Entertainment Archives

Enzo Maresca Hails Cole Palmer ’s Ability as Chelsea Eye Premier League Championship

Chelsea’s boss Enzo Maresca has come out to shower his praise on Cole Palmer, informing his audience that the young 22-year-old is a ‘different’ player whose abilities have greatly enhanced Chelsea to second place in the too much competitive English Premier League this season.

List of Nationals Awarded During Jamhuri Day

More than 500 Kenyans were honored with the presidential awards to mark this year’s Jamhuri Day celebrations that were held at Uhuru Gardens on Thursday. President William Ruto awarded citizens from the different fraternity for their efforts and work towards the nation demonstrating Kenya’s recognition of hard work and commitment.

Highlights of the Honorees

Head of the Order of the Burning Spear (CBS)

Out of the seventy four distinguished awardees this year, one of them was Nairobi Senator Edwin Sifuna.

The Order of the Burning Spear honor comes in three classes: Chief Burning Spear (CBS); Elder Burning Spear (EBS); and Moran Burning Spear (MBS), and is bestowed on public dignitaries, professionals and members of public service who have distinguished themselves.

Other beneficiaries were a Luo Ohangla musician Prince Indah, and actresses Sarah Hassan and Brenda Wairimu.

The Order of the Grand Warrior (OGW) is received for the service and mostly for brave and selfless people.

Moran with the Honorary Membership of the Order of the Golden Heart (MGH)

Praising Douglas Kanja, Inspector General of Police and Other Five Members of the Kenya Defence Forces (KDF), this was the third category of honor, in the Order of the Golden Heart.

Grand Prior of the Sacred Tribunal of the Order of the Golden Heart (GPH)

The second tier dignity was received by Deputy Chief Justice Philomena Mwilu, its recipients usually include Deputy Presidents, Speakers of Parliament and senior public servants.

Order of the Burning Spear: CBS, EBS, MBS.

Order of the Golden Heart: Lastly, Chief (CGH), Elder (EGH), Moran (MGH).

These are: Distinguished Conduct Order (DCO), Distinguished Service Medal (DSM), Silver Star and the President’s Commendations for military and civilian formations.

Purpose of the Awards

These honors are awarded during national events to reward individual’s devotion to the country with the intention to promote such services throughout the country as the government demonstrates its support to recognizing accomplishment in services, arts and security.

The event was a testimony that there exist a lot of talent in the Kenyan society, as well as the fact that Kenyans are the backbone of the country’s development.

Spotify Wrapped 2024: Bien dominates Kenyan artists streams

Spotify Wrapped 2024 has placed Bien Aime-Baraza, the former lead singer of the band Sauti Solo as the most streamed artist in Kenya, thus a revolution in Kenyan music. Bien’s rise dislodged the year’s previous wunderkinds, the rap trio Wakadinali who now occupy second place with Sauti Sol in third place.

Bien’s Dominance

Bien is still enjoying his solo life performance as he has positioned himself to have four among the most streamed Kenyan songs. In lifestyle and Inauma, he was at his best and shows he’s a man for all seasons. They also received popularity in his features such as Extra Pressure with Bensoul.

Top Streamed Kenyan Tracks

Lil Maina, sosatheprodigyy, – NAKAM SAI

Bien – Lifestyle

Bensoul/Bien – Extra Pressure

From The Hood Music – Anguka Nayo

Bien – Inauma

Bien – Ma Cherie

YBW Smith – Lele

Dyana Cods – Set It

Matata – Oversized T-shirt

Fancy Fingers Featuring Kudade – Kudade (Fancy Fingers Refix)

Global Music Scene

Globally, Taylor Swift remained on top of list of the most streamed artists, while the second most streamed artist is The Weeknd followed by Bad Bunny.

Podcasts and Kenyan Content

Some of the most listened to shows included The 97s Podcast for Kenya, So This Is Love and The Mkurugenzi Podcast. Internationally and finally, The Diary of a CEO by Steven Bartlett was notable as well.

Kenyan Genres Shine Globally

There has been an increase in the release of Kenyan music, and Spotify Wrapped 2024 was such a great reminder. Afro Beat, Gengetone, and Afro Pop festivals made it to the charts.

Bien’s triumph is not only a feather in his cap but also a sign of change that Kenya’s music industry experiences in retaining its influence in attracting the audience locally, and internationally.

Box Office Bonanza: ’Moana 2’ claims Thanksgiving records with $28 Million on its first day.

Box Office Bonanza: ’Moana 2’ claims Thanksgiving records with $28 Million on its first day

Disney again and again gives their fans every movie they crave for and Moana 2 did wash over the platforms as it earned $28 million on Thanksgiving Day. This performance not only guarantees the animated film high records, but also revives the movie industry which has had a difficult few years.

A Historic Holiday Run

Eva celebrates Thanksgiving holiday, and it will easily gross more than $175 million within the Thanksgiving five days period to erase pre-existing records. These include Frozen II’s $125 million in 2019 and The Hunger Games: Catching Fire with $109 million in 2013. Observers in the industry are optimistic that it could gross over $200 million domestically by the weekend. It has grossed $85.5 million in domestic territories and has become the highest-grossing Thanksgiving release ahead of the $15 million opening-day record held by Frozen II.

A Boost for the Box Office

This is not to mean that the success of Moana 2 is happening just anywhere in isolation. Audiences are also coming to see Universal’s Wicked and Paramount’s Gladiator II, two other hits which opened just one week prior.

