A celebrity is an individual with popular appeal, prominence in a particular field, and is easily recognized by the general public within a particular society. The term celebrity is synonymous to wealth and mostly used within the fields of sports and entertainment.
However, when it comes to most of our Africa celebrities (Entertainers), the term ‘celebrity’ is identical to purely being ‘famous’ and substantially broke.
The reasons why most of our Africa celebrity entertainers fail to achieve the all important aspect of being a celebrity (wealth) will be considered in this piece. What are our celebrities doing wrong compared to western celebrities?
Becoming famous which is the first aspect of being a celebrity is not very difficult, the real work is being able to make a living or create some sort of wealth from the fame (popularity).
For a person to be able to create wealth within any society, such a person must perfectly understand the market structures and the principles that control the market-forces and consumers.
Most of our Africa celebrity entertainers remain broke because they do not understand the market they find themselves within; they are buying into concepts and practices which make money in western markets but do not make anything in their own markets.
CHRIS-VINCENT Writes!
When Will Mildred ‘Eazzy’ Realize That The People Around Her Are Merely Using Her?
Most people are saddened by the eviction of Mildred ‘Eazzy’ from the on-going Big Brother Stargame but for me, it goes beyond the eviction-‘girlfriend’ has been used and will probably not even notice it.
The ‘Eazzy’ brand has become an easy to use and take advantage of project; championed by the very people the young struggling Ghanaian musician has surrounded herself with.
It will not be contemptuous for me to say, I think most of people around the girl do not have her interest at heart, and the ill advice she received from them to participate in Big Brother for the sole betterment of Keitta says it all.
Let’s take a look at why I am making the above assertion.
First of all, though Eazzy is struggling as a musician which I will wholly put the blame on her former record label (Click Here To Read The Reasons), she has worked hard to attain a decipherable celebrity status in Ghana.
Unlike Keitta, Eazzy has a status and a career, no matter how weak they may be now. Her involvement in any enterprise must therefore be thoroughly considered in line with her career, personal development and gains as a celebrity and an artiste. This I believe was never considered when Eazzy was advised to participate in the Big Brother Stargame.
I have heard people passionately argue that, the Big Brother platform is a huge one and therefore, her participation will help her as an artiste. How will a huge platform merely help an already established artiste if she is not well prepared for it? In fact, stepping on such huge platforms unprepared rather destroys all that the person has toiled for.
Before the commencement of the Big Brother Star game, I stated that, “even though Big Brother Africa is a huge platform which one can use to sell a brand or a product to millions of Africans, many have gone on there and have not been able to sell anything”.
Ghanaian Actresses Using Juju ‘Black Magic’ To Sabotage Colleagues & Gain Movie Roles
It may be superstitious and thick to you, but to the many Ghanaian Actresses visiting the shrines of prominent juju men (native doctors), it works wonders and that is the source of their fame, glory and the ‘goodness’ that follow them.
Few months ago, I was kicked out of my chair when I was informed by certain industry persons about the rapid spread of the use of black magic by some Ghanaian Actors (predominantly the women-Actresses).
The shock and the thought of this primitive practice endured with me for days. I could not believe what I was hearing.
Despite how bemused and bewildered I was, I could not let the issue just pass like the wind. I decided to talk to certain industry persons such as Actors, Actresses and movie makers to ascertain the merits which can be accorded to this evil development.
To be frank, I thought it was a joke. I could not bring myself to understand the connection between black magic and getting a movie role or being famous in a struggling movie industry like ours. I guess I was a little too naive to spot how diluted the over saturated industry has gotten.
African Movie Industry: How Far Have We Come?
The era when we could not hold more than 2 African movies in our hands owing to the fact that our movies were stored on huge cassettes have ended unnoticed.
Slowly, we have left behind those big boxes of tapes for VCDs/DVDs, making transportation, collection, storage and sharing of African movies easy and affordable.
The mentioned change has positively affected packaging, storage and sharing, thereby increasing patronize of African movies all around the world, especially those areas you can find communities of Africans.
Despite the above effort to attract more and more interest, there is still a gigantic obstacle curtailing this effort and that is; the level of acting remains tremendously poor, making patronization to increase at a decreasing rate.
It would not be unfair, disproportionate or disrespectful to say that, collectively, there have not been a single progress or improvement in the way and manner scripts are being interpreted by African actors.
