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By AYO ONIKIOYI

Everybody is talking about MI’s new album, The Chairman, but it appears no one has a clue the artiste featured 25 artistes in the album to bring to his fans varying flavours to suit varying tastes.

Mr. Incredible himself disclosed this at the weekly entertainment event, ‘Industry Nite’ where an album listening party was held to herald its launch.

The event which took place at the Spice Route, Victoria Island, afforded fans, music enthusiasts and critics an opportunity to have a firsthand feel  of what to expect from the album. The album which is his third, comes four years after dropping his last album, Safe. It features a stellar line up of some of Nigeria’s biggest names in the music industry.

The album parades notable acts such as 2 Face, Phyno,Sound Sultan, Olamide,Runtown, Parotranking, Reminisce to mention a few. While the production prowess of Sarz, Pheelz, newcomers L37, G plus, Sammy Gyang and Reinhard were deployed towards making the album a hit.

MI who felt elated and appreciative for the huge turnout at the event was full of praises and kind words for his fans for their  unflinching support.“I sincerely have to thank and appreciate my fans for their patience.

What many people don’t know is that when Jesse and Brymo split from the label, it was a major blow to me, because we had already started work on the album,” MI said.

By Anu Tella

Well, the question of my dad influencing my acting career could have a ‘no’ and a ‘yes’ answer. A ‘yes’ in the sense that when I was very young I watched his movies a lot and liked them.

At a point I had a feeling I would do what he is doing when I become a man. But along the line I fell in love with law and decided to become a lawyer. My dad never directly influenced any choice I made. Whatever my choices are in life, he is always there to give me his utmost support. When I decided to study law he was with me all the way and when I chose acting he didn’t object either.

That’s where your professionalism comes in; apart from the fact that I had the talent I also learned acting as a craft. I believe having a talent is one and learning the rudiments of the profession is another. Acting is all make-believe and for you to make your act believable you must get into the character and believe you are actually the role you are playing. Now, if you want me to be the lover of an actress I have never even met before, as a professional actor it is easy for me, because all I have to do is get into the character of her lover. After doing all that I need to do I’ll drop that character after the film. Separating your emotion from acting is based on professionalism of course, because I’m a professional actor I find it easy to do.

In as much as she doesn’t complain about my job, there is a level of tolerance any woman can manage. Every woman has her threshold of tolerance. I am lucky I have a wife who understands my job but I try as much as possible not to overstep my boundaries when it comes to the opposite sex.

(Laughs) Ah, she jumped on me, kissed me and told me that she had promised herself that whenever she sees me she was going to do that to me. Fortunately, I was with my wife that day and I told her I was sorry and she said it was okay. It’s one of those anxious moments of our job. Before the fan left she apologised to me and to my wife

Why not? I can play any role given to me. I don’t have restrictions, as a good actor I must be able to interpret any script given to me. After all it is make-believe, it has nothing to do with who you really are. For an instance, I am a Muslim but I have had to play the role of a pastor many times over.

That is not true; I’ve done a couple of English movies. For an instance, I was in Lady’s Men. But I do more of Yoruba because I’m a promoter of culture. I love Yoruba culture.

The one I mentioned initially. A fan kissed me in public while my wife was right beside me.

I would have been in the law court.

Yes. But there is room for progress. This was not the position I was four to five years ago. Now I’m a producer

and I’m still working hard.

Acting has made me great.

I’m working on two projects right now; one is Alade Owala, to showcase reasons behind tribal marks. I did a little bit of research on it. That is coming out very soon. I also did a little project on Crime. Those are the projects I’m working on for now.

My acting school is also there. It is a school of performing art, dance drama, makeup and all that. The school is six years old now. We work on upcoming actors .That’s my little quarter to the society and I also have a charitable foundation. That is our way of giving back to the society what they have given to us. Collecting from the society to help the less-privileged .

Well,my acting career is God’s calling so if God tells me to go into that too, I will.

That has happened severally. At that point he’s not my dad, we are in characters and we should play the characters to perfection.. We have to be professional. I don’t even need to apologise.

By Benjamin Njoku

One of Nollywood’s most-sought-after actresses at the moment,
Oma Nnadi has confessed that she hardly finds time to attend to her personal needs again following her tight schedules in recent times.

The Nkwere, Imo State-born actress who’s currently making headlines in the national dailies, made this confession, while in a chat with HVP.

She has evolved from being an unknown actress to one of today’s busiest actresses, taking after likes of Mercy Johnson and Chika Ike. No month passes without Oma interpreting at least three movie roles.

Those in the know say notable producers now queue up to have her feature in their movies. Interestingly, in the past two months, Oma has been busy, jumping from one movie location to another.

Just last week, she returned to Lagos from Port-Harcourt where she was on the set of Uche Nacy’s production, alongside Ebube Nwagbo among others. She’s currently in Asaba, shooting an epic movie, and she’s expected to storm Enugu this weekend for another production.

