Month: July 2012

Photos from behind the scenes of Bamboo’s first single since his return have been released. They have added a more photos from the shoot as the launch party nears. The video is expected to be released this week after being postponed last week. The video is for Bamboo’s first single after his return, Africa’s Calling, and features Lavosti. The launch will take place at Volar on Friday evening. Meanwhile check out behind-the-scenes photos below.

Check out the rest of the photos here.

A lot of bad mouthing has been going on about ex BBA housemate, Alex. All this started after he nominated Prezzo for evictions and got worse when he (Alex) was evicted from the house. I saw this coming from a mile away, and so did you.

Anyway, Alex has now come out to defend his name and make things clear once and for only. It’s only fare to hear his part of the story. Here is his statement which he posted through his facebook page.

“Hey fam, a lot of issues have arisen since I nominated my countryman for eviction from the BBA Stargame 2012. I wish to give my position on the matter hoping we can make peace and move on with life.

The main beef has been I’m a “traitor”, “unpatriotic” and “not a nationalist”. Fellow Kenyans, I’m nothing close to any of that.

I’m very proud of my nation, I respect my fellow citizens and I always showcase my country at all times. Guys, I was brought up with patriotism, integrity and honesty being drilled in me – And I believe in all those virtues. That’s why I always displayed the Kenyan flag during eviction nights, task presentations and any other opportunities. I don’t have to tell you this but I’ve always had my national flag in my bedroom. Our family sitting room has always had the national flag above the fire place. Our family cars have Kenyan flags at all times- And I strongly believe in my nation.

Some have said I couldn’t sing the national anthem. I apologize to my motherland that I missed the final words of the anthem due to prevailing pressure. But out of my honesty and belief in my country, I immediately repeated the whole stanza and sang it flawlessly. I did not choose to insert my own words to look good. I respect my national anthem.

So the question keeps arising why I nominated my countryman for eviction. My answer is simple and direct: my countryman violated my personal interests and freedom of association. My understanding is that the right of an individual legally executed comes before patriotism, because whoever violates your rights is unpatriotic in the first place. My countryman came across as selfish, hiding luxury items from other housemates including me. He was also unduly aggressive to me. He prevented me from freely associating with a fellow housemate, Goldie, telling me “You don’t know me!”. That’s on record at BBA.

I wish to state that if anyone steps on my legally executed freedom and legitimate interests, then I’ve the right to take any lawful action I deem necessary to safeguard my interests and freedoms. This analysis informed my decision to nominate my country man.

That said, I respect you, you respect me and patriotism comes after me and you recognize that we are both human beings with equal basic rights and freedoms. I love the new constitution of Kenya because it’s very clear on rights and freedoms of citizens.
Fam, my appeal is for peace to prevail and we move on. I have no grudge on Prezzo and if Africa decides he shall be the winner, I’ll congratulate him and be sincerely happy for him.”

Prezzo is still going strong in the Big Brother Stargame house. He gave a few people goosebumps when he announced he would voluntarily leave the house but it looks like Africa still got his back. He did not only get the obvious Kenyan vote, Tanzania also came through for him once again. So did Liberia and the rest of Africa again.

However, Uganda’s Kyle got the highest number of votes (6), two above Prezzo and Lady May in second place. Uganda’s overwhelming vote for Kyle meant that another countryman had to leave. Jannette only got one vote: Ghana’s. Below is a rundown of how the last week of nominations vote went.

Kyle = 6 (Malawi, Nigeria, South Africa, Sierra Leone, Uganda, Zambia)
Prezzo = 4 (Kenya, Liberia, Tanzania, Rest of Africa)
Lady May = 4 (Angola, Botswana, Namibia, Zimbabwe)
Jannette = 1 (Ghana)

More good news for #TeamPrezzo as Kenya’s Prime Minister joins the list of politicians falling over themselves to endorse the cause!

And it’s ggod that no less than the Prime Minister has urged Kenyans to vote for Prezzo as now you can be sure that everyone, including those not bothered with the BBA proceedings will now be showing el Prezidente their support.

This is how Raila Odinga showed his support:

All good things must come to an end and as King Igor Shahdov said in the movie “A King in New York”, “To part is to die a little…”

But we shall make Prezzo’s parting from the BBA house alot smoother and easier if we can get him home with that loot!

And it’s on and popping like a rotund girl’s blouse if we can just get Prezzo home with 300,000USD$ because Kenya will not just have broken it’s jinx of not getting one of her own into the finals but will have done so in style.

