THE LAST MAN PUPPETRY PERFORMANCE

Designed as an indoor evening event, the highlight of the Last Man Standing comes at a time when there is serious environmental degradation in Kenya. The bones of the wildebeest take us to the harsh reality of increased economic activities that undermines the realisation of MDG 7.
On August 6, 2010 in Nairobi, Kenya, The Kenya Institute of Puppet and Theatre present The Last Man Standing Puppetry Performance at the French Cultural Centre at exactly 6 p.m. The Institute will bring the finest puppetry performance dating back to 2070 where life as we know, has become extinct due environmental degradation.
The Last Man Standing Puppetry Performance is an out-of-the ordinary performance from the world of the dead and the living. It is a tale of a brave wildebeest called Mara and recounted by Bones (Mara's Carcass) in the year 2070. It will take the audience through the life cycle of a wildebeest, times of struggle, bravery, feast, famine, life and death.
It is a multi - disciplinary, multi - cultural performance incorporating modern theatrical genre with other art elements such as objects, figures, dance, architecture and installation.

RAY C ENDOSES KENYAN ENERGY DRINK; DASH

Tanzanian diva Ray C has been hand picked by the CEO of a Kenyan firm, Adonai Enterprises, to be the brand ambassador for their new energy drink Dash.
The drink is manufactured in Korea and is set to hit the Kenyan market in September.
The CEO of Adonai Enterprises Sadat Muhindi told Hot Secrets, “Ray C is popular and her type of music cuts across all ages just like the drink, it is for all ages including children and pregnant women.”
That said, Ray C will be in Nairobi next week for a series of event scheduled to take place in various towns in the country.
The first show will be at the Summit Club in Nakuru on August 7, followed by the August 13 performance in Westgate Hotel, Mumias this will then culminate into touring other regions like Busia, Kisumu and Eldoret. Part of the proceeds from her tour will go into helping the Maliza Umaskini Youth Empowerment project in Western Kenya.

SUZZANA OWIYO AND WINYO AT ALLIANCE FRANCAISE

FRENCH ARTIST JR IN KENYA TO LAUNCH BOOK

French artist JR is in Kenya to launch his book : 28 millimeters : Women in Kibera. The book has been specially printed for the Kibera community. The women who took part in JR’s global project will autograph and distribute 500 copies to the community at the MSF compound in Gatwekera, Kibera, on Friday July 30, 2010 from 4.00 p.m. The French Ambassador in Kenya, Elisabeth Barbier, will attend the event.
JR first came to Kenya in 2007. He took photos of the women of Kibera and came back in 2009, to present these photos in an action, where the women’s photos were put on a train that passes through the slum at least two times a day, while the lower parts of the faces were placed on a slope near the railway tracks. This way, the train reconstituted the faces every time it passed by.
In addition, 2000 square meters of rooftops were covered with photos of the eyes and faces of the women of Kibera.

JR and his team are continuing their action by covering 2000 square meters more of rooftops in Kibera, close to the first area. This is part of the actions being supported by the JR foundation.
The JR foundation was created to give a social continuity to his projects, after he has accomplished the artistic action, as he already did in Brazil.
For more information on JR’s work, please visit the site.

HASHEEM THABEET FOR KENYAN SPRITE SLAM TOUR

Tanzanian Pro basketball player Hasheem Thabeet will be in the country to scout for the best local talent to join the All African Star Team who will take part in the USA boot camp at the home of NBA.
The three players chosen by Hasheem and the Kenya Basketball Federation will have to be part of the Sprite Slam Tour (SST) that will take seven weeks that will take place is various towns around the country.
The SST targets teens and young adults who have a passion for basketball as well as providing an avenue for self-expression especially for rappers and graffiti artists.
The tour kicks off on July 31 in Kisumu and concludes in September in Nairobi. Others towns hosting the weekend activities include Eldoret, Mombasa and Nyeri.
The best in each region will get to play off against each other in Nairobi at the finals.
Sprite Slam Tour is a Coca-Cola East and Central Africa initiative that targets teens and young adults, who have a passion for basketball, and it also allows them to express their individuality. The other objective of the tour is to raise the profile of basketball in the country while at the same time developing young talent from the grass root level.
Speaking during the tour’s kickoff on July 27, Pamela Mutua, the Coca-Cola’s Senior Franchise Brand Manager Kenya, said that, “Sprite through the Sprite Slam tour, aims at budding and building long last relationships with its target group which is the youth.” She also added that, “the tour will see grassroot basketball develop and nurture talent that can go on to represent the country in the National basketball team or even play in the NBA circles.”
Sprite is targeting youth between the ages of 16 and 24 who are fuelled with self belief, want to charter their own course and believe in a world full of possibilities.

