STL GETS TOP NODS IN CHANNEL O MUSIC VIDEO AWARDS CATEGORIES

It’s down to the wire for Africa’s hottest artists and music videos with the just-released list of nominees in the 2011 Channel O Music Video Awards! Artists from Angola, Ghana, Mozambique, Kenya, Nigeria, Tanzania, Uganda and Namibia are all in the running for this year’s awards.

This time around, the only Original.African awards feature multiple artists with two or more nods - making it an open field for nominees in the 14 categories as they make a bid for the votes of Channel O viewers throughout the continent!

This longstanding, public-voted awards event sees a massive 10 videos in contention for the hugely prestigious Most Gifted Video of the Year award – ensuring it’s a tough choice for fans.

Among the strongest bids is Kenya’s STL, whose Lookie Lookie has been nominated 3 times for Most Gifted Female Video, Most Gifted Dance Video and Most Gifted Video of the Year.

Alongside her is Ugandan artist, Navio whose Keep Moving is up for Most Gifted Video of the Year as well as Most Gifted Male Video and Most Gifted Hip Hop Video.

Also making a play for attention is hotshot South African artist Zakes Bantwini whose Wasting My Time clip has earned him a nod in the Most Gifted Video of the Year category as well as Most Gifted Male Video. He is up against one of Africa’s undisputed heavyweights in both categories in the form of Nigeria’s D’Banj with his Mr. Endowed (Remix) featuring Snoop Dogg.

In the Most Gifted Newcomer category, Nigeria’s Wizkid is vying for the title in a field that includes South Africa’s AKA, Uganda’s Keko, Nigeria’s Ice Prince, Zambia’s Zone Fam and South Africa’s Kwesta in one of the most exciting categories at this year’s event.



In addition to STL’s success, another female has also made an impact on a music scene dominated by male artists. South Africa’s Lira has a double nomination for the video Phakade in the Most Gifted Video of the Year and Most Gifted Female Video categories.



Voting for the 2011 Channel O Music Video Awards opened Friday 19 August and closes midnight (CAT) Thursday 27 October 2011. Visit www.channelo.tv to cast your votes via web or WAP. You can also vote on MXit and SMS (send your favourite artist’s code to +27 83 920 8406). You can vote in all 14 categories as many times as you want, but only ONCE per hour.

STL GETS TOP NODS IN CHANNEL O MUSIC VIDEO AWARDS CATEGORIES

It’s down to the wire for Africa’s hottest artists and music videos with the just-released list of nominees in the 2011 Channel O Music Video Awards! Artists from Angola, Ghana, Mozambique, Kenya, Nigeria, Tanzania, Uganda and Namibia are all in the running for this year’s awards.

This time around, the only Original.African awards feature multiple artists with two or more nods - making it an open field for nominees in the 14 categories as they make a bid for the votes of Channel O viewers throughout the continent!

This longstanding, public-voted awards event sees a massive 10 videos in contention for the hugely prestigious Most Gifted Video of the Year award – ensuring it’s a tough choice for fans.

Among the strongest bids is Kenya’s STL, whose Lookie Lookie has been nominated 3 times for Most Gifted Female Video, Most Gifted Dance Video and Most Gifted Video of the Year.

Alongside her is Ugandan artist, Navio whose Keep Moving is up for Most Gifted Video of the Year as well as Most Gifted Male Video and Most Gifted Hip Hop Video.

Also making a play for attention is hotshot South African artist Zakes Bantwini whose Wasting My Time clip has earned him a nod in the Most Gifted Video of the Year category as well as Most Gifted Male Video. He is up against one of Africa’s undisputed heavyweights in both categories in the form of Nigeria’s D’Banj with his Mr. Endowed (Remix) featuring Snoop Dogg.

In the Most Gifted Newcomer category, Nigeria’s Wizkid is vying for the title in a field that includes South Africa’s AKA, Uganda’s Keko, Nigeria’s Ice Prince, Zambia’s Zone Fam and South Africa’s Kwesta in one of the most exciting categories at this year’s event.



In addition to STL’s success, another female has also made an impact on a music scene dominated by male artists. South Africa’s Lira has a double nomination for the video Phakade in the Most Gifted Video of the Year and Most Gifted Female Video categories.