Later this month, the soft-spoken actress will be travelling back to the United States, where she hopes to spend few weeks before returning to the trenches again. Upon her return, Oma will join the set of Chinwe Isaac’s production as well as Uche Nacy’s. According to her, she would be busy from now till the end of the year. “I don’t even have time for myself again. I feel like I am stressed up.

But this is what I love doing and I have to be happy doing what I know how to do best,” she said. Among Oma’s latest works are: Daughter of a Gambler, Girls on fire and Daughters on fire, Sisters Battle, Village babes and high Babes, Troubled King and Kings Help, Devil in disguise and Devil in Me, among others.

                                                                                        By KEHINDE AJOSE

The atmosphere in the Women Development Centre  Awka, Anambra  state,

The grand event which had a cultural theme kicked off with a traditional dance which serving as an appetizer for the audience to feed on. Thereafter, the audience was shocked  to its bone marrow when the anchor of the event was unveiled in a dramatic manner.

By the time Okey Bakassi pulled off his clownish outfit the audience realized he was going to be the MC for that night taking them on a journey of rib-cracking jokes, spot on delivery, and undiluted entertainment.

Chinedu Ubachukwu, the winner of the 2014 edition of GUS smiled home with N10m and a brand new Ford Explorer Sport SUV valued at N15.9 million.

Amazingly the youngster happens to hail from Anambra state and was formally presented as the winner of the 11th edition of the GUS as a result of his doggedness and discovering the general’s war helmet in the Aguleri forest.

In his remarks, Governor Willie Obiano, who happened to be the first Governor to have payed GUS contenders a visit in the jungle, emphasized the need for Nigerians to appreciate homegrown talents and reiterated the point by calling on investors and individuals to come to Anambra to invest and contribute to the development of the state.

He interjected humour in his speech and while he was about to leave the podium, Okey Bakassi beckoned him to wait for a while as he was presented a symbolic chair by the GUS council of elders headed by Nollywood actor Chidi Mokeme for his support and contributions to this year’s edition.

Nne Cosy Joe and Afolabi Emmanuel Olusegun were presented with cash prizes of N2.75m each for their participation in the reality TV show, while Otto Canon Chimenem, who came 4th in the competition, also won the Viewers Choice award and was given a cash prize of N1.5m and a brand new Ford Focus sleek car valued at over N4.3m.Canon shared his inspirational story of persistence, saying he had applied for the GUS on several occasions and was turned down.

He however persisted against all odds. His tale was welcomed amidst rounds of applause and cheers from the audience.

In his usual humourous fashion, Okey Bakassi threw a joke at 25year old Samantha Appi who won the prize for being the ‘Last Woman Standing’ saying she has been raised in the creeks, as a result she learnt how to climb trees and perform manly duties as a Niger Delta damsel.

Samantha who hails from Bayelsa State went home with a participation fee of N1.45m and brand new Ford Ecosport valued at N5.5m for being the ‘Last Woman Standing.’

Evi Addoh and Noela Iroh, walked home with N1.4 and N1.35m respectively as participation fee. Twenty six years old Sharon Robinson also got N1.3m , followed by Nwagboso from Abia State who got a participation fee of N1.2m.

Ikenna Emedike was compensated with N1.25m for being part of the programme. The first set of evictees at the 2014 GUS, Loretta Erijakpor and Eriata Blessing were rewarded with participation fee of N1.025m while Sandra Nwagbagiro and Ikenna Iwuoha got N1.125m each as participation fees.

The event reached its climax when the Mavins crew represented by Don jazzy and Dr Sid mounted the stage. Dr Sid was clad in a black T-Shirt and jeans fêting the audience to his hit track Pop Champagne.

Emotions overwhelmed the audience when Don jazzy emerged from the back stage to perform Surulere, a song rich in lyrics alluding to the fact that patience has rewards. There after the ‘Doroboss’ as he is often called by his fans gave a spectacular performance of the Mavin crew’s hit song, Dorobucci. It was a moving melody, thrilling track, laced with pleasurable performance.

Gulder Ultimate Search (GUS) is a Nigerian reality television powered by Nigerian Breweries Plc for one of its products, Gulder.

By Kehinde Ajose

I had to attend to some personal issues. Besides that, I took two years off and came back    late last year.  Funny enough, the first film I did just got a ZAFAA UK nomination. With that, God has wiped away my tears.

Tears of not working for a while. Not working for some time got to me emotionally down. Anyone     who knows me knows I am passionate about what I do. Acting is my life. Before  I won AMBO, I worked  for at least ten years with my mother. I started off on this job at the age of twelve. Even as a young person,  I knew I wanted to be an actress, I knew I wanted to be on stage.

But as a child I was helping my mum out. She was a barrister and owned a law firm. Looking back now, I am glad I went through all that because it has given me a business edge. All those tears were not wasted they were tears for the future to come.

For me, I am grateful to God for my late mother because she was the one who was always telling me to believe in myself no matter what. She was the one that kept telling me that looking good is always good business.

