^st Choice Saloon. (Trade fair Centre) La, Accra.  For  2years
• Section Choreographer for the winner, GTP Wax style 2000 - (Rotary Club House c.5 Tema)
• Ushers for the first premier (BORA) for - Ghallywood Films (Accra National Theatre) 2009.
• Nestle Customer service Awards 2007. ( Salsa performance and Ushering) For 2 years
• We Choreographed the grand finale and the fashion parade for the Adom all stars show 2009.  4 shows.
• Section Choreographer for the winner, Close-up Salsa Fiesta ­- (Ghana Trade Fair Centre, La Accra) with Charter House.
• Ushering and coordinating, Ghana Excellence Award for Export and Import - (State Banquet Hall, Accra)
• Choreographers and artistic directors, Miss Nigeria @ 47 in Lagos, Nigeria

With all these, one can be convinced that SELBANI ARTS WORLD sure knows what they are living up to. Impressed, touched as I was and you feel your passion lies in whatever they do and feel you can undergo training for yourself or anyone close by, contact them on selassibanini@yahoo.com, www.selbaniarts world.com, or simply call: +233244216331, +233265718134.

EFYA Shoots World Class Video

Songstress Efya Awindor’s video for her hit single, ‘A Moment’s Notice’, is scheduled to hit the music scene in the first quarter of this year 2012.

Behind the scenes footages of the music video so far gives a deep impression that she will be serving something unique that is likely to garner worldwide attention.

Recently, legendary and world class South African musician, Hugh Masekela, compared Efya’s style of singing to Fela Kuti, “...but she was fantastic; the things she did were like medieval and artistes like that need a medieval setting. See artistes like Efya need their own club, the way Fela had the shrine. You know but she needs her own place where she can do this stuff,” he added. The new video exonerates Hugh and places Efya on a high pedestal. 

“I just don’t want to be that girl that came and sung and left,” Efya told me.

The shoot began Thursday and should be done in no time. The video is directed by Nana Asihene and Paa Kwesi David under One Nation Productions and Management.  It promises a lot of interesting visuals for music video lovers and Efya’s large fan base.

As usual, the Efya factor of good voice, stage command and stage presence, among others, will all come to play in the upcoming video.

Locations for the shoot included Dei Center at Tesano and Taverna Tropicana pub off the ring road in Accra. 

The video’s concept centre’s around the emotions of a young man falling for the beauty of his heart. He enters a pub, sees a framed photo of Efya and starts to hallucinate. In a moment the photo turns into Efya on stage.

The full details of the video story will however be out when the video hits the big screens. That will be heralded by behind the scenes video of the shoot.

Simply put, Efya is a legendary singer in the making and her upcoming video is her first of a series of things to happen to her music career. There are other videos to follow suit. Currently, her upcoming album is almost ready and will be out in April. There is also an upcoming nationwide tour, which is still in its planning stages.

Gold Modeling School, Ghana comes alive in Ghana

Gold Modeling School, Ghana comes alive on the 17^th of February 2012 with a two packed feat; THE GOLDEN GRADUATION cum the OFFICIAL LUNCH OF GOLD MODELING SCHOOL, GHANA at the Novotel Hotel in Accra. The Graduation will see 5 pretty and elegant ladies plus 1 ebony dude come out with flying colors as they went through the rigorous but fun path of becoming a successful model.

‘The sky is still their limit but as individuals, we all need a starting point and for the maidens and lad, this is their time’, said Herty Owusuaa, the founder of Gold Modeling School, Ghana.

The event for the night is billed to be a mouth-watering one as top Ghanaian celebrities will be in attendance. Also billed to make the night a success are performances from F.O.I, Twens, Kazuka, T-Blaze, Scripture, among others.

Top celebrated Ghanaian Designers will be on the night to showcase some of their outfits and thus a glittering runway show is poised to add glamour. Designers like Afri-Ken Novelty, Rassels Klothing, Mcoh Clothing, Dreams by Naana, Kukua Parker Designs, Fingers Creation, and Chameleon, will all be there.

