Timbaland not that popular in SA?

Well, it seems that due to low ticket sales that concerts featuring Timbaland, R&B singer Ciara, hip-hop star Lil' Kim and rapper Fat Joe, that were part of 'ZARfest' have been cancelled.

The ZARfest tour was planned by controversial nightclub owner Kenny Kunene who planned the concerts to celebrate his clubs' (ZAR Lounges) first birthday. Apparently Durban and Cape Town "fans did not respond well".


"[Cancelling the two shows] was purely a business decision," he said. "Johannesburg ticket sales have been excellent. Those who bought Durban and Cape Town tickets can use their refunds to attend the show in Jozi. The show there remains unchanged," Kunene said.

The Creature Shop opens in Jozi

This is the place that nightmares are made of: when you walk into this particular shop be ready to be faced with body parts, severed heads, corpses and alien body...among other things!

This is realism to the max - the team behind the magic include Jaco Snyman, one of the men at the helm of the company, and his team of engineers, painters and sculptors, who supply monsters and such for feature films, documentaries, TV and Ads! Remember District 9? That was their work.

The Creature Shop garners clients by word-of-mouth but the competition is not exactly fierce. Not only is the shop super-specialised, the work takes "a certain kind of person," Snyman said.

Kim Kardashian is getting hitched!

Basketball star Kris Humphries really pulled it out the bag to ensure she said yes by presenting Kim with a 20.5 carat Lorraine Schwartz diamond ring (reportedly costing around $2 million).

The 30-year-old reality star and Humphries had only been dating for 6 months when Kim came home to see Kris on one knee popping the question. She said: "I didn't expect this at all. I was in such shock. I never thought it would happen at home, and I never thought now."

All the Kardashian sisters shared their joy on Twitter at the engagement - Kim’s younger sister Khloe said "I can't believe I was able to keep this a secret but now I can scream all I want about it! Kim is engaged!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! OMG!!!!!!!!!! and Kim’s older sister, Kourtney wrote that "My sister is engaged!!! I'm squealing with excitement! The princess has found her prince. I am so happy because @KimKardashian is happy!".

Black Eyed Peas are taking a break

After so many hits in the last few years, it's no wonder that the Peas need some 'me' time!

"Me" time for Furgie is to spend some quality time with hubby actor Josh Duhamel: “We're taking a break?getting more of that personal time, but, you know, Josh and I have gotten to spend a lot more time together this year than other years, which is great.” Fergie also hinted that they might want to start a family so watch this space!

On the flip side, Will.i.am is using the time to work on his first solo album which he's being very cagey about! Fergie says she can't wait for the album to come out, but Will is keeping all his fellow Peas in the dark too! “I believe Will is coming out with a solo album, I've heard it, it's called 'Black Einstein', and it's amazing...[but] he won't give it to me!" said Fergie.
We'll all just need to be patient!

Eminem and Justin Bieber dominate Billboard Music Awards!

Eminem and teen hottie Justin Bieber dominated the Billboard Music Awards on the weekend nabbing a grad total of six awards each! Eminem walked away with the top honour of the night though, as artist of the year.

Even though Eminem couldn't make the show, fans were wowed when Bieber (sporting his new look of short, spiky hair and a sparkling gold tuxedo jacket) beat singer Bruno Mars and rapper Nicki Minaj for best new artist.

"I'm 17 ... every day is crazy to me because I see so many people and I get to make so many people smile...everybody who helped me get out of my home town and live my dream."

Mayhem at the SAMAs (SA Music Awards)

In true SA style, there was drama on the night of the SAMAs (hosted at Montecasino for the first time) when some of those who were on the judges panel for the event didn't even get a seat due to poor organising!

Ukhozi FM's DJ Sgqemeza was one of those who ended up watching the awards from home - "We [the judges] went the extra mile during the judging and gave our best, but then we didn't get the treatment we deserved on the big night," he said.

The awards evening, moved from Sun City to Montecasino this year to make it more accessible to fans, went from bad to worse when some award winners reportedly took up to three minutes to reach the stage! People were ushers to wrong entrances, and 45 min into the show while some people were still fight to get into the door others were stumbling to find their seats!

Lets hope they learn something for next year!

Lady Gaga takes Oprah's place on Forbes celebrity power list!

Lady Gaga is officially at the top of this year’s Forbes annual “The Celebrity 100” list- taking Oprah's place!

“The Celebrity 100” list measures power by entertainment-related earnings, media visibility and social media popularity. Forbes has estimated Gaga earnings in the past year at $90 million, at took into account her 32 million Facebook fans and 10 million Twitter followers!

“Lady Gaga beat Oprah this year because of her social media power. She can use Twitter and Facebook to work the “little monsters” into a frenzy that leads to record sales and media attention. She’s the best example of how celebrities will need to manage their careers in the coming years,” Forbes editor Dorothy Pomerantz said.

A few other at the top of the list are Oprah (no.2), Justin Bieber (no.3), U2 (no. 4), Elton John, Tiger Woods, Taylor Swift and Bon Jovi!

Roxette take SA by storm!

Roxette, now 23 years old as a band, are as good now as they were then... And the hundreds of South Africans that travelled from as far as KZN and Eastern Cape to Jozi and CT to watch the rocking Swedish duo, Per Gessle and Marie Frediksson, on their latest world tour will tell you all about it!

