MEET ZONKE DIKANA, A SOUTH AFRICAN PHENOMENOM AT THE AFCON EVENT.

The beautiful talented Zonke

On her Facebook page, she describes herself as Jesus loving talented 'n blessed seed of Abraham! singer,songwriter (who writes alone, always),arranger 'n producer (no, there aint nothing I cant do thru Christ!) OK, she's a Christian singer but she had this taste of South African culture to her music which is what drew me to her performance.

 Her outfit was out of this world and with the power of social media I tracked her on Facebook and Twitter. Zonke is defining style, music and talent. These are the acts I need to see on the Grammy red carpet next year. AMEN!

Facebook/ZonkeDikana

@ZonkeMusic on Twitter

D'BANJ WOWS AT THE AFCON FOOTBALL CHAMPIONSHIPS.

D'Banj belting out the tunes in South Africa

Nigeria is one of the finalists in the African Superbowl aka African Cup of Champions. D’banj, a Nigerian pop artist brought the the house down at the grand finale of the 2013 Africa Cup of Nations on Sunday. 

The ‘Oliver Twist’ and ‘On Top of the World’ star did a great job with both hits. I will get some video up very soon. ‘On Top of the World’ is the song behind SuperSport’s theme piece for Afcon 2013. D'Banj was recently signed to Sony Music Africa and was with Kanye West's G.O.O.D music for a while there. I met him very early in his career at the ThisDay Music Festival in 2006. Listen to the interview below.

The interview is here.

Sell Music online at ReverbNation.com

M.I.A HAS MIDDLE FINGER MALFUNCTION DURING SUPERBOWL HALFTIME.

I did not even notice this till everyone started talking about it. Show was good though. Ahead of her Super Bowl halftime show, singer Madonna promised there would be no "wardrobe malfunction." What she didn't guarantee was no obscene gestures.Rapper M.I.A. provided a middle finger salute to network cameras Sunday night during the 12-minute extravaganza, when she joined Madonna during a performance of the latter's new single, "Give Me All Your Luvin."

The apologies from the NFL and the broadcaster, NBC, came quickly -- they blamed each other." There was a failure in NBC's delay system," said Brian McCarty, the league's vice president of communications. "The obscene gesture in the performance was completely inappropriate, very disappointing, and we apologize to our fans.""The NFL hired the talent and produced the halftime show," NBC said. "Our system was late to obscure the inappropriate gesture and we apologize to our viewers."The episode was reminiscent of the 2004 Super Bowl when singer Janet Jackson's nipple was briefly exposed during a performance with singer Justin Timberlake.

Madonna had admittedly been nervous about her performance, hoping to position herself as the queen of a new generation of pop stars with an opulent show and a sharp performance that mixed her new release with more familiar songs. She seemed like Roman royalty when muscle-bound men carried her extravagant throne across the football field to the stage for her opening song, "Vogue."Guests Cee Lo, Nicki Minaj and dance rockers LMFAO also appeared with Madonna.

The singing and dancing on "Vogue" was smartly choreographed, as Madonna moved more deliberately -- she is 53 -- but still adroitly. She briefly appeared to stumble at one point while trying to make a step on the stage set, but recovered in time.She let a tightrope walker make the more acrobatic moves during a performance of "Music."Madonna carried gold pompons for a performance of her new single. Twitter was alight with questions about the vocals being lip synched or augmented by tapes, particularly during this song.The best guest was clearly Cee Lo, who joined Madonna for the final song, "Like a Prayer." They were joined by a robed chorus in the show's most soaring performance.

With a puff of white smoke, Madonna disappeared down a trap door in the stage, and lights on the field spelled out "World Peace."The performance was also carried live on SiriusXM Radio, giving Madonna the biggest single audience of her career. For all the elaborate choreography and flashy effects, the finger incident is the more likely headline from the event.Earlier, Kelly Clarkson, Blake Shelton and Miranda Lambert offered some pregame patriotism. Shelton and Lambert did a twangy duet on "America the Beautiful" and Clarkson, in a simple black dress, sang "The Star Spangled Banner" without a hitch after last year's performer, Christina Aguilera, flubbed a line.

With files from CNN and David Bauder AP.

