American singer-songwriter, Johnny Gill and other international stars such as comedian Bill Bellamy, burlesque beauty Immodesty Blaize and celebrity chef, Aldo Zilli are in Lagos, Nigeria for the inaugural edition of the Butterscotch Evenings organized by Michelangelo Productions.

These international acts will perform alongside Nigerian acts including Waje & Praiz and will also see TV presenter Yvonne 'Vixen' Ekwere as host. The Butterscotch Evenings is holding today Friday 17th May, 2013 at the Eko Convention Centre, Eko Hotel & Suites; it will feature world class entertainment in an atmosphere of romance and glamour.

Read our exclusive interviews with Johnny Gill, Bill Bellamy, Immodesty Blaize and Aldo Zilli as they each tell us what they are bringing to the concert this evening.

Johnny Gill
Johnny Gill is an American singer, songwriter and actor. He is the sixth and final member of the R&B group New Edition, and was also a member of the group called LSG; with Gerald Levert and Keith Sweat. He is famously known for his hit song "My, My, My".

OB: Tell us about your music, how do you get inspired to do your music?

JG: Well, I write some of my songs while people write some others for me because we live in a world with different experiences so I like to sing about these different experiences.

OB: We are a big fan of your hit song back in the day “My My My”, what were you going through when you made that song?

JG: At that period in my life, which was a very long time ago, I was just having fun with no cares in the world and that song hit home with a lot of ladies which made it a special song for me and women really connected it with it.

OB: There was a 15years gap before you put out your most recent album, why did you have to wait that long?

JG: I tour all year round with LSG and New Edition and it’s a lot of work on my shoulder and I didn’t feel the need or get inspired to sing about anything as I didn’t have anything to say. I was just waiting until I had something to say.

OB: Are you working on any projects, singles or albums at the moment?

JG: Yes, I am working on an album and currently four songs into it. I am inspired now and it’s exciting to work and re-work on it.

OB: This is your first trip to Nigeria, can you tell us what we should expect from you at the concert this evening?

JG: I am looking forward to this evening and I am excited about it, everyone has been lovely and beautiful to me and I am leaving it to my performance on stage tonight because I know everyone is going to have a beautiful time. Everyone should come ready with their dancing shoes.

Comedian Bill Bellamy has made us laugh out loud for over a decade with his playful brand of stand up and smooth big screen antics in classic film favorites like ‘How to Be A Player’ and ‘Love Jones’.

We sat down with the funnyman to ask what projects he is working on and what he hopes to bring to this first edition of the Butterscotch Evenings and here’s what he had to say!

OB: How was your trip down here?

BB: It was really nice, no problems at all. I flew from Los Angeles and switched over at Atlanta where I flew to Lagos.

OB: What was the first thing you noticed about Nigeria?

BB: The first thing I noticed is that there are a lot of black people here, this is a black country, am so proud, I felt like I got my own nation. Everywhere I go I see my people, am so happy. Black people do everything here, we got photographers we black, we got security we black the interviewer is black, everything is black black. (Everyone laughing).

Well, I haven’t tried the food yet so am going to try the food and also I’ll get a chance to go out and see because I just got here and I didn’t get a chance to do anything yet.
Where should I go to? (OB: We have very nice restaurants, go to the Lekki Arts market and we have very nice beaches here!)

OB: Can you tell us on any projects you might be working on now?

BB: Right now in the States I have a new TV show called ‘Mr Box Office’, that is syndicated in a 104 markets right now and its on BET and Centric as well. I have two comedy specials our right now, one is called ‘Crazy Sexy Dirty’ and the other is called ‘The Ladies Night Out’ tour which I am doing in the US now so I am touring the country.

OB: How are you going to adapt your act to the Nigerian scene?

BB: I don’t know, am going to figure it out.

OB: Have you heard about Nigeria prior to you coming here now?

BB: No no, not really. I didn’t know I was coming until recently maybe three weeks ago and I started going on the internet to find out more. I am just so excited to be here, I have always wanted to come to Africa, I thought the first I was probably going to go will be Ghana or Ivory Coast from what people told me so this is my first stop in Africa.

OB: We have a lot of comedians here, do you think you can match them up?

BB: Yea, I am a good comedian.

OB: Are you going to give us some Nigerian comedy?

BB: I might! If not, I’ll get a Nigerian comedian to help me.

Immodesty Blaize

British born Immodesty Blaize, (real name Kelly Fletcher) is not your average burlesque dancer, she is also a writer, producer and director. She has been performing since the early 90s, haven quitted her film production job in order to perform full time for fashion, celebrity and art events.

She brought mainstream profile to the burlesque dancing in Britain, garnering extensive press coverage for her elaborate theatrical shows and extravagant costumes. According to her, her art depicts the strength, courage and independence of the female gender. She has been crowned 'Reigning Queen of Burlesque' and has written two novels set in the modern showgirl world, which are published by Ebury, "Ambition" and “Tease”.

OB: As a burlesque dancer, what are you bringing to the Butterscotch Evenings?