ALAINE’S KENYAN TOUR UNCONFIRMED

The grapevine is rife with goss that Jamaican siren and dancehall star Alaine Laughton will be headlining a show in Kenya.
Hot Secrets talked to DJ John Rabar of Homeboyz who denied he had knowledge of Aliane performing at the November Sepetuka gig.
The dancehall hitmaker who is famed for hits such as Rise in Love and Without You is toping Kenyan music charts.

KALASHA FILM AND TV AWARDS ARE HERE AGAIN

The Kalasha Film & Television Awards will be held in September. The awards that are on their second year are organised by the Kenya Film Commission. The call for entries and submissions of the same has already begun.
The upcoming 2010/2011 Awards have been designed to allow Kenyans to celebrate their cultural diversity, address various social cross-cutting issues, as well as recognize the role of Film within the Creative Economy.
Specifically, the Awards will seek to challenge Local filmmakers towards quality Film production by rewarding Filmmakers and Television producers; celebrating and recognizing excellence in the production of Local Kenyan movies and giving the Film industry the impetus to grow further as one of the emerging industries.
Additionally, the awards will encourage the growth of this industry which has the potential to create employment to our youth, generate income and promote the entertainment industry.

WHY CHIZI’S ALBUM WAS NOT MASTERED ABROAD

Kenya’s crown prince of benga Dan 'Chizi' Aceda told Hot Secrets why he opted to have his sophomore album, Benganology mastered by a Kenyan producer and not abroad as was earlier planned.
“The time left to take it abroad for mastering was way too short and it wouldn’t make the July 30 deadline when I’m launching the album,” Chizi said.
Chizi has been in communication with Dave Kush, a man famous for working with John Legend, Alicia Keys, Outkast and Al Green amongst many others, at the The Mastering Palace.
Chizi meet him when he was in New York, on tour with Mo Faya the political musical that starred Eric Wainaina and Valerie Kimani.
The Soufle singer was considering another studio, Hilton Grove Mastering, a UK based studio run by engineer Dave Blackman to also do some work on his album.
Chizi opted for David ‘Blackman’ Muthami. “You will remember that I had the fantastic one of kind opportunity to either get it done at The Mastering Palace in New York or at Hilton Grove in London at extremely subsidized rates of Sh 121,000 (1500USD) But unfortunately I managed to miss both,” he said, “The album recordings just tended to drag on and on and now I may not be able to get the work done abroad by the July 30 deadline.”
The album launch will be at Kenya National Museum grounds on July 30.

GOOGLE DEVELOPER AND TECH DAYS ARE COMING TO KENYA

Google is dedicated to making the Internet relevant and useful to Africans, and to developing meaningful products for Africa. Google believes that tech entrepreneurs and developers have the opportunity to transform the web for the world and Africa.
With this in mind, Google is hosting developer and tech days across Africa with two exciting events, G-Uganda and G-Kenya, taking place early this September. These web and mobile themed conferences will focus on Google’s developer and business technologies from Chrome Extensions, App Engine, to mobile and AdWords. Attendees will have the chance to explore Google’s open source technologies through a combination of tech talks, breakout sessions and codelabs run by engineers and business teams from across the globe. G-Kenya is running September 6 to 8 at Strathmore University in Nairobi.
Each day of the conference will cater to a different audience, spanning professional developers, students and tech marketers. Take a look G-Kenya to learn more about a G-day that might fit your appetite and pre-register as space is limited.

TURKISH CULTURAL AND FOOD FESTIVAL

This August 11 to 15 the Safari Park Hotel unveils rich Turkish cultural and food festival featuring Oya Folk Dance group, belly dancers, authentic cuisine by Chef Zeki flown in from Turkey. This will be a must attend for lovers of good food and great entertainment. Special family show on Sunday August 15.
Get your ticket now at Arirang Coffee Shop, KICC or Safari Park Hotel. Call 0722205683/ 0733333713 for booking.