Wicked: The Broadway adaptation earned $16.9 million on its Thanksgiving, the five days estimate $105.6 million. It also cost a significant amount of money to produce costing $300 million making it the first part of a two part film.

Gladiator II: The follow up to the much acclaimed 2000 epic sci-fipic cashed $6.7m on Thanksgiving and should gross $45m during the Thanksgiving season. This is another massive risk for Paramount as this film was made for $250 million out of their $500 million budget.

Gladiator II is expected to earn $112.2m in the domestic market by Sunday; Wicked could gross as much as $250.6m in North America.

Star Suite – Von Streamingstar zum Kinoallstars

Moana 2 was once planned for Disney+ but then it switched to the feature Moana format. The first Moana released in 2016 grossed $687.2 million all over the world, but the film really found its success in streaming, becoming one of the most popular movies in Disney+. This streaming success convinced Disney that a sequel could emerge in theaters—and the success has paid off.

On Revitalising the Experience of Theatre

The victories of these play hits couldn’t have arrived at the theaters at a perfect moment. There is nothing worse than when the COVID-19 pandemic and industry-wide strikes in recent years have not allowed you to regain the occupancy.” Indications of a much-awaited recovery have been observed with the start of business during Thanksgiving.

Future Problems and Opportunities of the Successful Holiday Season
While people were getting their turkey fix with a string of blockbuster movies in Thanksgiving, the holiday season itself is not very rich in this regard. Big names like Paramount’s Sonic the Hedgehog 3 and Disney’s Mufasa: The Lion King will arrive in December, but there isn’t an Avatar-like follow-up or a big Marvel movie.

The Verdict: A New Chapter for Theaters

The astounding sales figured in Moana 2 are therefore indicative of what most industry insiders and analysts have long been waiting for – a new dawn for the film business as the audience comes back in droves to get their fix of quality movies. But as Thanksgiving starts it off, it is yet to be seen if the playing field can be sustained throughout the leaner winter season.

Eric Bellinger Bridges Cultures with Afro-Inspired Album, It’ll All Make Sense Later

Eric Bellinger Bridges Cultures with Afro-Inspired Album, It'll All Make Sense Later

From Hitmaker to Global Artist

Commonly known as the Grammy award winner singer/song writer in the R&B and Hip Hop fraternity. Eric Bellinger appears to be the only one who can do both with so much efficiency. Most of them remember him from a viral video of him performing Usher’s ‘Superstar’ during NPR’s Tiny Desk Concert.

Reflecting on the impact of that performance, Eric shares:

It was a great privilege to be with Usher for the Tiny Desk concert, and naturally observing it gain the most votes is a blessing. It encouraged me to make songs with a purpose, songs that inspire and can relate with individuals across the globe,”

A Journey to Africa: Where Music and Culture Meet

In January of this year, Eric set off on a change mission to Cape Town, South Africa, plunging himself into the sonar, color and beat of the continent. The result? His latest album, It’ll All Make Sense Later—it is a 15 track album that complements R & B with Afro rhythmic elements.

“This project was inspired by my own life and identity,”, Eric comments. Meanwhile, the experience I earned in South Africa; it’s beaches, woods, and foods helped me concentrate on music without any distractions. He said: “It felt like a creative rebirth.”

The album features several other African artists, such as Ghana’s Afro-Fusion singer Gyakie, and Nigerian artists Burna Boy, Reekado Banks, Oxlade, Tempoe and Taves. These five tracks combine world music with the tunes which promote life, love, and the search for oneself.

Dancing to New Rhythms: Afro Meets R&B

To those that are familiar with previous albums and consistent with Eric’s R&B, this album may come as a shock. Eric describes this project as a celebration of triumph and joy:

“As much as I have been known to stick to the basics of R’n’B – bedroom music, slow lyrics and slow rhythms or fast rhythms to dance to this time I did. I wanted to celebrate. Afro was the first place my heart led me and I rejected what I deemed to be the norm for my music.

Some of these include Feelings Never Die and Shooting Star (Oxlade). Shooting Star is an R&B song that will have anyone grooving to it’s consistent rhythm while Feelings Never Die focuses on issues of heartbreak and one’s ability to recover from it.

I could not have asked for a better partner to work with on this project: Oxlade. This song Tyrant describes hope and going after your dreams and it’s all about victory according to Eric.

A run of countless hits and shifting genre: the experience of penthouse.

From charting hits for Chris Brown (new flame, champion), usher ( Lemme see), and Justin Bieber, G.O.A.T and VALET as an artist, Eric’s story is Unbelievable right from Compton to worldwide. In addition to being of music royalty as he is the son of Robert ‘Bobby’ Day the man behind songs for the Jackson 5, his music has earned him a Grammy Award in addition to the creation of more than 300 songs in 40 albums.

With It’ll All Make Sense Later, released now, Eric goes even further in exploring different fronts of electronic music, incorporating also Amapiano, Afrobeats and R&B.

The Future of Cross-Cultural Creativity

This album is just a start in a new phase of his relation with Africa, the motherland. That is why he is already contemplating a second trip to the continent next year, January 2025, to deepen the cooperation with African artists and promote cultural exchange.

This is how Eric philosophizes about this album: “I see this album as a faith walk.” It’s about believing that more is possible now than what one can see now. It’s my hope that my fans will be encouraged to trust their own processes.”

As Bellinger connects two continents with It’ll All Make Sense Later, the audiences globally can sing, twerk, and go beyond boundaries granted by the music. Could this be the beginning to a new generation of Afro R&B hybridity? Only time will tell.

Watch or Stream It’ll All Make Sense Later now, and let the story develop!