Ivory Coast International/Manchester City FC Star Yaya Touré is the 2011 Glo-CAF African Footballer of the Year – Photos from the Ceremony

Congrats are in order!
28 Year Old Ivory Coast International and Manchester City Football Club midfielder Yaya Touré received the 2011 African Footballer of the Year award at Glo CAF Awards Gala on Thursday December 22nd 2011 at the Banquet Hall of the State House in Accra, Ghana.

He expressed his joy as he graciously received his award – “This award is not important for me alone. It’s for my country and for my club…This is a big step in my career, I’m very thrilled. To be the winner is fantastic.“

According to the official press release from the awarding body CAF, “The honour caps a wonderful year for the midfield maestro who has been in scintillating form for club and country. Toure is winning the topmost individual honour in African football for the first time and he joins compatriot Didier Drogba as the only Ivorians to have laid claim to the award since its inception in 1992.“

Other winners include Ivorian striker Souleymane Coulibaly who won the Most Promising Talent of the Year
award and Tunisia midfielder Oussama Darragi who won the African Footballer of the Year “Based in Africa” award.

Nigeria was also on the award recipients list as Super Falcons captain Perpetua Nkwocha won the Women’s Footballer of the Year award for an unprecedented fourth time. The 35-year old Nigerian had previously won the award in 2004, 2005 and 2010. Retired Nigeria international Austin “Jay Jay” Okocha received a special recognition award.

Lady Gaga Sued By Former Assitant

US pop star Lady Gaga has received one of the oddest Christmas gifts as she has been slammed with a lawsuit from her former assistant.

According to reports, Gaga’s former assistant Jennifer O’Neill claims she was a slave to the singer, having to do such outrageous things as fetching a towel for her after she showered!

O’Neill who worked for the pop goddess for a period of 13 months says she is still being owed $380,000 in overtime. She further elaborated on her job; it included ‘ensuring the promptness of a towel following a shower and serving as a personal alarm clock to keep (Gaga) on schedule’.

The lawsuit however is not directly aimed at Gaga but at her concert management outfit – Mermaid Touring Company.

‘The suit is completely without merit’, Gaga’s rep told the New York Post.

9ice – Versus [Album Review]

To be the best they say you have to retire the best. Eager to be on top again, 9ice features the biggest pop stars on his 5th conceptual album Versus. On each track he features (or as this album is structurally designed- he goes against) acts such as 2face Idibia, VIP, Wizkid, Banky W, M.I, Timaya, Tiwa Savage, Psquare and others.

9ice should be encouraged for pushing out a conceptually driven LP in this day and age when everyone wants to play safe. 9ice Vs 2face is a good album opener. It might not be another ‘Street Credibility’ but it possesses enough soul for it to stand out in the album.

9ice Vs Wizkid as expected is a dance song chuck full with Yoruba phrases. The new wonder kid of Nigerian music dazzles on this Spellz-produced track. Wizkid’s boss and mentor, Banky W features on the next track. This isn’t really Banky’s kind of thing but he adapts well and even adds a few Yoruba phrases on his verse. It is a cool clash of two worlds on this raunchy track.

9ice enlists the help of hottest female pop act out now on 9ice Vs. Tiwa Savage. This might look like a mismatch on paper when one considers 9ice’s coarse voice and Tiwa’s smooth and sexy appealing vocals. But Tee-Y Mix makes it work; creating a very groovy song. This is one of the album’s strongest collaborations and should be pushed as a single.

The Alapomeji boss also features rappers on his new album. 9ice Vs M.I is a strong match-up. The re-worked Cheepho-track which now features a harder bass line sees 9ice taking shots at his (imaginary?) foes. M.I has one of his best cameo appearances. ‘We are the most incredible out of Nigeria/ everyone talks about our music in your area/ fever high lyrics killing rappers like malaria’, spits a flashy M.I.

9ice Vs Dagrin is a track that more than adequately delivers to its target audience. This song will bump in ‘Owambe’ parties for a while. Sadly 9ice Vs Modenine doesn’t live up to the previous rap collaborations. The song is incoherent and is all over the place.

On the 9ice Vs KWAM 1 song, 9ice pays homage to his Fuji roots by featuring the almighty KWAM 1. 9ice slightly outshines the legend on this one but that doesn’t hold the song back.

Like on the Basorun Gaa album, 18 tracks is quite a stretch. Also for such a conceptual album, a chief sound architect would have helped this album sound better. An ID Cabasa or any producer of his experience would have known how to make the album sound like one whole unit. Versus sometimes sounds like a collection of songs and not an album. Despite these however Versus shows that 9ice can go toe to toe with some the best names in the land even though he isn’t ready to beat some of them yet.