And uncle Chim Tuna has the plan: let’s all vote for Prezzo and if not because we like him, then because we are Kenyans and doing that will get the Kenyan flag flying high!

Send the word Prezzo to 5626. Even the comely Tina Kaggia is in on the fanfare of getting Prezzo back home with the money:

so the eviction went down at the BBA House and once again, Team Kenya rose to the occassion!

But what wasn’t in all the hype and pomp of the show and was probably missed is the Big Brother poll carried out to ascertain who the rest of Africa would miss should they get evicted.

The poll had Kyle, Lady May, Prezzo and Jannette. And as we probably know by now, Kyle had the most votes from Africa but who do we the viewers consider the most lively and entertaining? Who else but our very own Kenyan lad Prezzo? Prezzo led with 39.38% of the votes and was closely followed by Lady May with 34.65%

Here is a screen shot of how the votes have been streaming in so far:

1. We asked the fans who they would rather win the Kshs. 5,000,000 prize on Tusker Project Fame: Ruth or Doreen? Who Would You Cast Your Vote For?

2. A celebrated American rapper had a message for the Big Brother Stargame housemates and Kenya’s own representative was obviously excited. Prezzo Goes Giddy As Nas Appears On BBA

3. The reality competition finally drew to a close and the winner was unveiled. Ruth Matete Wins Tusker Project Fame 5!

4. The Esther Arunga saga continues and she talks about her life in back in Nairobi. Part 3: How Esther Arunga Revealed She Lived In a Room Full of Rats

5. It was a celeb-filled work in the BBA house and the RnB singer had a few word for the contestants. Mary J. Blige pays the BBA housemates a visit

6. The former TV presenter arrives later than scheduled for her Dubai trip, and she had an explanation. Part 2: How Esther Arunga Walked All the Way to the Airport to Catch Her Dubai Flight

7. Esther Arunga left the country earlier this year for Dubai, a friend’s account explains how that happened. Part 1: How Esther Arunga Hustled Cash Out of Her Friend

8. A TPF judge flew back in the country for the finale. Pic of the Day – Guess Who’s Back in The Country For the TPF5 Finale!

9. Esther Arunga’s CV reveals a few untruths. Did Esther Arunga Lie About Her Achievements To Get Work Abroad???

10. She’s been on a number of big Hollywood productions and here’s a clip of her on a popular TV show. Check Out a Kenyan Actresses’ Appearance on American Soap, Days Of Our Lives

Janette was evicted today from Big Brother Africa. Prezzo’s name was the first to be mentioned in the eviction line-up, but Ike quickly revealed that he had been SAVED yet again by the public. 

Janette lost out on the competition, despite upping the ante with her sexually charged antics. She adopted an alter-ego named ‘Lola’ who was apparently the one responsible for all her shenanigans, according to her post-eviction interview.

 It seems our Kenyan boy is quite the resilient one. Despite getting nominated literally every week since Upville and Downville merged, Prezzo the president has always survived the evictions with no hassle. Surely that makes him one of the leading contenders for the top prize of 25million Kenyan Shillings, don’t you think?

Ruth Matete has won Tusker Project Fame 5. The final order of contestants was:

1. Ruth

2. Doreen

3. Jackson

4. Joe

Ruth went away with a grand prize of 5 million Kenya shillings as well as a 10 million shilling recording contract with Universal music, despite many people’s doubts that her lack of ‘Hollywood looks’ might hinder her chances.

She was speechless as her name was revealed. She fell to the ground and began thanking God for everything. The judges were quick to remind her that pride comes before a fall, and that she should keep herself in check, despite her newfound fame. The losing contestants were graceful in defeat, and vowed to keep going in the music industry.

PRESENTING KENYA’S LATEST CELEB, RUTH MATETE:

The night was epic, with Camp Mulla and Sarakasi dancers making special guest appearances.

Ida Onyango has been on some pretty big films throughout her career as an actress. She has appeared in various films including Antoine Fuqua’s Tears Of The Sun alongside Bruce Willis and Monica Belluci. She also starred in The Brady Bunch sequel and The Lost World.

On TV, she appeared on Seventh Heaven, Nick Freno, Party of Five, Hanging With Mr. Cooper and many more. But her biggest show to date has to be on one of the most popular soap opera from the ’90s, Days Of Our Lives. The show started in the ’60s and went on for decades introducing teenage storylines which gave Ida a chance to do a total of 46 episodes.

On the show, she appeared as Georgia Delgado and enjoyed a good amount of screen time. Here is a clip the actor and singer shared. Watch out for her appearance from the 01:38 mark.
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A lot of international and local artists have visited the BBA house in virtual form and have motivated and amazed the housemates every time a new visitor shows up. Even Nas wasn’t left behind.

