Big Brother 2014 is here

Lengile Radu, will host Big Brother Mzansi

Big brother fans will have a lot to marvel about this year as the show is likely to air twice.

First will be the return of the South African version twelve years after the show last aired in 2002. The all South African edition has been codenamed Big Brother Mzansi and premieres on 2^nd February.

Each week housemates will nominate each other for eviction. The housemates who get the most nominations will have to survive a viewer vote. If they don’t, they’re evicted out of the game instantly. Only the last person remaining at the end will take the mega jackpot. Along the way Big Brother, that infamous and legendary character at the center of it all, will no doubt be introducing his own twists and turns into the game.

As with Big Brother editions all around the world, stakes are high so fans can expect drama and lots of it! Add to this the possibility for love, laughs and a truly life-changing experience, and the stage is set for a hugely entertaining edition of the hit global reality TV series.

The show will be hosted by Channel O presenter and VJ Lungile Radu of Kasi 101 and O-BOMA.

But this doesn’t count the entire Africa out totally, if the official Big Brother Africa faceBook page is anything to go by, the continental reality will too be coming back for the ninth season.

The page last week had hints of what the continent should expect from the show this season dubbed, ‘All Stars 2’.

Kyle and Jannette may have a chance to win the jackpot

It is scheduled to start on August 10th, 2014 and will feature 28 participants from 14 different countries; Angola, Botswana, Ethiopia, Ghana, Kenya, Malawi, Namibia, Nigeria, Sierra Leone, Tanzania, South Africa, Uganda, Zambia, and Zimbabwe.

According to the post the housemates will be picked from Season 6 (Amplified), 7 (Stargame) and 8 (The Chase).

If all this true, this means past ugandan housemates like Kyle, jannette and Denzel may finally have a chance to create a second impression.

So who would Ugandans love to see return to the house?????????????

Bebe, Flavia and Seanice in new game show

Bebe Cool alongside radio personalities Seanice Kacungira and Flavia Tumusiime have been chosen to represent Uganda in a new TV game show.
Tusker Twende Kazi, is based on the model of the famous Amazing Race show.
The show teams up 14 Kenyan celebrities with 14 wanaichis with the aim of taking a Tusker bottle to Kenyan Rugby player Humphrey Kayange in London.
The group will be joined by more East African celebrities including the Ugandan trio and other East Africans from both Tanzania and Uganda to make a total of 50.
The show is intended to show the spirit of togetherness among East Africans.
The 50 participants will be paired into teams and will comprise an ordinary East African citizen and a celebrity.
Recruitment for the reality TV show started on December 12th last year & ends in February when the race officially begins.  The journey will take place over a 50-day period and will see the participants traverse a total of 13 countries and traverse two continents.

Last  Saturday morning, Flavia and Bebe Cool were at Hilton Hotel in Nairobi doing some work in line with the reality show. But trust the 'Enyonyi Enkezze' star, by Saturday evening, he was in Malaba to join his Gagamel band for a performance at Queens Palace. Bebe Cool performed most of his hits for the fans up to the wee hours of Sunday morning.

Call me Kuchu makes it to Hollywood

Ugandan film has been on a high this year, with the inauguration of the UCC film awards and the outing of high tech movies like The Ugandan, seems the industry is on the right path.

Early this month, a pro LGBT documentary film, God Loves Uganda made the shortlist for an Academy nomination, the movie talks about the role of American evangelism in infrituating the homophobia tendencies of Ugandans, the movie has never premiered in Uganda because the directors are afraid of the backlash it might come with.

Before Ugandans could even give these directors their piece of mind, another emotional documentary, Call me Kuchu was released in the US about our attitudes towards homosexuality.

Call me Kuchu is a 2012 that had originally failed to make it big but with the increasing homophobia reports about Uganda in the foreign press, the documentary has since been picked up by an international distributor.

The documentary sets off In Kampala, where two men are having a wedding ceremony with a pastor and friends. However, it is a very quiet event and everyone is dressing casually to avoid attracting attention. Meanwhile, we see footage of pastors and politicians describing homosexuality as a Western and sinful activity.

The documentary looks at the recently passed  bill that threatens to make homosexuality punishable by death. With unprecedented access, the filmmakers follow David Kato - Uganda's first openly gay man - and his fellow activists as they work against the clock to defeat the legislation while combatting vicious persecution in their daily lives. But no one, not even the filmmakers are prepared for the brutal murder that shakes their movement to the its core and sends shock waves around the world.

Call Me Kuchu depicts the last year in the life of a David Kato, whose wisdom and achievements were not fully recognized until after his death, and whose memory has inspired a new generation of human rights advocates.

The documentary directed by Katherine Fairfax and Malika Worrall however goes on to distort facts about, the way and how Kato really died, they say he waskilled for what he was yet his neighbours had no idea he was even gay. The movie also depicts Ugandans as barbaric people that even burn and kill gay people on the streets.

Call me Kuchu has received good reviews from Rotten Tomatoes, New York Times and many major publications that have lauded the documentary for being an ‘eye openner’ about the plight of gay people in Uganda.

Airtel launches African syndicated music shows

Airtel with operations in 20 countries across Asia and Africa, has partnered with Radio Express, a leading international branded audio company, to launch two newly created shows on local radio stations across 17 African countries.

The shows; Airtel Music Express (in English) and Airtel Musique Express (in French) are weekly count downs  produced by Radio Express and feature the hottest Hip-Hop, R&B, and pop artists on the African airwaves, connecting people to performers from Africa and beyond. Both shows feature global hits, as well as local hits in each country. The charts are based on airplay reports from dominant mainstream music radio stations throughout sub-Saharan Africa.
Airtel Music Express, the English version will be hosted by Big Brother Africa’s IK and according to the company website will feature some of the best East, west and central Africa’s best English and local music.
The shows will run on 35 yet to be named radio stations across 17 countries including Uganda, Rwanda and Kenya among others.
The Airtel partnership is a big deal for many African artistes since Radio Express is a worldwide leader of radio programme syndicating and distribution of programming outside USA. They are distributors of famous weekly shows like The World Chart Show, Live in Concert, Gospel Traxx and the legendary Rick Dees Weekly Top 40.