MADONNA'S SUPERBOWL THEMED VIDEO: Give Me All Your Luvin' (Feat. M.I.A. and Nicki Minaj)

Don't forget, she will be performing during half time on the Superbowl. I heard that MIA and Nicki will be there with her.

DRAKE PERFORMS AT TODAY'S NHL ALL STARS GAME IN OTTAWA.

So I am in my office covering the Shafia Murder Trial, the biggest story in Canada today when "Drake is Canadian" was trending on Twitter. I immediately thought about the other big story today. The 2012 Tim Horton's NHL All Star Game in Ottawa. Drake performed. Below is his performance



Drizzy even posed in the locker room with players. What a great game. Team Chara beat Team Alfie 12-9.

STEVEN TYLER SCREECHES THE AMERICAN NATIONAL ANTHEM AT THE AFC CHAMPIONSHIP GAME.

All I can say is take a look at the coaches and some of the players faces. I rolled off the floor and just said "stick to the Idol judging."Tyler’s rendition was off-key in places, screechy in most others and he messed up a lyric — it’s “the bombs bursting in air,” not “as bomb bursting in air.” Though he does get rock star fashion points for the festive scarf he was sporting to support his team, the AFC champion New England Patriots.

With files from via the Toronto Sun.

L'IL WAYNE BLAST STEELERS IN NEW TRACK "GREEN AND YELLOW."

We 'gon toast these niggas like pop tarts??? OMG! Then there's the Groundhog in Paunxutawney Phil who also predicted an early spring and a Steelers win.

SFTC: STANLEY CUP WINNER JONATHAN TOEWS AND OLYMPIC MEDALIST SHENAE GRIMES TO PRESENT AT MMVA'S

MuchMusic announced today that two big Canadians have been added to the 2010 MMVAs presenter roster. Jonathan Toews, fresh off of his Stanley Cup win with the Chicago Blackhawks last night, adds his winning touch to the already stacked presenters list at the 2010 MUCHMUSIC VIDEO AWARDS. TV star and Toronto’s own Shenae Grimes is also set to present. Toews has had a whirlwind year, winning a Gold Medal with Team Canada at the 2010 Olympic Games and receiving the honour as best forward in the tournament.

As Captain of the NHL’s Chicago Blackhawks, Toews lead his team to a Stanley Cup win and nabbed the Conn Smythe trophy as the most valuable player in the 2010 Stanley Cup Playoffs. Shenae Grimes returns to her hometown to heat up the red carpet and reunite with former castmates Drake, Nina Dobrev, and Charlotte Arnold. MuchMusic airs the biggest street-party of the year on Sunday, June 20 at 9 p.m. ET with the 2010 MMVAs RED CARPET SPECIAL airing at 8 p.m. ET. Viewers in the U.S. can watch a simulcast on Fuse.

SFTC: K'NAAN KICKS OFF WORLD CUP CONCERT WITH SHAKIRA.

Could this be the first concert ever decided by penalty kicks?

K’naan - the pride of Canada whose song Wavin’ Flag has become the anthem for the World Cup of soccer - Shakira, the Black Eyed Peas and Alicia Keys are some of the artists scheduled to appear in the FIFA World Cup Kickoff Celebration Concert, Thursday from South Africa.

The concert will air live across Canada on TLN (Telelatino), which is the official multilingual broadcaster for the tournament. It’s an evening concert in South Africa, which means early afternoon or late morning in Canada, depending on where you live.

The concert will repeat later Thursday on TLN, and on Friday as well.

The three-hour event takes place at the newly renovated Orlando Stadium in Soweto/Johannesburg.

World Cup games begin Friday on CBC and TLN.

SHAKIRA TAKES TIME OUT TO VISIT SCHOOLS IN SOUTH AFRICA DURING WORLD CUP.

Shakira kicked off her stay in South Africa for the soccer World Cup on Wednesday (09Jun10) by visiting a school to teach her famous dance moves to students. The Colombian singer is currently in Soweto to perform the official 2010 FIFA World Cup anthem, Waka Waka (This time for Africa), at a celebratory concert on Thursday (10Jun10) - the day before the tournament begins. The pop star, a goodwill ambassador for UNICEF, is also using her time in Africa for philanthropic work, making a trip to Isu'lihle Primary School to meet local kids.