Rating- 3.5

Photos From Muma Gee And Prince Eklips Eke’s Wedding

Popular Nigerian musician Muma Gee has tied the knot with Nollywood actor Prince Eklips Eke.

The wedding as announced earlier was held in two parts; a traditional wedding ceremony took place at the Uwame compound, State school, Odiabidi Village, Ukpata Kingdom, Ekpeye land in Rivers State on Tuesday, December 20, 2011.

The white wedding followed three days later at the Recovery House, stadium road, Portharcourt. The wedding was presided by ReverendUgochukwu Unachukwu.

Check out a few photos below…

NETPod: Aduke – Made In Lagos

Born to dentist father and lawyer mother, one would wonder where Aduke’s interest in music sprung from. Being the last of two children, the Ekiti-born singer says her art is life for her and music is the core of her passion.
Her style, which tends to the folklore genre, might not be new to our ears but in an era where pop sound has dominated the market, Aduke’s music is a breath of fresh air.
‘Made in Lagos’ tells the tale of the city – its highs and lows. Aduke’s strong vocals still sounds quite melodious over well struck guitar sounds. She clearly paints the metropolis in the most vintage way as possible but doesn’t leave out its urban features. Beautiful.
DOWNLOAD

US Based Nigerian Bags 5 Years Over Death Threat

An aspiring US based Nigerian rapper, Olutosin Oduwole, has been sentenced to five years in prison over a note threatening a killing spree unless ransom was paid.

The 26-year-old former Southern Illinois University-Edwardsville student however claimed the note was only his rap lyrics.

Madison County Circuit Judge, Richard Tognarelli who handed out the judgement, however agreed with the Jury that convicted Oduwole in October and also sentenced him to 364 days and a thousand Dollar fine for having a loaded gun on campus.

Oduwole was arrested after police found a note in his abandoned car, just months after the infamous Virginia Tech shooting that left 32 dead including the gunman.

The note demanded payment into a PayPal account, stating ‘if this account doesn’t reach $50,000 in the next 7 days, then a murderous rampage similar to the VT shooting will occur at another highly populated University. THIS IS NOT A JOKE!‘

After his sentencing, Oduwole who got ten years less than what prosecution initially requested, also pleaded guilty to felony charges of theft and computer fraud for an online sale of a gun he didn’t have. He is to serve a two-and-a-half-year probation on that charge to be served with his prison term.

MTN Rewards Users With Xmas Surprises

One of Nigeria’s biggest telecommunications networks, MTN has announced they will be rewarding their subscribers by offering a more convenient and exciting means of communication this yuletide period.

The first offer sees all customers on the ‘MTN family and Friends Xpanded’ subscription plan receive one minute free worth N30 for every three minutes received. Customers who want to enrol in the plan should text ‘bonus’ to 131.
A second is only available to prepaid customers who will enjoy the lowest call rate at N8.33k when they pay N100 for 12 minutes of call to China, US, Canada and UK lines. To buy this bundle, Text YES to short code 321. Prepaid customers can also Recharge from N50 – N400 and get 10% extra airtime OR recharge N400 and above to get 20% extra airtime free.
According to MTN, the aim of dishing out these packages is to ‘reward customers who have been loyal throughout the year and also enable better communication among family and friends this yuletide season since it is a season to show love and care’.
The offer closes on December 31, 2012.

—————————

SPONSORED CONTENT

Animal Rights Body Wages War On Kim Kardashian

By Osagie Alonge

Kim K has been regularly spotted rocking fur coats and had over time, received a lot of tongue lashing from the group. But they have gone a step further by launching a billboard campaign against her rocking fur coats.

The billboard ad shows two fox cubs with the statement that reads ‘Kim these babies miss their mother. Is she on your back’?

PETA who named the ‘Keeping up with the Kardashians’ favourite ‘Worst Dressed Person’ 2010 also blasted the 31-year-old on their official website.

‘Kim knows that animals on fur farms are beaten, electrocuted, and often skinned alive. We’ve explained it to her, and she’s watched a video expose that was filmed inside fur farms. When Kim is ready to put an end to her relationship with fur, PETA will be happy to take her discards and donate them to the homeless’, PETA Senior Vice President Lisa Lange said.

Ironically, Kim had supported her younger sister Khloe when the latter posed naked for a PETA campaign poster against fur back in 2008.