With a lot being pushed into production (usage of modern Hi-tech equipments), creativity and packaging, it is only reasonably that we expect a corresponding improvement in the level of acting. Shockingly, most African movie actors and actresses are still flying high on the mediocre radar
Ironically, countless award schemes are being organized day in and out to reward these non-improving actors and actresses. I sometimes ask…why don’t we organize acting training workshops and seminars for these actors if we indeed want to reward them? Their sub-standard acting needs that instead of the countless plaques we hand over to them.
I Love Politics But I Hate The Accompanying Anti-Intellectual Culture In Ghana
Many individuals including close friends and family have asked why a law graduate like ‘me’ pursuing a career in law has fanatical interest in Ghanaian Entertainment instead of politics.
The consistent nature of the above question reflects the strong desire and the interest Ghanaian lawyers and several highly educated individuals have in politics.
If the political game in Ghana is predominantly played by highly educated and intellectual minds, then, is it not only reasonable that we expect a fair game play-divorce of any anti-intellectual culture? Don’t we have the right, in fact a duty to demand an equitable game play by these highly intellectual minds?
Contrary to the above, the actions and omissions of many of our politicians, intellectual minds and rulers fall below what such great minds are accepted to reasonably exhibit in governance.
The common justification-politics is a dirty game played by decent and intellectual minds cannot even exonerate our Ghanaian politicians. Their actions go beyond the ordinary dirty skin well layered within politics.
Majority of our intellectual politicians seem not to be dirty game players, they are rather atrocious, wicked and above all, their desire for power and self enrichment supersede the interest of ordinary Ghanaian citizens.
Observing all the recent development in Ghanaian politics leaves me with no option than to keep a distance since it remains unattractive to my ‘little’ conscience.
There seems to be little which depict the fact that the political game in Ghana is being played by well educated and some of the greatest minds of today.
Partisan interests have overshadowed national interests. There is little or no over-reaching duty of accountability, fairness and respect for other political game players.
Review: The Vodafone Ghana Music Awards 2012 Was Not Fully ‘Recharged’!
Following months of vigorous preparation, the Dome of the Accra International Conference Centre on Saturday saw the 2012 Vodafone Ghana Music Awards come to live.
From my perspective, it would be totally wrong to judge or go into comparism between Vodafone and MTN-the previous sponsors of the annual awards which now have been accepted globally as a ‘credible’ award scheme to reward Ghanaian musicians.
When Charter House, the organisers of the awards announced that Vodafone has become the new sponsors, there were things that the average music enthusiasts, musicians and professionals who work in the Music Industry anticipated – at least certain things were expected to be done differently.
Photos: Who Rocked It Worse At VGMAs!
One thing that Vodafone was tasked to change or minimize was the usual controversies which has engulfed the awards since the first edition. However little has been done or achieved in that regard. It appears impossible to wipe away the controversies thoroughly. It’s still early days, so we have to adopt the watch and see approach.
I must stress that; a lot can be achieved and learnt in twelve years whereas little or nothing can be achieved in one year. I felt Vodafone had done their home work before taking over the sponsorship of the awards. But it appears some of the things will still linger on even with the swap of sponsorship.
Dying To Be Light: Skin Bleaching, An Undeserving Practice Gaining Strong Roots In The Ghanaian Entertainment Industry….
Globally, skin bleaching has become an entrenched practice in our various societies despite its serious repercussions on the human health and image.
This practice has become very common to the extent that, arguments such as we are predisposed as primates to accept the superiority of light skin as being beautiful, smart and adorable over dark skin cannot be easily refuted.
How can the above be easily disproved when a child as little as 3 years confidently pointed out that, a light skin painting was beautiful and smart whiles the dark skin was ugly and somehow unintelligent? (Watch the video here)
Even though skin bleaching has serious health problems, I am extremely worried about the image issues and the fact that it a great machinery being used to reinforce the unfounded assumption that light skin is supreme, smart, beautiful, desirable and culturally appreciated.
It is sickening to look around and find out that some of the very few people that our young ones look up to in our fast booming Ghanaian Entertainment Industry have been swayed into the diabolical enterprise of skin bleaching/lightening.
As far back as 2002, a survey indicated that skin bleaching was at the peak of about 75% in Ghana and Nigeria and the worst of it all is that, education in these two countries was at its lowest.
