Lagos auditions for the second season of the Nigerian Idol music reality show kicked off on friday November 4 to Sunday November 6, thousands who were looking forward to pave their way into fame through singing trooped the Dream Studios venue excited and hoping for the best.
The reality show which has the trio of Jeffrey Daniels, Charles "Charly Boy" Oputa and Yinka Davies as judges held auditions in Abuja in October, breezing through thousands of talents in Enugu and Port Harcourt along with Etisalat-sponsored
mini-concerts which provided extra entertainment.
The show which promises to be more spectacular than last year's and with a bigger and better prize haul this time around will begin airing on 4th December, until the winner is announced at a grand gala on 1 April 2012.
Spearheaded by Etisalat, in conjunction with Pepsi and Sony. Other partners include Air Nigeria, Megalectrics and Beat FM, the season 1 of the show was won by Yeka Onka, a former beauty queen and
contestant from Abia State.
MISS VENEZUELA IS MISS WORLD 2011
21-year old Ivian Lunasol Sarcos, Miss Venezuela has been crowned Miss World 2011 at the beauty pageant held at the Earls Court Exhibition Center in London.
Gwendoline Ruais, a contestant from the Philippines emerged the first runner-up while Amanda Perez from Puerto Rico placed third.
The beauty queen will spend a year visiting different beneficent projects around the world. "Winning means everything for me and I hope to take advantage of it in a productive way. I'm incredibly happy to have won, and I have to say there were some fantastic girls (in the pageant)," Sarcos said.
"The first thing and what I want to do most is help people in need. I want to help people like me – I grew up an orphan – and I would also like to help the elderly and teenagers with problems and everyone I can."
MICHAEL JACKSON'S DOCTOR FOUND GUILTY
A jury of seven men and five women in Los Angeles has found Conrad Murray, late Michael Jackson's doctor whose trial began september 8, 2011 guilty of involuntary manslaughter in the death of the King of Pop.
58 year-old Murray who was portrayed as an incompetent doctor who used the anesthetic propofol without adequate safeguards and whose neglect left Jackson abandoned as he lay dying will be sentenced on November 29, to four years imprisonment and could also lose his medical license.
He pleaded not guilty adding that he had formed a close friendship with Jackson, never meant to harm him and couldn't explain why he died.
The decision however sparked off jubilation amongst the late singer's fans who had gathered outside with signs and T-shirts demanding, "Justice for Michael,"
He has been remanded into custody.
PALOMA MANDA, BIG BROTHER AFRICA HOUSEMATE STORMS NIGERIA.
Paloma Manda, Zambian housemate in the 2010 edition of the Big Brother Africa All Stars has arrived Nigeria to headline an interactive television programme, a music talent hunt show and concert amongst others.
Her visit was spearheaded by Dandora Production House Limited, an Asaba-based advertising and multi-media production company.
Her choice as the host of the programme was informed by her warmth, international stature in recognition of the desire to build bridges of peace, unity and harmony in Africa while also fostering a cross-continental collaboration and synergy between Nigeria and other African countries especially in the expansion of the entertainment frontiers across cultural borders.
Tony Okrika, Chief Executive Officer, DPHL, explained that "During the Big Brother Africa show, she was well loved by everybody because of her matriarchal disposition and carriage and we feel that there is no better celebrity to mentor youths in the ways a mother can than this young lady. Our confidence in the capacity and charisma of Lady Paloma to deliver successfully on her assignment is quite high."
D'BANJ'S $200, 000 ASTON MARTIN DB7 VANTAGE CAR (RANDOM THOUGHTS)
The other day, while strolling down twitter lane, I came across D’banj’s new Aston Martin DB7 Vantage car picture which according to diverse reports is valued for $200, 000. The other time the shoes he wore to the MTV awards was the cynosure of all eyes, dis time na car. But seriously, reports like this aint good for the heart.lol.
Person wey wake up still dey think wetin he wan chop no go cry when he read that kain story? These stories aint ear-friendly to the poor.
To make the ‘attack’ (cos it’s an attack on people’s brain) milder, it’s better to leave the figures in the Dollar state and never convert it to naira, because of headache. That’s when you hear Mamas inserting a bit of that good news when rebuking their children, “you no dey shame, u carry 5k gimme, no be your mate dey buy Aston Martin car”. U go fear comparison.
So the big question which often comes to recall is where do these artistes get money from? Jim Iyke flaunted his own car almost the same time. Some would say no be only music, no be to just sing for stage come down
So without anybody sending me message, cos I’ve listened to arguments which they don’t get paid for, oh D’banj did this, he did that to get the car. Na una sabi. All those stuffs won’t make the car disappear from his garage.