Things haven't been easy for the band, and Marie most of all who showed the country that she has (still) "got the look" even after a bitter fight against brain cancer. In an interview, Roxette vocalist and guitarist Per Gessle said Fredriksson was being carefully monitored.

"Marie was so sick in 2002; the odds of her surviving at the time were 5%. "So this entire tour is basically planned around her. We make sure that we don't travel on days we have concerts," he said.

They have one more show tonight at the Sun City Superbowl, with every show sold out so far, see if you can squeeze in - it's truly once in a lifetime!

Street named after Oprah

After hosting one of the most popular daytime talk shows of all time in Chicago for 25 years, Chicago is finally giving a little back to the 57-year-old television diva in the form of a street name!

"Oprah Winfrey Way" can now be found on the 100th block of North Carpenter Avenue in the city where her chat show studio was, Harpo Studios.

She said: "It is really just a full-circle miracle story that a little coloured girl born in Kosciusko, Mississippi, on a red dirt road ends up with my name on a street in the greatest city in the world, Chicago. So, thank you! That's better than an Oscar or an Emmy".

Even the Mayor -Richard Daley- was around when Oprah unveiled the new street sign: "There isn’t enough time or adequate words that can describe what your 25-year journey has meant to Chicago." he said. “It makes me very, very proud to have your name appear on one of Chicago’s city streets.”

Lady Gaga to debut songs on FarmVille

So you wanna listen to the latest tune's by Lady Gaga? Well, you might have to log into FarmVille to get the first listen to some of her tracks because the crazy British pop icon is releasing songs from her new album on a section of online game before they are released anywhere else!

You can't just log on and hear the songs though - you going to have to complete tasks on the game to be able to hear one new track per day from May 17 to 19! The album will only be released on May 23.

Speaking of FarmVille, have you tried it's neighbouring farm called GagaWille? There you can catch tracks from her "Born This Way" Album!

Coldplay hitting our shores!

We've had U2, now it's time for the Brits - Coldplay! Drawn to SA by our amazing looking stadia and -no doubt- the success of recent international gigs the British rock band will be doing a show in Cape Town and Jozi in October this year! And the week that they are here, will co-inside with the release of their 5 Album making things all the more exciting!

"After 10 years of knocking on the door we are incredibly excited that they have finally confirmed two stadium shows," said Big Concerts CEO Attie van Wyk.
"It can only take artists of that calibre to negotiate for that long ... South Africa is very far from any of their other territories," he said.

"But now, for Coldplay, it's the first opportunity to look at the South African market." The first concert will be held at Cape Town Stadium on October 5 and the second at FNB Stadium, in Johannesburg on October 8."

David Beckham in car accident!

British Football star David Beckham with his oldest son Brooklyn had a bit of a scare this weekend when Beckham bashing into the back of another car on a southern California highway. None involved in the accident were injured but the driver of other car was taken to hospital for a check up.

The accident happened just one day before his wife Victoria's baby shower Saturday - this will be the couple's fourth child!

Jacob, Isabella top US baby name list for 2010!

According to a US government agency, for 2010 Jacob was the most popular name for baby boys and Isabella was the most popular name for baby girls.

Some would say that the Americans lack a bit of imagination, but then again, the names are quite nice even if they are attributed to the steamy vampire flick Twilight!

Other popular names for boys in the states are Michael, Jayden and William. Isabella sits at the top of the girls list for a second year, followed by Sophia, Emma, Olivia and Ava.

This runaway bride is being sued for R5 mil!

In Italy a groom who was left at the alter after his bride-to-be pulled a runner at the last minute because she was in love with another man is now suing her for almost R5-million bucks.

The ex-groom lawyers have filed a lawsuit claiming that the ex-groom, only by his first name, Riccardo, suffered emotional and material damages due the who tole ordeal: a monetary-wise, you can see why. He footed the bill for the exclusive wedding in a villa outside Rome, reserving a honeymoon on a Pacific island and even re-decorated his apartment to please his fiancee's tastes. No wonder he's mad!

It's no more 'runaway bride' in this day and age!

Winning 'Selimathunzi' presenter to be announced!

SABC1 has been on a nationwide search since mid-March for some fresh talent who will help co-present the show with Zizo Beda in future.

Last week the finalist - Lawrence Maleka from Gauteng and Lunga Shabalala from KZN - were picked and the votes have been pouring in. SABC1 publicity manager Vukile Madlala is optimistic
for the show tonight: "The overwhelming response saw well over 10000 votes cast. We are confident the youth have expressed their interest in the auditioning process by texting their preferences," said Madlala.

The judges include Phuthi Moloto from SABC1, outgoing host Matu and Joshua Modau.

A secrete getaway then back to the grind-stone!

We in SA are not the only ones heading back to work this week, after a sneaky -and well deserved - getaway to a secret location the new Duke and Duchess of Cambridge are also back at work this week!

William, is a search and rescue helicopter pilot at a Royal Air Force station in the Welsh island of Anglesey, and like most other people in the working world, he didn't get any special treatment.

Their fairytale wedding on Friday was watched by an estimated one million people on the streets of London and two billion on television around the world.