My Sincere Thoughts On Kwaw Ansah’s ‘The Good Old Days – Suffering To Lose’!
Kwaw Ansah earned great respect after releasing ‘Love Brewed In An African Port’ and ‘Heritage Africa’ in the early and late 80s respectively. He has won prestigious awards with both movies including the Pan-African Film Festival award (FESPACO).
Last weekend at the National Theatre, movie enthusiasts saw the premiering of his third project ‘Suffering To Lose’ in ‘The Good Old Days’ serials. The first and second were ‘The Love of AA’ and ‘Papa Lasisi Bicycle’.
Kwaw Ansah by default has created a niche for himself and as a result has become a favourite of most movie lovers in and outside Ghana, hence why the premiere pulled a large crowd.
As I seat to watch the movie with many several others, I realised that Kwaw Ansah is loved. ‘Suffering to Lose’ set in the 1950s and 1960s is a compelling story of love, family and relationship which portrays the hallmark of a good African woman who suffers through thick and thin for her family.
One thing that would draw many to watch the movie I reckon would be the great casting. Great actors like Ekow Bingo Baiden, Akorfa Ejeani Asiedu, Agnes Dapaa and Emmary Brown featured in the movie makes me appreciate Kwaw Ansah. At least he is not blindfolded like the other directors who constantly use the same faces who many times don’t know how to get into character.
The Licentious Raquel, The Ghanaian Artiste Who Forgot Her Panties Home & Showed Off Her Iniquitous ‘Coochie’ On Stage…My Thoughts!
I have heard and seen several entertainers putting their ‘coochies’ on full display whiles on stage or out and about for wearing panties which do not have enough fabric to cover their ‘chunky’ genitalia.
However, to absolutely wear nothing under a skimpy dress in our part of the world as a female entertainer and mount the stage in this skimpy dress with the excuse that you genuinely forgot your panties at home is implausible. Did I just say it is implausible? In fact, it is plain psychosis and utterly disrespect for your worthy as a woman.
The above is the summary of what happened with Ghanaian rising musician-Raquel at Citi Fm’s December 2 Remember Concert. In simple words, Raquel jumped on stage to perform in a skimpy dress which she claimed had a mal-function backstage. And beneath this skimpy dress, she had no panties…
Various media men I know have confirmed seeing photos of Raquel’s genitalia on full display and NewsOne-an entertainment tabloid in Ghana claims to have clear shots which they intended to publish.
NewsOne has not been able to publish these photos despite their earlier publication which suggested a date- 6th January. NewsOne claims reputable persons like Ambassador Kabral Blay-Amihere, Musicians Union of Ghana President Bice ‘Obour’ Osei-Kufuor, Former National Women’s Organizer of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) Daavi Ama, Chairman of the National Media Commission, Rev. Opambour Adarkwa Yiadom of the Ebenezer Miracle Worship Center and others have bombarded them with calls not to publish the photos for various moral standings and for the sake of the dignitary of Raquel.
I am somehow bemused that morality and dignitary is being bought and lobbied for Raqual, a woman who seems to have lost absolute track of her status as an African woman and for that matter a Ghanaian woman.
I do not have a single bit of compassion for her and this is simply because, her actions were premeditated. Raquel is reported to claim that her dress was not made as skimpy as we see it but rather it tore (wardrobe mal-function) at backstage before she came to perform. Her account continues that, her team had to somehow fix the wardrobe mal-function by performing emergency stitches.
Ghanaian Celebrities & The Act Of Giving: Why Are Some Of These Celebrities Swindling Society In The Name Of Foundations…
I have decided to open this up for this discussion after a warm hearted lady in the United States who claims to have channelled much of her efforts and resources in helping a Ghanaian celebrity raise funds for his foundation contacted me saying; she is well informed that this celebrity is rather using the money … Read more
Photos + My Sincere Thoughts On The Premiere Of ‘Elmina’ In London: Good Movie & Organization But The ‘Avoidable’ Hiccup Was A Big Mess…
The date of the red carpet premiere of the much talked about movie ‘Elmina’ could not have been any better than yesterday for me. After years of studying Law, I finally said goodbye to UEL School of Law on Thursday with no idea as to where to catch the fun I have always wanted.