IB: Basically a burlesque show is funny man, sexy women and its entertainment. It’s theatre – it’s titillating but it’s theatre. For me as a burlesque dancer, I will be dancing in folk 1950 Hollywood glamour, very extravagant costumes covered in rhinestones. As for my music, I will have my live drummer with me, often if I can’t have a full band, I travel with my drummer and he plays the track. I love beat and I love being very dramatic and this is what my music reflects, I like to have a very Amazonian presence on the stage. A lot of my audience is women in Europe because they love the glamour; they also love the positive representation of femininity so I’m really hoping I can win over the women of Nigeria with my performance.

OB: Is this your first time in Nigeria?

IB: Actually, this is my first time in West Africa and Nigeria. It’s been a great experience so far and I’m really looking forward to the performance.

OB: Have you listened to any of the local tunes in Nigeria, do you plan on infusing them into your performance?

IB: Well I’m a huge fan of diversities; I’m hugely into world music. One of my best friends founded Trans-global underground so I listen to different kinds of songs but for my performance, I like to keep it very classical so I’ll be doing something that is very beat heavy, I love brass and orchestra as well.

OB: What are the costumes you intend to wear for your performance?

IB: My costumes, I had a costumier make them so I have a lot and I can get my waist down to about 20 inches in the corset. It’s going to be very uncomfortable and I cannot wear it for a very long time but for stage… yeah.

OB: Without a corset, what’s your regular size?

IB: 27 inches, without a corset and I have a big bum (laughs) though they look smaller in my dress, so I like to exaggerate the curves. With burlesque, it’s all about exaggeration that’s why my costumes are very expensive.

This particular show that I am doing, I’ve been inspired by a 1930s illustrator so it’s very femme fatal and dramatic. 

Aldo Zilli
Introducing himself, Italian-born celebrity chef Aldo Zilli goes “Hi my name is Aldo Zilli and I will chop your chilly”.  Born in the small seaside town of Alba Adriatica in the central Italian region of Abruzzo, Aldo moved to England in 1976 where he has been resident ever since.

He specializes in Italian cuisine and holds a record for flipping a pancake 117 times in a minute. He has appeared on television programmes including The X Factor, Through the Keyhole and Lorraine Kelly’s Big Fat Challenge.

He owns various restaurants around London, all with Zilli in their title.

OB: How was the experience coming to Nigeria?

AZ: The experience coming to Nigeria, from dropping off the airplane… great! I’ve never felt so famous in my life! I was greeted by the best security in the world and they wouldn’t even let me even pick my bags up, everything was looked after. Then, we got into the car and that was where the challenge started. I never realized there can be so much people at half-past-four in the morning – on the road – going to work, because I don’t come from a country where people actually go to work that early. It was very interesting, in that sense. There are certainly a lot of people in this country but I didn’t see any stress or violence but having so many cars, it’s bound to happen. We were escorted all the way to the hotel and the driver was interesting… scary but interesting.

OB: As the chef for the dinner/concert event, can you tell us what we should expect from the food?

AZ: Actually we started with one menu but now we are doing two, because we want to give people choice. What I’m bringing to Nigeria is flavours of my childhoo. I am Italian and I cook Italian food so the feel, the fish, the meat, the vegetables… it’s all going to have a lot of Italian flavours with the local ingredient… which has not been easy.

OB: What exactly are the different foods?

AZ: We are starting with an array of pasta, and different kinds of breads, cheeses, biscuits, so when people come they already have what to eat. My mum used to call nine of us to eat and she already has it on the table before we get there but it’s my dad that leaves first, if you leave before him, you will never come back to eat so we had to have that hash training and that’s how we were brought up so I took that with me and adopted it till now. We are going to be having an evening event so let’s have it already on the table, when people come, they can just sit down and start eating and then we can start serving all the other items.

OB: What exactly are you serving?

AZ: There is vegetable soup with pasta and then there will be bisque with shellfish, those are the soups. There also will be some of the local fishes and also spicy chicken which is also common here (Nigeria), then we’ll have the local vegetables to go with all of it. Then we have the desserts amongst which one is very Italian so you should be happy because you are coming to dinner (laughs).

Event details:
Date: Today, Friday 17th May  2013
Time: 6pm
Venue: Eko Convention Centre, Eko Hotel & Suites, Victoria Island, Lagos
Tables: N150,000 | N1.5m & N2m
For more information contact Sophia on: 08068805213
Website: butterscotchevenings.com

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It’s been a great year for the Mavin allstars. Just as Mavin Records made up of Tiwa Savage, Wande Coal, D’Prince, Don Jazzy and other in-house producers and Mavin-bot, Dr Sid has acquired a new property in Lekki!

He posted the picture of the new house on his Instagram and Twitter page with the caption; “God is faithful, #Hardwork #pays. #new #crib from C&C property developers. #Lekki tins.”

Dr Sid in the past weeks has released 3 singles in quick succession that has turned out to be hits.

Share via LinkedIn, Twitter, Google+ & Facebook. Leave your views in comments box below.

Legendary Rap artiste, Sean “Jay Z” Carter announced his world tour on the 13th of May which includes seven stops in Africa, according to Billboard.

