Holiday Greetings!!!

Its Holiday Time!! This year has been great, we covered a lot of events and interviewed great people (entrepreneurs[Melanie Ramjee, Wendy Dikgole, Dorcas Pooe and many more], local [Gail Nkoane and Blayze]and international personalities [GrandMaster Flash] ). Got an opportunity to work with great brands like IMAN Cosmetics Africa, Satiskin and ALWAYS

Thanks to everyone who has been supporting us since May. We have great plans for next year, we plan on launching our site!!

Thanks to our team Michelle, Len and Lerato..

Stay motivated, inspired and involved. Have a great holiday, we’ll be back in January

USA Wins Miss Universe

Official Results:
Miss Universe 2012: USA, Olivia Culpo
1st runner-up: Philippines, Janine Tugonon
2nd runner-up: Venezuela, Irene Esser
3rd runner-up: Australia, Renae Ayris
4th runner-up: Brazil, Gabriela Markus

Top 10 Semi-Finalists:

-France, Marie Payet
-Hungary, Agnes Konkoly
-Mexico, Karina Gonzalez
-Russia, Elizabeta Golovanova
-South Africa, Melinda Bam

Top 16 Quarter-Finalists:

-Croatia, Elizabeta Burg
-India, Shilpa Singh
-Kosovo, Diana Avdiu
-Peru, Nicole Faveron
-Poland, Marcelina Zawadska
-Turkey, Çağıl Özge Özkul

Miss Congeniality: Guatemala
Miss Photogenic: Kosovo
Best National Costume: China

Well done to Melinda, SA is proud of you

Miss Universe 2012

Officially 2 more sleeps till Melinda Bam represents South Africa at the Miss Universe 2012 pageant.

Miss Universe will be streamed live on www.missuniverse.com on the 19th at 20:00 ECT…03:00am SA time!

Good Luck Melinda, the whole nation is behind you – we have been voting everyday. You can also tweet her your messages of support @MelindaBam

Miss SA 2012 Broadcast Repeat

If you missed the live broadcast then you’ll be pleased to find out that Sun International has announced that the repeat of the 2012 Miss SA Pageant will be aired on Saturday, 15 December on Mzansi Magic, channel 161 from 16:30 – 18:00.

I will be watching just to see how it was on TV because watching the show live from The Sun City Superbowl was an amazing experience. Read about my experience here

Redi Tlhabi on Forbes’ List of 20 Youngest Power Women in Africa 2012

Redi Tlhabi, who is known to most as the host of “The
Redi Tlhabi Show” on Talk Radio 702 has been included on Forbes Magazine’s list of “20 Youngest Power Women In Africa 2012″.

She joins a list of many inspiring women from magazine editors, directors of tech companies and scientists, to a fourteen-year-old university enrollee.

Congratulations!

Things To Leave Behind In 2012 (And What To Take Into 2013)

New Year’s allows us to clean the slate. To help gain clarity on what to take with and leave behind; here’s my opinion.

What to leave behind:

1. Stagnant friendships – You know the “friend” that only calls you when they have nothing else better to do; The ”friend” that feels the need to bribe you whenever they need a favour by telling you what you’ll get out of it; The “friend” who uses your achievements as a gauge to how they can outdo you. ALL of these “friends” need to be left behind as you step forward into the new year.

2. Bad Weaves – What the good Lord didn’t give,
those geniuses in the world of manufactured hair sure will.
But I can no longer tolerate the frontal flaps and weird
hairline fringes. Some weaves look like they bite. Not attractive.

3. Unhealthy Food – Unhealthy lifestyle choice = getting sick / overweight and eventually dying.

WHAT ARE YOU TAKING WiTH TO 2013?
Write what you want to create for yourself: how you want
your life to look and feel. This list should be written in the
present tense and include all areas of your life: love, health,
family, wealth, friends, career, fitness, spirituality, etc.
Marinate, meditate and think on what you have written. Put
this list where you can see it on a daily basis. When you look
at this list, feel the feelings of having these things. By
conjuring the feelings, you become a magnet that will draw
the experiences to you.

Local Model Named GUESS’s First SA Ambassador

Fashion label GUESS has announced that 16year old Cape Town based model Morgan Shelley is their local brand ambassador.

Earlier this month Morgan strutted the catwalk at the GUESS summer fashion show held at Bungalow in Camps Bay, Cape Town but you can you look out for her in various GUESS advertorials that will be appearing in local magazines over the next six months.

Past GUESS girls have included celebs like Claudia Schiffer, Paris Hilton, the late Anna Nicole Smith, Drew Barrymore and Josie Maran.

Wow this is great stuff. 16 year old’s doing great things.

Have You Seen BeYonce’s Pepsi Ad?