COAST PROMOTER BEYONCE ON HER BIKINI RUGBY GIG

Controversial coast based promoter Julia Achieng popularly known by her stage moniker Beyonce will be organizing a Bend Over Beach Rugby starting Saturday July 31 to Sunday August 1 at the Pirates Beach.
The Coast Awards founder describes the new idea behind her event as a five-aside touch rugby of seven minutes per session where the players, dress down. The lady players dressed in bikinis will replace ball boys as they stand along the sea shore and sand dunes waiting for line-outs.
Twenty teams have registered so far from Nakuru, Mombasa and Nairobi. Registration is still on for both corporate and individual groups with a charge of Sh1, 500. Revelers will part with Sh200 on Saturday and Sh150 on Sunday.
There shall be no sex restrictions in a team or side. “The proceeds will be used to support youths interested in the sport, this time round the Spartans who are striving to join the Rugby seven will be the sole beneficiaries. We are also looking forward to making the event an annual one,” Beyonce told Hot Secrets.
The finals are to be played on Sunday night under floodlights. Trophies, medals and cash prizes of Sh20, 000, Sh10, 000 and Sh5, 000 respectively await the top three winners while medals shall be awarded to all participating teams.
While Saturday night will have DJ Bunduki, DJ Skills, and DJ Divine thrilling fans till dawn.

ROSE MUHANDO STEALS THE SHOW IN NAKURU

Tanzanian gospel singer Rose Muhando rocked Nakuru over the weekend at an event that saw a turn out of the largest crowds witnessed in the town in recent times.
Rose was joined by other top Kenyan gospel stars on Saturday at a daylong concert in Nakuru's Afraha stadium open grounds.
The concert was dubbed The Nibebe Tour after Rose Muhando's hit track of all times.
Sponsored by Safaricom, the show was graced by Kenya’s hottest Gospel artists including 2010 Groove Award winners like Emmy Kosgei, Daddy Owen, Allan Aaron, Eunice Njeri and Dunco.
Others who took to the stage throwing the crowds into sustained frenzies included Betty Bayo, Muhadhara star Jimmy Gait and Louise Kim.
Radio and TV personality Churchill was the MC for the day that saw politicians like Roads Assistant minister Lee Kinyanjui who is also Nakuru Town MP and the local mayor John Kitilit attend.
Rose Muhando is set to headline another show in Kisumu city then Eldoret, Mombasa and finalises the road shows in Nairobi in the next few weeks.

SAMUEL ETO'O DID NOT ADOPT AN ANIMAL!

Cameroon football star, Samuel Eto'o who was in the country for a the Laikipia Unity Cup Finals on Wednesday July 21 at the Nanyuki Municipal Stadium, did not adopt anything.
A PR rep denied online reports claiming that Eto'o adopted an animal from the Segera Ranch.
"Eto'o couldn't adopt and animal it was not part of why he was in Kenya. and if he did he wouldn't have done in secret," the rep said.
The Inter Millan striker who is now in Paris, watched a friendly match between Laikipia United and Mathare United organized by the Zeitz Foundation and Laikipia Wildlife Forum while in Kenya.
That said, last October, Jamaican track race king pin, Usain 'Boit' Bolt and Britain’s hurdles champ Colin Jackson after the launch of the Zeitz Foundation adopted a cheetah.

SPOTLIGHT ON KENYAN MUSIC CONCERT 2010

A PLAY: THE TEN COMMANDMENTS

Heartstrings Kenya comes back again with the blockbuster hit that will revolutionize the way Kenyans treat the Ten Commandments. Heartstrings Kenya will explore what would have happened if Kenyans were the ones who would have been in the desert being given the Ten Commandments by God.
Knowing Kenyans, they will always find a way of adapting everything to suit their needs and wants. Legally or illegally. In the desert they would most certainly have found a way of shortcutting the Ten Commandments to sound like Ten Suggestions, Conditions, Rules, Obligations, Commitments, Terms, Agreements, Requirements, Purposes, Considerations, Implications etc etc.