Voting for the 2011 Channel O Music Video Awards opened Friday 19 August and closes midnight (CAT) Thursday 27 October 2011. Visit www.channelo.tv to cast your votes via web or WAP. You can also vote on MXit and SMS (send your favourite artist’s code to +27 83 920 8406). You can vote in all 14 categories as many times as you want, but only ONCE per hour.

LIZ OGUMBO ON STUDIO 53

Kenyan ex-model and designer Liz Ogumbo who seems to have relocated to South Africa will be featured on Studio 53.
The singer who headlined one of the eviction shows for the ongoing voyeuristic Big Brother All Stars, will talk about her change of career from a qualified computer scientist to trotting the globe as a model, gracing catwalks from Paris to New York.
Liz came back home from the US in 2005, she started a modeling agency but it did not take off as she had hoped it would. She decided to diversify into another realm of the fashion industry and thus Imani House of Fashion was born.
She invested in fabric and a number of sewing machines, and then set about scouting for a tailor to interpret her designs. The first dress she designed was for herself but she promptly ploughed back the Sh5, 000 estimated value of the outfit into her fledgling business. “I later sold the dress to friend and used the money to buy more fabric,” she recalls.

Another strong beautiful woman featured in this season of Studio 53 is South African songbird Lira who has landed a dramatic acting role in a full-length feature film. ‘The Italian director Antonio Falduto spotted my picture on the cover of a magazine and he said ‘I want her to portray a particular character in my movie’, which just happened to be the supporting lead role,” said Lira.

LIZ OGUMBO ON STUDIO 53

Kenyan ex-model and designer Liz Ogumbo who seems to have relocated to South Africa will be featured on Studio 53.
The singer who headlined one of the eviction shows for the ongoing voyeuristic Big Brother All Stars, will talk about her change of career from a qualified computer scientist to trotting the globe as a model, gracing catwalks from Paris to New York.
Liz came back home from the US in 2005, she started a modeling agency but it did not take off as she had hoped it would. She decided to diversify into another realm of the fashion industry and thus Imani House of Fashion was born.
She invested in fabric and a number of sewing machines, and then set about scouting for a tailor to interpret her designs. The first dress she designed was for herself but she promptly ploughed back the Sh5, 000 estimated value of the outfit into her fledgling business. “I later sold the dress to friend and used the money to buy more fabric,” she recalls.

Another strong beautiful woman featured in this season of Studio 53 is South African songbird Lira who has landed a dramatic acting role in a full-length feature film. ‘The Italian director Antonio Falduto spotted my picture on the cover of a magazine and he said ‘I want her to portray a particular character in my movie’, which just happened to be the supporting lead role,” said Lira.

THE OFFICIAL MAMA PERFORMERS

Nairobi, 5 August 2009: MTV and Zain have set the tone for the 2009 MTV Africa Music Awards with Zain, revealing news of the first performers signed to appear at the glittering Awards ceremony. Guaranteed to set the stage alight at the Kasarani Indoor Stadium, Nairobi on 10 October and representing the best urban music on the continent will be 2008 Best Female winner, Wahu, South Africa’s Afro-soul queen, Lira, Nigerian rapper M.I. and Ghanaian dancehall superstar, Samini. Many more artists will be announced in the coming weeks.

South African jazz singer for Kenyan jazz festival

One of the hottest jazz singers in South Africa, Lira will be in Nairobi on Saturday to perform with Eric Wainaina and Valerie Kimani at a Jazz festival dubbed South Meets East to be staged at the Nairobi National Museum starting at 6pm.
Lira, born Lira Molapo is not new to the Kenya stage as she was a hit when she performed last November during the Black Peacock Ball, an event organized to raise awareness of violence against women and children. Incidentally that performance was also held at Nairobi Museum.
The South African singer is best known for her single “Feel Good” which won her the 2007 South Africa Music Award (SAMA) in the category Best Music Video. The song currently enjoys more radio airplay than any other South African song.
She is signed to SONY/BMG and has performed alongside Jazz music heavyweights like Hugh Masekela, Jonas Gwangwa, Ringo, and many other jazz bands.
Tickets for the Saturday show are going for Sh2,500 for a seat in the VIP stand and Sh1,000 for an ordinary seat.