In an expansion of the recent marketing experiments that have brought PepsiCo ever closer to the music industry, the company has embarked on a hybrid project with Beyoncé that will include standard advertising like commercials as well as a multimillion-dollar fund to support the singer’s chosen creative projects.

“Pepsi embraces creativity and understands that artists evolve. As a businesswoman, this allows me to work with a lifestyle brand with no compromise and without sacrificing my creativity.” said Beyonce

The campaign will coincide with a blitz of promotion for her next album, which has no title or release date so far but is expected in 2013. Sometime after she performs at the Super Bowl halftime show on Feb. 3 (also sponsored by Pepsi), Beyoncé will appear in a new TV ad – her fifth for the soft drink since 2002 – and her face will be on a limited-edition line of soda cans.

Wow Congrats King B

My Miss SA 2012 Experience

The most prestigious event in South Africa was held on Sunday, 9 December in Sun City, Rustenburg. Upon arrival we were welcomed by Sun International Staff who carried our bags from the car to the hotel.

We got to the hotel and had lunch then we went to the Valley of the Waves, it was so hot but I had such a great time playing in the water.

Then it was back to the hotel to get ready for the event. I did my hair and make up and got into my gorgeous evening gown and we got to the Superbowl at exactly 17h00.

It was such an honour, my first time at the Miss SA pageant and I was a VIP, sitting in front of the stage- I felt like I was dreaming. The event MC’s were Channel O’s hottie Lungile Radu , Bridget Masinga and Jo-Ann Strauss, wow this lady is such a natural, she’s one of SA’s best presenters.

I loved the swimwear by Dax Martin and those evening gowns were also gorgeous, I loved them especially Stacey’s dress.

Capetonian Danelle de Wet was crowned Miss Congeniality, I was so shocked to find out that she’s the same age as me, wow young people doing great things.

When they announced the top 5 I was shocked, I expected Natasha Kashimoto to be in the top 5, I also spoke to Charlotte Smith, she was so sweet and I loved the fact that she’s not pretending to be a nice person but she is genuinely a nice person.

This year they did things differently, the ladies (Top 5) were asked the same question : “What is the most underrated thing in South Africa?”, most of the answers were similar but Charne King‘s answer was unexpected.

2nd Princess is Pearl Nxele and 1st Princess Stacey Webb. Miss SA 2012 is Marilyn Ramos

Marilyn Ramos – Her life changed in 1 day.

Then it was off to the afterparty / dinner. A three course meal was served then it was off to the dance floor where people were dancing to tunes by Zakes Bantwini, Toya Delazy and many more.

My event highlight was going backstage to take an official picture with Marilyn Ramos. The ladies from Sun International said they’ll frame it and send it to me, can’t wait to see it.

I had the time of my life. The best event I’ve been to in my entire life. I’d like to Thank Ameila and The IMAN Cosmetics Africa Team for the invite, I’m so greatful and I really appreciate it and I would also like to thank the Sun International / Miss SA Team for the great hospitality and constantly coming up to our table to check if I’m okay.

Pictures by – Bruce K. Cantrell

*** I’ll post more pictures from my camera in my next post ***

Blayze joins Star Gist

STAR GIST ADDS ANOTHER STAR!

“Already focused on showcasing African talent, AfricaMagic Entertainment’s chic new showbiz programme, Star Gist has branched out to include a new South African face to their growing African team.

South African hip hop artist and producer, Dylan King (aka Blayze) will be joining Star Gist, one of Africa’s hottest new entertainment shows, as the ‘South African correspondent’ for local events. Star Gist, which airs every weekday evening on AfricaMagic Entertainment (DStv channel 150) at 7.30pm, is the continent’s very own answer to showbiz buzz, up-to-the-minute entertainment and trend news covering all the latest, greatest and hottest talent.

Biola Alabi, M-Net Africa Managing Director says, “Star Gist is AfricaMagic Entertainment’s flagship show and is set to elevate the newly rebranded channel to the next level. We’re excited about our fresh new addition to the Star Gist cast. Blayze already has a following as a South African hip hop artist, and his vibrant energy will complement the team that brings entertainment, local events and the latest industry news to Africa.”

Blayze is no stranger to the music scene. His first single and the first music video to be shot on the Gautrain, ‘Jozi’s Finest’, was received with much admiration from his music industry peers and fans. He was named ‘One of the Stars to look out for in 2012’ by The Star Newspaper and has proved this with his new appointment at Star Gist.

Blayze says, “I’m honoured to be considered for this amazing opportunity. I’m excited to be part of Star Gist and the AfricaMagic Entertainment family. I look forward to showcasing the great events South Africa puts on at all times.”

He will feature on the show twice a month reporting on all of SA’s celeb news and entertainment happenings alongside presenters, Vimbai Mutinhiri who hails from Zimbabwe and South African Lawrence Maleka. ”

For more news and information on STAR GIST, log onto www.africamagic.tv