But seriously, don’t know if this happens to me only, such news often make you zoom into your present job, calculate your salary, close your eyes and for your mind feel like commanding your boss to increase your salary to 500k per month so you”ll be able to live a better life. If all these has happened to you, just chill en, e go better for you.
Now, after shoes and cars, I wan beg media make them no spotlight his shirt or trouser, if I hear that he buys one particular shirt for 8,000 pounds, hmmmm, you wouldn’t want to know what I will do ooo. Safe weekend people.
WIZKID ATTAINS MILLIONNAIRE STATUS
Fast-rising 'Holla at your boy' crooner, Ayodeji Balogun, popularly called Wizkid has joined the music millionaire league at age 21.
The E.M.E act who just upgraded his engagement fee from N500-700, 000 to N1.5million and between N2-N3m for big clients is one of the top 5 most-wanted hip hop stars after 2face Idibia, D'banj and Psquare.
Weezy as fondly called created a record for being the youngest artiste to clinch a MOBO award and recently picked up The Next Rated award at the 2011 Headies. With a VW convertible car worth six million naira and a booming music career, needless to say he is at the high rungs of the ladder. Sources put his monthly earnings at N20m and even upwards.
Meanwhile his Pakurumo video, directed by Clarence Peters is expected to hit the airwaves soon.
Source: TheNetng
MANCHESTER UNITED TO LAUNCH SOCIAL NETWORK FOR 500 MILLION FANS
In January 2010, Manchester United shut down Facebook and Twitter accounts for all of its players, insisting that no Manchester United players maintain personal profiles on social networking websites.
That same month, Manchester United still didn’t have an official Facebook page, while their official Twitter account only had 28,000 followers.
The story however changed last season. The club has now embraced social media with more than 20 million Facebook fans, more than any other Premier League club. Rio Ferdinand alone has over 1.6 million followers on Twitter.
The club has however appointed a digital agency to build a social network for its fans worldwide. The platform will be rolled out in stages over the next two years. The club has identified a target of more than 500m fans. The Manchester United Facebook page has attracted 20m fans in the year since its launch.
The platform will host multimedia contents and offer advertising and sponsorship opportunities for brands. It will also sell items such as club merchandise through an ecommerce function.
The aim however is to drive engagement with the club’s fans and tap into Asian markets, where Manchester United has a strong following and smartphone use is growing rapidly.
The club will offer fans exclusive content, such as videos featuring star players, and content from TV channel MUTV.
SAMSON SIASIA TAKES NFF TO COURT
The last has certainly not been heard of the tussle between Samson Siasia, former Super Eagles coach and the Nigerian Football Federation, (NFF).
The embittered coach who who was relieved of his job on friday, 28th October, 2011 declared during an interview that the Board of the Nigerian Football Federation (NFF) has breached the terms of his employment contract by refusing to pay his salaries and allowances when he was in service, in view of this, he has dragged them to an Abuja High Court.
Musa Ahmadu, Secretary General, Nigeria Football Federation who got wind of the issue confirmed that he is still being owed salary arrears and would be paid before the year runs out
The Accra-born ex coach challenged his sack and cleverly extracted a clause in his contract, "if the need arises for the termination of the contract by either of the parties there should be 30 days notification before the contract can be terminated."
When a member of the board stated he was shocked at Siasia's legal move, the ex-coach insisted he had to enforce his rights within the context of the employment contract he signed with NFF.
FOREMOST MAKE-UP ARTISTE, BANKE MESHIDA-LAWAL SPREADS TENTACLES
Banke Meshida-Lawal, one of the leading make up artistes in Nigeria, CEO, Faces Makeovers and BM|Pro make-up range is spreading her beauty business tentacles. Her new retail outlet and studio in Ikeja will be launched on the 13th of November, 2011 at the Green Village, Isaac John Street, Ikeja, G.R.A, Lagos.
The event which promises to be a blast in a ball will have the First Lady of Lagos State, Mrs Abimbola Fashola as the special guest of honour.
Her new range of range of BM|Pro products will also be unveiled as well as a new collection of hats and fascinators.

NO MORE FAT PAY FOR EAGLES
The Nigerian Super Eagles' failure to qualify for the African Cup of Nations didn't only shatter countless emotions but also cost the federation millions in potential income.
In view of this, the Aminu Maigari-led Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) have decided to slash the players' bonuses. This decision however would be communicated to the players by their new coach.
"We have resolved to slash the match bonus of the players because of the huge bills the federation incurs after every match,"Maigari stated.
Maigari also revealed that the cost of servicing the $10, 000 paid to the team as winning bonuses and half of that for a draw was becoming a burden.