16 May 2008
column
Give us an O! Give us a B! Give us an A! Give us an M! Give us an A! Who have you got? Obama. You must have seen many cars in Kampala with a sticker bearing the name of the man who could be the US's first black president on their windscreens.
But Masaka people value Barack Obama more than you could think. Actually, they have decided to name one of their roads after him. Our sources in the central district told us that residents of Kitigondo in Masaka, led by Kampala businessman Frank Gashumba, have named one of the roads in the area after the democrat and now the road is called Barack Obama Boulevard.
The road leads to Gashumba's farm in the area and he said, "Obama has shown us all that someone can come from nowhere and give the entire world hope. He makes you proud of black." So, Mr Obama, you have a vote in Masaka, only that it doesn't count.
Bobi Wine shoots video at burnt Budo dormitory
We all know music involves lots of creativity, but this might be beyond creativity. Singer Bobi Wine recently released a controversial song titled Ebibuzo (Questions). The first time he performed the song was during the recently concluded Silk Street Jam, where he took to the stage with several of his Firebase protégés holding placards protesting the problems affecting the country.
When the time to make the video for the song came, Bobi Wine chose the burnt dormitory at Budo Junior School, where 20 children recently lost their lives as his location.
The ghetto president together with his music video producer Kawalya of Centrix travelled with their camera and utilised the chance when Bobi Wine and several other artistes paid a courtesy visit to the school in a show of solidarity with the bereaved families. The cameraman got shots of Bobi Wine singing outside and inside the burnt dormitory as well as other artistes as they lay wreaths at the site.
In the same music video, Bobi Wine acts as a news anchor reading news with smoke passing on the screen. Well, that's the master of controversy.
Eddie Rush is a father
The celebrity stork has been quite busy lately and it made its latest trip to artiste Eddie Rush's home.
To receive the baby-delivering bird was Eddie Rush, with his long-time girlfriend Amia Una Kusiima.It was on Saturday at exactly 4:45 p.m when Kusiima delivered a bouncing baby girl at Kampala Hospital in Kololo. As it was their first child, Rush rushed to inform all of his friends about the great news. He has named the girl Tatiana Tatina Kengoma.
Chameleone, MTN relationship ends
That's right folks, MTN Uganda has officially dumped Jose Chameleone. And the lanky star is "not heartbroken," so he told us. It happened like this... Chameleone claims that he has been going to MTN for his allowance for four months in vain.
But MTN PRO Shiella Kangwagye says MTN fulfilled its part of the contract until it expired in April. So when other telecommunication companies offered him cash to perform, he had no choice. Therefore he ended up performing at the Celtel-sponsored Rock with Akon concert last week. Chameleone was singing praises for Celtel and even asked the audience to wave their Celtel bandanas as he performed.
One of the MTN staff who was near us was mad at Chameleone's stunt and even added, "That one is finished, we made the decision (to chuck him) long time ago and now he has just hit the final nail in his own coffin..."
But Chameleone told 24/7 that he has no regrets because he will be a free agent who can perform for anybody at any time with no strings attached.
Wedding meeting
Meanwhile after several of his friends and well-wishers have failed to honour their pledges to his wedding, singer Jose Chameleone has resorted to holding wedding meetings so he can meet the huge financial budget. On that basis, Jose Chameleone was also forced to push his wedding with his fiancée Daniela Atim from May 30 to June 7.
Chameleone's wedding meetings kicked off at TLC Bar the previous week but several people turned up. A source close to the singer revealed that several people failed to attend the meeting because they failed to find parking space for their cars and since then, Chameleone relocated the meetings to another venue with a larger parking lot.
The wedding meetings went on last week at Emerald Hotel and will be held at the same venue every Thursday up to the first Thursday of June. In the meantime, we have learnt that unlike the earlier expectations of Chameleone holding a mega wedding, the singer has resorted to holding a moderate wedding with a modest guest list. The first meeting yielded up to Shs30m, and the second one yielded about Shs42m in cash and pledges.
Divizionz on CNN
When we switched on our TV sets, last week, we were in for a surprise.
Yes, we'd heard Divizionz was at the Berlin film festivals early this year and that even its director Don Mugisha was interviewed on German station DWTV. But it turns out the feature film is bigger than we probably thought. For doubting Thomases, visit the link http://youtube.com/watch?v=aylEeLUHCS4.
Yes, the Divizionz's director/co-producer Don Mugisha and co-producer James Tayler were interviewed by CNN as well.
The first part of the two-part interview was aired last week with both producers explaining the storyline of the film. The interview was screened on CNN's Screening Room, a show that focuseson films, and the final part will air early next month.
Divizionz, which just won two awards at the Africa Movie Academy Awards in Nigeria, stars local singers Bobi Wine and Buchaman. And as soon as we saw this interview on CNN we simply said: "It's 100% bad news!"
Akon promises Kenya a show this month
Akon, finally, performed in Uganda but is there any chance that our brothers and sisters in Kenya will ever see him perform live?
We'll soon find out because Akon said so and he even met with the Kenyan promoters at Serena Hotel in Kampala.
A source told 24/7 that the Senegalese songster held a 20-minute meeting with the organisers of the Akon Kenya concert on Friday morning and he agreed to a show.
During a press conference at Celtel House, Akon said he had suggested he flies straight to Kenya after Uganda but "those guys (Kenyan promoters) said they could not put together the show in time so I'll find another time. We'll go to Kenya very soon."
Is there a better way than hearing it from the horse's mouth, Kenyans?
Moreover, a source has told us that Akon is set to perform in Kenya on May 22, which will be a Thursday. "But that date could still change," said the source.
The source added that Akon told the Kenyan promoters that he will be busy on all May weekends so the only option was to hold the concert on a weekday.
Akon has failed to perform in Nairobi on more than two fully booked concerts. Good luck, Kenyans!
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