Rest In Peace bab' Bheki Mseleku

Some sad news for the South African music industry and the South African community at large. I first heard about it on the Morning Live news this morning and have just received a press release from Sheer Music.

Bab' Bheki Mseleku is no more. According to the press release, he had been battling with a serious diabetes problem for some time and was in and out of hospital for the past few months in the U.K., where he had been residing. He passed away on Tuesday evening 09 September 2008. His magnanimous contribution to the music communities, here and across the world, will be solely missed, as well as gleefully cherished. He was such an amzing spirit and an extremely talented multi-instrumentalist. I have a couple of his latest albums that I enjoyed listening to immensely.

Rest In Peace baba. May you join other fallen angels in heaven and create a storm of music.

Finally, Andre 3000 launches his clothing label

We've been hearing about Andre Benjamin's (a.k.a Andre 3000) clothing label in the works for a while and this couldn't have been a better time to lauch his label called Benjamin Bixty. Fashion Rocks just took place last week, with music and fashion fundis combining for the spectacular event (I would like to hear the experiences from the winners that won the trip to this event at the Frockstar Party that was hosted by Virgin Mobile I attended early this year - check out YEAHBO.DOT.NET for pics I snapped from that event).

There is also a big buzz about the Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week taking place in the U.S., from last Friday running through this week. Andre 3000 decided to premiere his Fall 08/Spring 09 collection at the fashion week kick off, and the show was hosted by none other than our very own Charlize Theron. The collection is inspired by 1930’s old college football documentaries. These pieces are really cool, something I would definitely wear.

Although I'm not going to be big on posting non-local news on this blog, I decided to feature Andre because I love his music, his acting and always admired his unique and eccentric style. Moreover, Charlize showed him some love and support too. For more pics, check out one of my favourite blogs CONCRETELOOP.

So You Think You Can Dance - first duo sent home

I was invited to the first live broadcast of the dance reality show So You Think You Can Dance last Saturday, which was held at the home of the show at Standard Bank Arena for the rest of the competition. The live show will take place every Saturday where one male and one female dancer will be eliminated until the victor is announced. On Tuesdays will be a 30 minute recorded show where the contestants leaving the show will be revealed.

So, there we were on Saturday evening enjoying a thunderous showcase of talent and entertainment. Initially, the contestants were paired and they all danced their feet off to escape the wrath of the judges sending them home. Unfortunately, 2 of them didn't give enough and were therefore eliminated. The two names will be revealed in the segment to be broadcast this evening at 19:00. I know who was eliminated but am not allowed to reveal the names, so check it out tonight.

My favourite dancers are definately the couple that danced the tango to Grover Washington Jnr. and Bill Winters' Just The Two Of Us, as well as the two that danced to SexyBack by Justin Timberlake (both couples on the pictures above). The lady who did the tango was brilliant, even the judges attested to that, admiring her charismatic spunk and enigmatic energy. Megan also deserves a mention as she killed it with her partner.

Some of the familiar faces I saw amongst the crowd at the VIP and media section of the set included Ningi Mhinga (Yvonne Chaka Chaka's son), Kaizer Motaung Jnr., SABC1's Leo Manne, SABC1 General Manager Ray Nkwe, and current Miss SA Tansey Coetzee.

I had interesting chats with different people, including the executive producer of the show, Duncan, who said his dream for the show was to thrash Generations in terms of ratings; the beautiful actress Vanessa Harris, who I was first introduced to when her and the late Bill Flynn were promoting the movie Running Riot. Please click here for that interview. Anyway, she was there in support of her husband, Ashley, who is also one of the contestants.

It was a lovely night, filled with wonderful entertainment and great conversations. I'm looking forward to the next show this coming Saturday. Even if I'm not there physically, I'll definitely be watching it on TV.

J&B reveals the ultimate DJ dream team.

So, J&B have been doing this campaign called J&B Start A Party for the past few months. Its official, the J&B party people have spoken. The campaign challenged consumers to vote for their favourite DJs to make up the line up of what promises to be one of the best house music compilations to hit Mzansi in the new year. Through a four week voting process on the www.jbscotch.co.za site consumers have made their choice and we are proud to reveal the ultimate J&B DJ Dreamteam.

The DJ's that made it include Lady Lea, Black Coffee, Fistaz Mixwell, Craig Massiv, DJ Fresh, Monde, Oskido, Roger Goode, Euphonik and Dino. Next on the plans is for each DJ to create a track that brings out their party spirit. While they are doing that, as of September 1st any consumer over the age of 18 years can also get to create their own party starting tune on the J&B website, which could ultimately be chosen as the bonus track that is going to be featured on the album alongside the dreamteam. The site boasts great technology which allows you to mix a party track using a variety of musical elements on the site. Please go to YEAHBO.DOT.NET for more details on how you can get involved.

Unity and tolerance celebrated at Jo'burg Day Music Festival

On Saturday, this year's edition of Jo'burg Day Music Festival, organised by Highveld 94.7FM, and sponsored by Santam, provided what every South African wants to see in our society. Different artists, from different genres joined in, entertaining fans of different backgrounds, cultures, races and social standings. Amongst these entertainers were HHP, Prime Circle, Jamali, The Parlotones and Flash Republic.

Unfortunately I got there a bit late so I didn't get to see Jamali as I had planned to. I haven't seen them perform live, yet. I enjoyed HHP's set though. He always brings the heat on with his live band. It was amazing and inspiring to see the fans of different creeds singing along and dancing to his music. Prime Circle were awesome too. Overall, the show was great, except for the waiting period between sets, at times lasting longer than the actual performances. I couldn't stay longer because I had to rush to the live broadcast of So You Think You Can Dance, which I will write about in the next post.