CELEBS AT THE UUNET EAR WALK

UUNET's George Obare pose for a photo with the UUNET OED walk Ambassador Eric Wainaina
This year’s UUNET Ear Walk saw a coupla celebs walk the talk. Joining the initiative's ambassador Eric Wainaina was Gospel DJ Soxxy.
Anyho, the walk was to rais funds to ensure children from disadvantaged families get corrective ear surgeries which would otherwise be very expensive.
UUNET Kenya managing Director Mr. Tom Omariba said the money collected will cover operations for approximately 600 children.
DJ Soxy of Kubamba Krew during the walk

SAMUEL ETO’O TO VISIT KENYA

Cameroon footballer Samuel Eto’o will be in the country for the Laikipia Unity Cup Finals that will take place on Wednesday July 21 at the Nanyuki Municipal Stadium.
The famed footballer will watch a friendly match between Laikipia United and Mathare United organized by the Zeitz Foundation and Laikipia Wildlife Forum.
Some of the guest expected at the friendly match is Jochen Zeitz, Founder and Chairman, Zeitz Foundation.
FYI, Eto’o is the patron for the Laikipia Unity and Beyond Cup that saw a total of thirty-two teams compete at four events with each region selecting the best players from the eight teams to form a combined team to represent the region in the finals.
The main sponsor is Safaricom, with support from the British Army.
Meanwhile, PUMA and the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) announced, three major conservation projects in Africa as beneficiaries of the 'Play For Life' Campaign, a World Cup inspired partnership to support the 2010 International Year of Biodiversity. The 'Play for Life' campaign through a combination of events, public service announcements with Cameroon footballer Samuel Eto'o, encouraged the public to take action and get involved.
Proceeds generated from the campaign will be donated to beneficiary projects that will help save: African lions in Zambia (The African Lion: King Without A Kingdom Project); elephant populations in the Ivory Coast and Liberia (Support for the Elephants Project); and gorillas in Nigeria's Mbe Mountains (Promoting Community Participation in Gorilla Conservation).
Football fans and the wider public directed the final donations by voting for their favorite cause on FACEBOOK.COM/PUMA and via a UNEP enabled website.

ROSE MUHANDO FOR KENYAN GOSPEL TOUR

Tanzanian songbird Rose Muhando will be in the country Saturday July 17, for a Nakuru gig on Sunday July 18, at Afraha Stadium. Rose’s popularity in the East African region has grown over the years. She has risen through the ranks from the lead singer with Moshi-based Mamajusi Anglican choir to the musical giant she is now. Her 2008 hit Nibebe from the album Jipange Sawa Sawa makes her a force to reckon, years later.
The aim of event is to promote and unite gospel artists in East Africa. She will share a stage with Daddy Owen, Dunco, Eunice Njeri, Emmy Kosgei, Allan Aaron, Jimmie Gait, Betty Bayo, Joseph Wa Kabura, Ben Githae, Loise Kim, Mercy Wairegi and Alice Kamande.

INSIDE THE BIG BROTHER ALL STARS HOUSE

M-Net today released sneak peek images of the new, refurbished Big Brother Africa house and the transformation from the tough, gritty Revolution to the sensational ALL STARS version is complete…with the photographs showcasing a contemporary, streamlined and luxurious atmosphere that encapsulates hi-tech means Hollywood glam!
Comfortable and sophisticated with a hint of drama and wide open spaces counterbalanced by glossy touches, and subtly accentuated with patterned wallpaper and glowing lighting, the house is elegant while functional with the ever present cameras and microphones incorporated into the overall design.

So get ready for BIG BROTHER ALL STARS! Remember the series starts at 19.00 CAT on Sunday July 18 on DStv channel 198 with edited highlight programs on M-Net and AfricaMagic.
The series, which is produced for M-Net by Endemol, is also available on DStv Mobile in Ghana, Kenya, Namibia and Nigeria.

SEAN PAUL FOR BIG BROTHER ALL STARS

Jamaican dancehall superstar Sean Paul will be the chief performer at the launch of M-Net’s Big Brother All Stars on Sunday July 18. He is expected to perform three of his popular songs on the night, which will see 14 housemates from 14 countries make their way into a brand new Big Brother house.
He will be jetting into Jo’burg South Africa from Casablanca, Morocco where he is currently touring. The Kingston born singer has sold more than 10 million albums worldwide and has collaborated with hip-hop stars like 50 Cent, The Clipse and Busta Rhymes in the past.