She told me if I maintained my good looks it would bring me nothing but something good. Hearing those words motivated me to take on the world. Her words encouraged me. As a young girl,     I didn’t have to depend on a man for money. It’s important to me as a woman to hone my craft and be an asset to the society

I cannot speak for them but one has to be purpose- driven. It is said that by a man’s actions you can tell what is in his heart. Looking at any actor you can know if they are purpose-driven by their actions. My business is not to busy myself with what someone else is doing.

For Nollywood, I think we are not there yet, but we are rapidly getting there. Look at the AGN under the leadership of Ibinabo Fibresima.

Now, I hear of producers and actors who under AGN leadership have been awarded scholarships to go abroad to study. I also hear of the government supporting the AGN .I think  its purpose driven. Now, we have insurance. We want the world to associate themselves with Nigerian movies. We are rapidly getting there.

I will say the stage played in Lion and the Jewel written by Wole Soyinka.  I played Sidi, an eighteen year old girl. My role in Tales Of Eve was also challenging; I had to switch from playing the role of a 13-year old to that of a 37 year- old lady. In addition, a film I just did where I had to play a woman who is completely frigid, who doesn’t smile and her back is completely straight.

That is another challenging movie role I had to play. After playing that role I had backache for a long time. As an actor if you take your business serious you must exercise frequently to keep in shape or else there are rolea you wouldn’t be able to fill. It’s quite challenging. I don’t blame some Hollywood actors who, after doing a very intense film, commit suicide.

As an actor, after doing a job you have to learn to relax, separate yourself from the character  and become yourself. You have to make sure you don’t lose your true identity. Most of the roles I have played are intense and I hope they come off as entertaining.

I will answer that question like this; for me as a future film maker a film has to have a meaning, it must have a message that it’s trying to convey to the society.

Infusing soft porn just for the sake of soft porn is     wrong; it has to have a true connection with the storyline.

I am not sure I can say I endorse such because if I say that  I will be giving a lot of people wrong ideas. Most people are looking up to me and listening to what I am saying.

I will not endorse it but I am also a realistic person; it depends on the storyline. There are some things that are expected of a particular scene.

You cannot afford to run away from it .If I am not comfortable with a scene I tell my directors. I have always had a very cordial relationship with my directors.

That‘s the thing about having formal education as an actor. There are different kinds of kisses. There is the ‘In love’ kiss, there is the ‘I cannot do without you’  kiss. When you are filming and your tongue comes out the director is showing the viewers something very sexual.

I am a confident woman and I do believe I am beautiful. I am blessed and I do not shy away from that. I am aware of my beauty and the effect it has on men. I try not to make it a defining thing in my life though. I love my body .

Some people know they are beautiful and they use it as a tool to get what they want. When a woman is not confident of herself whether she is fleshy or skinny it will come off in her actions. I am just comfortable in my skin.

It’s called Casting couch. Of course, I have been approached; I have been asked this question and I have said ‘no’ because I never engaged in it. But the offers have come up.

It happens the same way a man tells a woman “I like you; I will like to take care of you”. It’s the same thing. This one is not wooing though, they want to collect something in exchange for something .It happens everywhere even in the banking industry.

After working with Mr Obi Emelonye on his crime series Calabash which is about the craziness of the banking industry, I discovered that the movie industry does not even come close in sexual harassment in comparison to what happens in the bank industry.

But because we are in the open and on screens people see us more and adjudge us the worst. The person that is seen often takes the blame whereas everybody does it. It’s more rampant in other industries. Yes, it happens. Directors have tried to come to me and made such moves.

No, it shouldn’t be.  I believe for everything that somebody can do there are always an alternative .Like the Indian movies of those days. They never engaged in lips touching but you would find intimacy in their movies.

That for me is genius. For you to have engaged in such a scene without actually making it look like a gritty sexual scene is pure genius. For me, it doesn’t have to be a major strategy .Yes, these days everybody is half nude or naked.

Obviously, when you look at Lady Gaga and Nicki Minaj they hardly have clothes on and they get a lot of viewers and you wonder why their society accepts that. It is their society; it is the way they were raised.

When you raise a child, making her believe that the only way she could get things done or be successful in entertainment is to show off her body or to have the right size of boobs;  what do you expect? No one wants to be cerebral anymore, they all want to be sexy and that affects the society.

I will be very uncomfortable. I am a very confident lady, even as I am right now; I only undress in front of those close to me, especially the female folks. I am a very shy person. It will take a lot for me to even undress in front of a person let alone a room full of directors, cameramen, people I don t know. I will be uncomfortable. I am not certain I will be able to do it.

The craziest thing was that I was in church one day and I got a tweet that read that I have abandoned acting for jewelry-making and I think my error was that I didn’t have my publicist send out a report to say that it was not true.

After a while people started to believe that, and thought I had left the scene. It hurt but thank God I am back and better. That is the craziest thing I have ever heard about myself. I    will never abandon acting