Shakira toured classrooms and chatted to pupils, before giving a group of excited children a dance lesson, reports the Associated Press. And she also stressed the importance of education, telling reporters, "(The World Cup is) a great opportunity to bring all the attention to issues as important as education. Seventy-two million kids around the world (are) not able to attend school, of which 32 million are African. So this is our chance to make this World Cup's lasting legacy education for all."

8-time Grammy nominee Lil Wayne & Skip Debate On ESPN 1st & 10 [Full 22 Min Interview Segments]

Hey kids, the sky is the limit. Look at Weezy now. Weezy is a Sports Correspondent now!

MUSIC CELEBS DOING THEIR BORING NBA THING!

You know how you see all the stars at the NY Knicks game? It has started to look like that in Atlanta. The Hawks are NBA losers and celebs just come out to show face. Above is Ciara, Jeezy, and even Ludacris.

USHER IS DESPERATE TO CLINCH SUPERBOWL'S HALF TIME!

USHER hopes his NFL season kick-off performance on Thursday (04Sep08) will help him land the coveted Super Bowl half-time show. Despite strong rumours suggesting Bruce Springsteen & The E-Street Band will perform on American football's biggest stage next February (09) to millions of fans around the world, organisers have yet to confirm who will land the slot, and Usher is hopeful it will be him. He says, "I don't think it's too early to consider it. Certainly, being associated with the organisation makes that a lot more possible. There have been conversations for a lot of years about me being part of a performance at a Super Bowl.

"I'm hoping that this leads, definitely, to that. This whole process is basically you scratch my back, I'll scratch yours." Usher will be among the main attractions performing before 2008 Super Bowl champions the New York Giants take on the Washington Redskins in the first game of the season. If he lands the big show, he'll join the ranks of Sir Paul McCartney, the Rolling Stones, Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers and Janet Jackson among the superstars who have performed at the Super Bowl in recent years.

BOW WOW AND THE GAME GAMBLE $100,000 IN HEAD-TO-HEAD.

American football crazy rappers BOW WOW and THE GAME are set to go head-to-head on videogame Madden NFL - for a $100,000 prize. Bow Wow has thrown down the challenge after The Game - real name Jayceon Taylor - claimed he was the world's best player.

He says, "I've seen you do your thing in Madden. But I wanna let you know I will bust your ass in that Madden. We can get it poppin, on $100,000 dollars.

What can I say? These two are still pretty much kids!!! Except they are rich ones. SEE the video of Mr.Wow talking about old stuff such as Ciara!!

JEEZY THRILLED PHELPS FOUND INSPIRATION IN HIS MUSIC.

YOUNG JEEZY has discovered he was a big part of Olympics hero MICHAEL PHELPS' record-breaking eight gold medal run - the swimmer played the rapper's songs to prepare for his races. Phelps has revealed his motivation before each race came from Jeezy's R. Kelly collaboration, Go Getta - and the rap star is more than thrilled. He says, "I’m a big fan of Michael Phelps.

He’s a great success. I like what he’s doing. He’s like the Young Jeezy of the swim world." And the rapper insists other athletes should follow the swimming hero's lead and turn to his music for inspiration: "All my music is inspirational. You just gotta listen to the words and get what you can get out of it.”
Photo by Sports Illustrated

I reported this as Weezy last week as said on a radio station. It was actually Jeezy.

US OLYMPIC SWIMMING CHAMP MARK PHELPS LISTENS TO L'IL WEEZY BEFORE HE HITS THE POOL!

Wonder what track that is? Must be Lollipop! Phelps recently was said to listen to Weezy tracks before he starts the gold winning swim. Man! Maybe I should start some Weezy listening myself before I do critical things.

HEADLEY KILLED IT LAST NIGHT AT THE BUFFALO BILLS KICK OFF PARTY IN TORONTO!

Of course, by now, who doesn't know the NFL is in town? The Buffalo Bills kicked off their exhibition game trip yesterday by treating us to some Hedley. They play tonite in Toronto.

You know Jacob Hoggard's my baby! He let me hold their Much trophies for hours. Hedley won 5 MMVA awards last June. Hoggard is also a famous Canadian Idol finalist. Shout out to Mima Agozzino, Universal Music Publicist who keeps Jacob staying a good boy! Yours truly KJ did this video on his Popular Culture Kid TV.