With the weather getting bad, an indoor entertainment was the most excellent to consider. I decided to kick start my freedom from books with the red carpet premiere of ‘Elmina’.
As a result of experience, I have somehow come to undesirably accept that African events-no matter where it is organized will always start late. With this in mind, I drove through the cold winds of North London to Cineworld, Wood Green around 9:45 pm when the advertised start time was 9pm. I was certainly not going to fall for the time wasting BS this time, I said to myself.
When we eventually got to the place and hanged around for almost 30mins without any sign of appearance of the various advertised celebrities, I knew I had been beaten to the game once again.
This time, I could careless about my time being wasted because none of my guests consistently bothered me about when the movie was going to start. They were somehow being compensated with glasses of champagne and other drinks courtesy of the sponsors the organizers managed to pull in.
The crowd was positive, sociable and had a lot of energy which you could easily spot on their faces- most of them seemed happy with the compensation they were receiving for the waste of their precious time…LOL. No amount of alcohol can deny me my right to check my watch though…
After waiting on those drinks, the legendary Akorfa Edjeani Asiedu and Ama Konadu Abebrese made their way through for the usual celebrity appearance photo shoot. The forever young Akorfa Asiedu was looking beautiful, more like an African teenage prom queen.
Ama K. Abebrese came in with her fabulous sense of fashion, styled by the artistic Marian Kihogo; she wore a dress by Virgos Lounge, a pair of Christian Louboutin heels and kept a simple but glamorous necklace made by Ghanaian fashion designer-Anita Quansah.
After these appearances, we still had to wait for John Appea and others to show up. By the time the light from the projector was cast, it was nearly half eleven.
Having had a lot to drink, patrons were well chilled out and as soon as the movie started, the laughter rolled in as the crowd caught the various humorous aspects of the movie.
I did not expect a movie such as ‘Elmina’ which robustly tackles various societal injustices, exploitation of local Ghanaians and the degradation of the beautiful scenery of Ghana to be intertwined with comedy. Probably, it can pass for a satire!
As much as I loved the fusion of comedy into the principles that the movie sought to teach, some of the lines were utterly unnecessary. For instance, the line where the chief threw in the word ‘Fuck’ was demeaning to his prestigious status as an overriding ‘Chief’.
For me, ‘Elmina’ carried 3 fundamental stories. It courageously took up a challenging theme of how African leaders exploit their very own loyal subjects. It also tried to dive into where the stool of convenience should be placed when imminent development and prosperity will have a detrimental effect on our future existence.
Thirdly and above all, ‘Elmina’ colourful displays the Ghanaian culture. I do not think a full documentary can even bring you to realize the beauty and glamour that hide in our Ghanaian culture, the remarkable water bodies, the perfect landscapes and the friendly but repulsive communities that exist side by side. Anyone who appreciates culture, art and humour will love ‘Elmina’.
Now this is where I need answers…At a time patrons were at the climax of the enjoyment, the movie being shown on the big screen started playing up. You know what happens when you have a scratched VCD at home and you force to play it in your 1945 VCD player- it keeps pausing and moving every 2 seconds. Yeap, that is what happened last night…
Eventually, the movie went off and we had to wait for nearly 20minutes to see pictures on the big screen again. And when they finally brought it back, they took it too far back… Geez! That was the biggest killer of the night.
Say It Loud: The Ugly Side Of Miss Malaika 2011!
I write with much pain in my heart, it is the type of pain that is extremely difficult to express especially in writing. It’s the kind of pain that outweighs the pain I went through after Uruguayan striker Luis Suarez prevented Ghana from scoring at the World Cup by handling the ball and Asamoah Gyan subsequently wasting the penalty – the decider.
Last Saturday at the Accra International Conference Centre, patrons were thrown into a deep shock and dejected when beauty was picked over brains at the just ended Miss Malaika 2011-the beauty pageant that seeks to celebrate brains and beauty.
I had the rudest shock of my life when, the obvious winner Alex was robbed of her over deserving crown as Miss Malaika 2011. The shock was very grievous. The shameful verdict and unfortunate incidence equivalent to miscarriage of justice have dented the credibility of Charterhouse and their choice of judges.
If you are one of the people who think the proliferation of beauty pageants in the shores of Ghana can be blamed for unappealing nature of the Miss Ghana brand, then you surely have a partner, because I am thinking along the same line.