The gate fee for the show is a cool Ghc 20 for regulars and Ghc 40 for V.I.P.

R.S.V.P.: +233277861122 or +233546274949.

Selassie Ibrahim's Smart People Is One Year

Last December marked exactly a year star actress Selassie Ibrahim added TV presenting to her career with the introduction of ‘Smart People’ TV magazine, produced by her Smarttys Management and Production.

Currently, there is a change in the programme’s showing time on TV.

It now airs on Tuesdays at 9pm on GTV and Saturdays at 3pm on TV3, a shift from the usual Wednesdays from 9pm on GTV and Saturdays from 2pm on TV3.   

For the past one year, the show proved to be one of the exciting programmes on TV. It did not only garner rave attention but shared the experiences of the most influential people in society, which most people viewers were not privy to.  

Basically, ‘Smart People’ was phenomenal and appealed to diverse viewership including the young and the old.

It is an exclusive, personality-profile interview programme created to engage prominent people in all fields of endeavour, including businessmen, lawyers, pastors, traditional rulers, politicians and more, who shared more light on their personality, work and others with some entertainment flavour.

It brings to the fore what they have had to go through and how hard they have had to work to achieve their present status.

The show also talks about the latest trends and how they are adjusting.  

Selassie has already interviewed top icons like Kojo Antwi, Rocky Dawuni, Reverend Dr. Christine Doe-Tetteh, Mr. Kofi Amoabeng and other prominent figures including Vice President John Mahama.

Selassie’s Smarttys Management and Production shook Ghana’s showbiz industry in 2010 with three different products including the TV and Lifestyle Magazines, both christened ‘Smart People’, and a movie, ‘CEO’.

In 2011, she also released one of the most hilarious TV series ever, ‘The Miser’, starring Kofi Adjorlolo, Roselyn Ngissah, James Gardner, Selassie Ibrahim, Nana Ama McBrown and a number of others.

She also wrapped up a new movie at the latter part of 2011. Currently, her Smarttys Management and Production is also working on a new awards programme which is yet-to-be announced.

Her efforts were recognized with a number of nominations at the 2011 edition of the annual Zulu Africa Film Academy Awards (ZAFAA) and Ghana Movie Awards. Selassie’s production, no doubt has come to stay and generations will come to meet it.

UNLIMITED GOOD LUCK & ABUNDANT PATIENCE ON THE WALKWAY OF POWER

Take a close watch of this before we continue with the thing around the neck of Nigeria. This is not for those who feel that the ‘giant of Africa’ is gone wrong. Remember that amidst all this turmoil, the country is yet strong. And if you want to disagree with me, let he who is without blemish throw the first stone. No be small thing jooor… Imagine from 1978 - N 0.15 till date (as it is written now in 2012 – N 141), the way they have toyed with our blessed resources (whether na ogogoro or water sef), no be small thing until #OCCUPY NIGERIA came, then fear no gree dem before dem draw the price back to how much sef?

Nigeria is an irresistible country that is not a laughing matter. Full of glaring tragedies and yet the wealth of the Senators not to talk of the President and his Vice in 2012’s budget which is about a billion dollar. Such is the contemplation that drives the humor inside of me. We have previously had Generals who ruled us but thank God we are in a democratic dispensation now. They did go, well, they did come back in civilian t-shirts and then trick us as a nation into believing whatever jargon they spat. In Nigeria, greed plays a major role in the herm of affairs but soonest we shall overcome. Where is the unlimited good luck on the corridor of power and abundant patience at the home front promised the great people of Nigeria?

The tantalizing power of the country with which should have been the power house of Africa is now been crumbled by greedy looters. The country is blessed with different characters to make sure that the dramatic comedy is fully screen played to look very beautiful.

With the recent Fuel Subsidy drama but précised by the maiming of Christians and Muslims over nothing and then pushing all the blames on the Boko Harams, then you ask yourself that ‘who is the fool, when all of us die’? The satire, irony, parody and paradox will only draw behavioral mockery from smaller countries that cannot even smell the back of the giant of Africa – ridiculous it sounds abi? Nigeria from my perspective is that it is blessed so much with fanatics and bombers who wine and dine in secret then shout haili bababa in public.