Today, the housemates could not believe their eyes when they saw RnB singer, Mary J. Blige on their screens after a long wait in the TV room. She had the same message as the rest of the celebrity visitors, “Keep doing all that you are doing for Africa. Fight hunger. Bring change.”

The housemates were even more astonished when Mary J. Blige called them all out, by NAME. The expression on each and every face in the house was priceless. Take a look at the video below.

As Tusker Project Fame season 5  comes to a culmination this weekend, the battle lines are drawn as the remaining contestants drum up their fanbases to vote for them to win the top prize of Kshs. 5million and a recording deal with Universal Music Group.

Of particular highlight though will be pitting two strong contenders in the Tusker Academy at the moment against each other, for very different reasons.

Ruth Matete is arguably the strongest contender to take home the top slot, with her husky tone and electrifying performances set to arm her with a huge number of the votes. Competition has steadily been coming from the other contestant Jackson, considering the fact that his performances have been improving in leaps and bounds over the weeks that TPF5 has been going.

Viewers have witnessed the tremendous growth Ruth has gone through as well as seeing her confidence grow and the prowess with which she tackles her tasks and delivers when she is supposed to. Ruth managed to evade probation for most of the season though last week she had a taste of her chances of winning being on the line. The public saved her from eviction though as they overwhelmingly voted for her to stay in, a form of stamp of approval.

Doreen Nyawira was rightly titled the ‘Princess of Probation’ as she was virtually on probation for the better part of the season. The judges had little faith that she would last but it seems the audience is firmly with her as they consistently and convincingly voted for her each week to keep her in the Academy.

Speculators have said that the ‘ordinary girl’ angle that she’s been professing may very well be a tactic but viewers can relate to her easier because she comes from ‘simple’ beginnings and has made it this far into the competition. The public vote could very well go for her if it all comes down to the wire, but does she truly have the talent?

We’ve seen Doreen grow as well both in vocal delivery and performance so maybe we may just witness a shocker this weekend. Who are you voting for?

After Esther Arunga settled at The Friend’s house in Dubai, she got comfortable enough to reveal some startling details about how life was for her in Kenya. She said they had been living in a single room house in Lukenya, which was full of rats. They always made sure the baby ate but it meant they had to go hungry at times.

The Friend and her husband were sympathetic and tried their best to make them as comfortable as they could. A fortnight after their arrival, Quincy gathered everyone one morning to show them an article that had appeared in The Star’s Website. The heading: Esther Arunga Staying With Friends in Dubai.

Quincy took it out on their hosts for betraying them and running to the media with stories about their financial situation. The Friend was the one who had faciliated Esther’s pre-natal clinic visit and so he claimed she was the only one who could have known that she was two months due. Apparently, Esther herself had no idea how long she had before that clinic visit.

The article on The Star Website was published on 17th February, 2012 by Grace Kerongo. The article has details which were provided by an unknown source and which is corroborated by various other sources. One comment was left by a commenter known as Daily Telegraph, which has since been confirmed as an account set up by Quincy to “report” on stories regarding the couple. “Daily Telegraph” takes it out on Ms. Kerongo for “manufacturing lies” and even threatened with a lawsuit.

On investigating, The Friend found out that prior to The Star, the news was broken by Sydney News. In the original article, which had terrible grammar, The Friend’s workplace and details on how she contacted the media with the story was published. That is when it dawned on her that Sydney News was written by Quincy himself in a bid to put a wedge between Esther and The Friend.

He was probably angered by the fact that the story had now been picked up by a wider circulation paper. This was just the beginning of the games Quincy would play to undermine the very same people who had helped him out of a difficult situation and even hosted them abroad. Keep it Ghafla! for more on the story.

Read the first part of the story here and the second part here.

TPF Judge Juliana is back in the country for what is set to be the grand finale of East Africa’s biggest reality TV talent show, Tusker Project Fame season 5.

Juliana just jetted into the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport after having been back in her home country, Uganda, to perform live on stage at NTV’s 5th year anniversary celebrations yesterday.

The celebrated musician updated on her Facebook wall:

Had fun last nite performing at the NTV 5th anniversary. Great crowd…. Helloooo Nairobi!

Tusker Project Fame 5 is set to come to an end this weekend with the competition all boiling down to the public to keep their favourite contestants in the running for the grand prize of a recording contract with Universal Music Group and Kshs. 5 million in cash, among other goodies.