The tour kicks off on September 9th in Poland and will make stops in Accra, Lagos, Cape Town and Dar Es Salaam, among other African cities.

While Jay Z will begin touring Africa on the 4th of October starting off with Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, he will be at Ocean View, Victoria Island Lagos on 7th of October 2013.

Here’s a look at Jay-Z African stops on his world tour:

October 4: Dar es Salaam, Tanzania (Diamond Jubilee)
October 6: Accra, Ghana (Accra Conference Center)
October 7: Lagos, Nigeria (Ocean View)
October 9: Luanda, Angola (Cine Karl Max)
October 11: Cape Town, South Africa (Belleville Velodrome)
October 13: Durban, South Africa (ABSA Stadium Outer Fields)
October 14: Johannesburg (Coca Cola Dome)

We deliver the most recent information on top stories in politics, sports, current affairs, foreign news and more in this segment.

The Joint Admissions and Matriculations Board, JAMB, Thursday restated its commitment to conduct a hitch-free UTME examination on April 27, 2013, meanwhile, controversies have trailed the Federal Government’s decision to scrap the National Examinations Council, NECO, as well as the Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examinations, UTME.

The Movement for Emancipation of Niger Delta (MEND) announced on Wednesday that it would resume hostilities in the country on Friday.

The Chief of Army Staff (COAS), Lieutenant General Azubike Ihejirika has disclosed that culprits of the plot to bomb about 16 landmarks in Lagos smuggled in explosives and the detonators in empty fuel tankers.

Read News in Full Below:

Controversies Trail Scrapping Of NECO, UTME – JAMB Reinstates Commitment To Conduct Exams
The Joint Admissions and Matriculations Board, JAMB, Thursday restated its commitment to conduct a hitch-free UTME examination on April 27, 2013, meanwhile, controversies have trailed the Federal Government’s decision to scrap the National Examinations Council, NECO, as well as the Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examinations, UTME.

Professors Ralph Akinfeleye of University of Lagos, Florence Banku Obi of University of Calabar and Abayomi George Ojanuga of the Usmanu Danfodiyo University, Sokoto, who are in support of the proposed scrapping said it would give true meaning to university autonomy, eliminate irregularities  and help universities capture the best students.

However, Prof. Olu Jegede of Obafemi Awolowo University’s, Vice Chancellor, Caleb University, Prof. Ayodeji Olukoju and Prof. Ukachukwu Awuzie,  argued that the adoption of the White Paper’s recommendations would spell doom for our nation’s education sector which, they believe, would be thrown into a state of confusion.

Also the Dean, Faculty of Education, Obafemi Awolowo University, Prof. Olu Jegede, said this would cause a major setback for Nigeria’s education sector and universities will be far apart in technology due to lack of standard.

Upon the news of the presidential council to scrap the parastatals, members of staff of the National Examination Council, NECO, were yesterday gripped with fear as they contemplate what may become their fate should the government go ahead to abolish the council. When newsmen visited the council headquarters, yesterday, some staff who were at their duty posts were seen discussing the newspaper reports and their fate.

MEND Threatens Fresh Attacks
The Movement for Emancipation of Niger Delta (MEND) announced on Wednesday that it would resume hostilities in the country on Friday.

MEND in a statement signed by its spokesman, Gbomo Jomo, said the series of attacks codenamed “Hurricane Exodus” would begin at midnight.

The group described the planned attacks as “a direct repercussion of a forged threat letter contrived by the Nigerian and South African governments purporting to have originated from MEND”.

Terrorist Smuggled Exposives Into Lagos In Empty Fuel Tankers
The Chief of Army Staff (COAS), Lieutenant General Azubike Ihejirika has disclosed that culprits of the plot to bomb about 16 landmarks in Lagos smuggled in explosives and the detonators in empty fuel tankers.

Ihejirika, made this disclosure yesterday at the second day of the interactive session on Military-Media Relations in Nigeria, held in Lagos, saying the plot was nipped in the bud through intelligence reports.

Guest speaker, Editor-in-Chief/Chairman of Thisday Newspapers, Mr. Nduka Obaigbena, called on the military to revamp, restructure and properly fund its intelligence unit for optimal result in curbing the activities of the terrorist groups.
It was also gathered that the terrorists had chosen the route to avoid suspicion, thereby blending with other tanker drivers on the roads to beat security checkpoints.

Barack Obama To Trim Salary By 5% In Show Of Solidarity
President Barack Obama will return 5 percent of his salary to the Treasury in a show of solidarity with federal workers smarting from government-wide spending cuts.

Obama's decision grew out of a desire to share in the sacrifice that government employees are making, a White House official said Wednesday. Hundreds of thousands of workers could be forced to take unpaid leave — known as furloughs — if Congress does not reach an agreement soon to undo the cuts.

A 5 percent cut from the president's salary of $400,000 per year amounts to $20,000.

Obama will return a full $20,000 to the Treasury even though only a few months remain in the fiscal year, which ends in September. He will cut his first check this month, said the White House official, who was not authorized to discuss the decision publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity.

Sources:
Vanguard
Thisday
Yahoo!