Nigeria is a conventional, mainstream subject engagement with its grotesque, comic, ironic and absurd transformation of people and events. Then when things, misfortunes, though happens, it is turned into an exaggerating art and form spiced with appropriate proverbs and interesting turns of phrase channeling it to the will of God – this means that Nigerians worship and call the name of GOD more than any other country in the world, yet the Looters which you may call Leaders are hardened Barawos.

When the brain washed lad who wanted to bomb an airline was captured and then the country’s name was painted black, all hell let loosed but the question remains that what did the government do? Shameless characters opened their mouth and screamed as if heaven was going to fall yet the case has been closed and a new one opened – FUEL SUBSIDY wahala. Government of the people by the people and for the people played with the hearts of the citizens. Tossing the people here and there with the aid of the Labor persons; today government and his people say this, tomorrow the Labor leader and his people say this, and on the other hand, the masses cannot stop at the occupying state of mind. Genuinely, funny moments and comical atmosphere has serrated this whole time when the state has also lost so much billions of Nairas, who cares anywhere?

I must be frank here that the PDP have caused more harm at least with the much my two eyes have seen. Their strategy would have been applauded but for now, I boo them jooor. The current state in Nigeria (as of the time of scribbling these thoughts) is decorated with greed by leaders as they call themselves, cunning hypocrites, sycophants and much more by criminals who have pot bellies. And if you think I just insinuating, take a close look at this:

NIGERIAN SENATORS SALARY PACKAGE
Basic Salary (BS) – N2,484,245.50
Hardship Allowance @ 50% of Basic Salary – N1,242,122.70
Constituency allowance @ 200% of BS - N4,968,509.00
Furniture Allowance @ 300% of BS – N7,452,736.50
Newspaper allowance @ 50% – N1,242,122.70
Wardrobe allowance @ 25% – N621,061.37
Recess Allowance @ 10% – N248,424.55
Accommodation @ 200% – N4,968,509.00
Utilities @ 30% – N828,081.83
Domestic Staff @ 35% – N863,184.12
Entertainment @ 30% – N828,081.83
Personal Assistance @ 25% – N621,061.37
Vehicle Maintenance Allowance @ 75% – N1,863,184.12
Leave Allowance @ 10% – N248,424.55
One off payments (Severance gratuity) @ 300% – N7,452,736.50
Motor Vehicle Allowance @ 400% of BS – N9,936,982.00 – Every Four Years. Allowance of Nigerian Senator: $1,500,000/year; Senator’s Salary per month – N2, 456,647.70 compared to the Salary of the U.S. President: $250,000/year
GDP of Nigerian Economy: $45 Billion/year compared to the GDP of the U.S. Economy: $13 Trillion/year. While most Civil Servants and other productive professionals cannot boast of N1 million per year, Nigerian Senators are making a total of N29, 479,749.00 Per Year. Absurd? Call it whatever you like, they don’t care and that’s a fact! Who will want to die a poor person, certainly not any of Nigeria’s Senators yet they probably may enjoy the killings going on by the Christians and Muslims, but if you want to counter my statement then ask yourself that ‘who is funding these killings’?

Nigeria is a sweet place to be and I must confess that during my stay there, I have learnt a lot that has spurred my believes. I often visit home and all I say ‘God bless Nigeria’, whether you believe me or not it doesn’t change the fact that Nigeria is a home to both citizens and strangers, you can ask Charles ‘Oppong’ Taylor that’s if you ever have the opportunity to meet him at the Hague. My research courtesy my big uncle from another mother has made me understand that Nigeria is a convenient asylum where the judiciary took bribe and brazenly perverted justice, a land of opportunists, a prison-house where the policemen remained incorrigible crooks, a stinking cathedral where pastors praised dollars and naira, not Jesus Christ, a theatre where the ridiculous dead can or has once held the living to ransom for months and a country of combat mongers, unadorned thieves and over-enthusiastic bombers. Nigeria’s motto is: Unity and Faith, Peace and Progress. Does that motto play any role in the present situation now?