After witnessing the finales of the Miss Malaika 2011, where for the first time, the biggest event organising company in Ghana, Charter House struggled to get people to the auditorium of the Conference Centre, I can perfectly understand those who have strong antagonism for beauty pageants in Ghana.
Poor Attendance:
Miss Malaika has always been an big event but for this year, it was poorly-attended. For the first time in the history of the company that prides itself as the biggest event organisers in Ghana, it failed to convince many why they should be present to watch the Miss Malaika 2011 finals.
Afia Schwarzenegger Hijacks/Fights At Happy FM After Drinking Undisclosed Quantity Of Alcohol + Why ‘Forbes 40 Most Influential Celebrities In Africa’ Did Not Have A Ghanaian In There!
This morning, a GhanaCelebrities.Com fan tweeted me and said I should listen to Happy Fm Entertainment show because something ridiculous was happening…
I tuned in a bit late since I was locked up on writing some other posts. At that time, they were discussing the ‘Forbes 40 Most Influential Celebrities In Africa’ story.
All of a sudden, multiple fuming voices of which the strongest of them was that of Afia Schwarzenegger were heard.
Things got heated up between Afia Schwarzenegger who was drunk and was holding a bottle of Guinness (disclosed by a panel member openly on air) and a certain reporter…
The host of the show was heard on air calling in security to probably come and tow the drunkard Afia Schwarzenegger away.
Gosh, how did this happen? Why was Afia Schwarzenegger drunk on some damn Guinness as early as 10 in the morning?
Why did the management of Happy Fm allow her into the studios while drunk? Some of the comments she made were not radio friendly at all…
Where Are The Ghanaian Movie Directors? Have They Been Sidelined By Their Nigerian Counterparts?
Contrary to what many people think, there are essentially enough movie directors in Ghana. The only problem is that, they don’t get scripts to direct.
Several reasons have been given for their inability to get scripts. The most common of all the reasons is, they are not fully committed at their job as movie directors, whereas the Nollywood directors are said to be the exact opposite.
From movies released, it appears that movie directors from Nollywood have been offered permanent seats in the Ghana Movie Industry –demoting their counterparts in Ghana to the background. They seem to have taken over their jobs.
The presence of Nollywood movie directors inGhanais very noticeable. Their number is huge and the list is a tall one. If a movie is not directed by Phil Bernard then it will be Ish Thompson or Willie Ajenge or maybe Ofam Okereke. If it is not Ifeanyi Onyeabor and Tchidi Chikere or John Izedonmi then your guess will be right, because it will certainly be Frank Raja Arase or Pascal Amanfo.
And the list keeps growing. Where are the Ghanaian movie directors?
In GhanaCelebrities.Com’s interaction with some of the biggest movie producers inGhanawho pleaded to remain anonymous, they mentioned that top movie producers prefer to offer their scripts to Nollywood movie directors to direct at the expense of the Ghanaians.
The Nigerian directors are said to be very well involved in their jobs but same can’t be said of the Ghanaian directors. The only way to avoid embarrassment or disgrace is to learn. According to the top producers, the Nigerian directors keep updating themselves, something that remains a dream to their Ghanaian counterparts.
Are Ghanaian ‘Stars’ Ready To Become Celebrities…
Being a celebrity in any part of the world comes with pockets of advantages and loads of disadvantages. In the West where the concept and practice of ‘Celebrityship’ is well understood, celebrities receive several freebies, huge attention and support for their works.
It is not always a beautiful day in the life of celebrity. Things get messy and harsh with several critics, fans and haters monitoring their every day doings solely to find faults and bash them for these flaws. This is the real life of a true celebrity and the true celebrities have accepted to live with this, finding reasonable ways around the various eagle eyes pointed at them all the time.
With our entertainment industries growing and mounting credibility, certain industry actors have been honoured with ‘celebrity status’. Whether they deserve this status or not is another piece to be considered next time.
The ‘celebrity status’ confirmed on these industry players have been fully accepted and this is evident in the fact that they glorify themselves with it and have even been enjoying the various benefits ‘freebies’ that come with ‘status’.
What is still worrying is that, unlike the West where celebrities face the pros and cons of the status they carry on their shoulders, our celebrities’ desire and only recognise the pros of the game.