When we all get to heaven, we shall ask different questions and I am of sure hope(s) that all our questions shall see the daylight of answers. But as long as we live here on earth, we must understand that #OCCUPY NIGERIA will someday be understood better than what we now believe. As I have always proclaimed that we shall soon overcome and our posterity shall understand that it was for the essence of the struggle against poverty, oppression, insecurity and bad governance. Every significant, efficient fight is not a tea party.

THE NO.10 JERSEY - MOST PRIZED POSSESSION?

Am back again with exciting, exhilarating, electrifying issue taunting my heartbeat. Call it whatever you wish but my big thumbs will not stop punching.

You may say it inside of you that I am talking gabble gibberish – I don’t care! You may feel that I am writing this because someone somewhere has given me abinchi – I don’t care! You may insinuate that this boy is out again with his rubbish – I don’t care! Whatever I pick my mind to scribble upon, and then I am in for it, chikina! At least no be you dey pay my bills, so why should I care?

Recently, not too long all the media in Ghana were writing, talking, shouting, screaming and I must say that many of them gossiped of the fact that the son of the former Black Star skipper had been handed the numero 10 jersey. ‘Ha! No be taboo to collect one man’s goat give another man pikin ke?’ That was my question, and then I was hinted that the former owner of that number screamed for rescue after he had been visited by the ‘spirits’ at nights to either loose his position or release that jersey number. Wonders shall or may never end in this part of Africa.

Here is how one media house in Ghana coined the story, ‘Ghana midfielder Andre ‘Dede’ Ayew will wear the number 10 jersey at the Africa Cup of Nations in Gabon and Equatorial Guinea.  The 22-year–old has been officially handed the jersey on a permanent basis after Udinese midfielder Kwadwo Asamoah informed the Ghana Football Association (GFA) that he is no longer interested in the No. 10 shirt due to personal reasons’.

For those who don’t know how Kwadwo got that number, he was given that after former Black Stars captain retired from international duties after the 2010 Fifa World Cup in South Africa. The development means Ayew will now use the same jersey number his father, Abedi Pele, used whiles playing for the Black Stars, and Kwadwo? He will rather want to add ten plus ten to get number 20. Make peace for prevail na.

That is just how it is with that jersey No. 10 out there in Ghana but the truth remains that many famous players have wore that number and it has thus become one of the most prized possession.

If you think I am lying, then let’s take a walk in to the world of, Pele, Maradona, Michel Platini, Zinedine Zidane, Johan Cruyff, Roberto Baggio, Ronaldhino, Francesco Totti, Luis Figo, Raul Gonzalez, Zico, Michael Owen, Gheorghe Hagi, Rivaldo, Mario Kempes, Ruud Gullit, Jay-Jay Okocha, Ference Puskas, Juan Roman Riquelme, Cuauhtemoc Blanco, Messi, Kaka, Rooney, Fabregas, etc. the question remains that ‘haven’t they dazzled your minds and eyes to great football’?

One will never stop pondering that what makes a great No. 10? You may have your own definition to that question but we must not forget that that number is mostly given to playmakers. Influential players who can twist and turn defenders like that merry-go-round thing. Most of them, who are captains, possess that leadership ability cum incredible footballing ability.

A football panelist who is a dear friend said that, No. 10s ‘individually makes players around them better because they are conductors who orchestrate the pace of the game’.

I cannot disagree less because they possess an incredible touch and wonderful dribbling ability. Their ball control is second to none; it is very difficult to take the ball off their feet. They are extremely well-balanced and strong players, with low center of gravity. They possess the elegance and class. They are effortless, smooth, simply and romantic with the ball. They great free-kick takers, excellent dribblers. They have that ability to lead, create and score goals. They have that technique that puts them on top of their showmanship.