Controversial singer Karen Lucas is off to Broadway. The singer who was part of Project Fame in South Africa in 2004 is heading to Broadway in New York, a haven for commercial theatre.

She will join American Musical and Dramatic Academy and study for two years. Kaz who has released albums including Somin, K-A-Z ant The Naked Truth is remembered for voting out Didge in Project Fame.

The just ended Venice Film Awards marked yet another accomplishment by a Kenyan Film-maker. Wanuri Kahiu did Kenya proud once again. Her movie, Pumzi was awarded the “Citta di Venezia” (Prize City of Venice) at the festival held in Venice. The Deputy Mayor of Venice awarded the prize to her.

Wanuri’s prize goes to a filmmaker belonging to the cinematography of Africa and other countries, which are usually excluded from the commercial circuits of the Western world.

Wanuri’s other film, From A Whisper, has won five awards in last year’s African Movie

POPULAR female pugilist Conjestina Achieng formed a foundation named after her on Saturday to “Knock out sexual violence in our midst” and increase knowledge on gender violence in society.

It targets the local community from Kasarani, Starehe and Embakasi divisions, local NGO officials, and government officers. She said her organization is a public campaign with no political attachment.

The launch was at Ndururuno Secondary School along Juja Road in Nairobi where Conjestina demonstrated that boxing could be a tool for self-defense.

THE late Mzee Kimani Maruge’s biographical movie about his struggle to get an education at the age of 84 took the runner-up position in the People’s Choice Award category at the Toronto International Film Festival on Sunday afternoon.

The first Grader lost the top prize to The King’s speech, a movie about a British monarch with a speech impediment on the eve of World War II. Normally, the People’s Choice Award has historically been hallmark of impending success, both at the Oscars, and often times, at the box-office, as well. For the last two years, Toronto’s moviegoers picked some big winners in precious (2009) and slumdog millionaire (2008).

This means that the Kenyan story has a shot at the Oscars. The movie follows the life of Maruge, an octogenarian who made headlines and even secured a place in the Guinness Book of World Records as the oldest pupil, ever. Upon hearing the government’s promise of a free education, he enrolled in a primary school among six-year-olds.

Despite attempts to deny him admission, he was persistent that he wanted to be taught how to read. Kenyan veteran actor Oliver Musila Litondo plays Maruge and British Naomie Harris plays Teacher Jane in the film. Naomie has also earned a spot on the breakout actor list of Toronto, Meanwhile, the National Geographic Entertainment (NGE) has acquired US theatrical rights to the movie following its premiere in Toronto.

National Geographic Films president Daniel Battsek said, “Its not only about historic political events, but it tells a personal story with great warmth and humour.

American soul and vocalist Denise Gordon, who is set to headline this year’s Storymoja Hay Festival, has signed a distribution deal with Kenya’s premier music distributor – Sound Africa.

David Makali, the CEO of distribution Company, told Word Is, “It was done last year for her first album Wangu we and we staged a concert for her with Kidum as well.”

Denise will perform at the launch dinner for the literary festival called Dine with Stars on September 30 at carnivore, Nairobi.

She is famed for her hit, We Need the Children, which received an Honorary Mention in the 2003 John Lennon and 2005 Great American Songwriting contests.

Denise has collaborated with Kenya’s keyboard guru Aaron Rimbui in a joint dubbed My Ideal Man; delightful, spoken word piece painted by the piano of the Kenyan musician. The album also features the single suddenly Sudan, which was written during her days in Darfur in support of those affected by the war.  The rap starts with a former Sudanese child soldier named Lam speaking in his native Nuer tongue.

The heavy drums added by producer R Kay represents the burden of war along with the chants of Kenyan singer Hellen Mtawali who make listeners feel the tears and suffering of the situation. Denise is delighted that this song has been selected to feature on the compilation Rwanda for Darfur.

She has performed before in Nairobi at the July 4 Blankets and Wine monthly music festival.

Wyre the Love Child has been signed to the same label as rapper Madraxx, Rockstar 4000 Music Entertainment. The label is the continent’s first Pan African 360 Music & Entertainment Company and Record Label.
The Gimmie the Music singer get a sweet deal that will see Rockstar 4000, through its exclusive Pan African partnership with Sony Music Entertainment Africa, will distribute Wyre’s music and video catalogue to hundreds of digital storefronts worldwide, including major digital music services like iTunes®, Amazon MP3, Napster, eMusic, Rhapsody, Beatport, YouTube, Vevo, Zune, MySpace Music, Spotify, SKY, Juno Download, Boomkat, and Turntable Lab and mobile carriers and outlets such as Verizon Wireless, Sprint, AT&T, T-Mobile and Nokia (to name a few) via Sony’s partnership with the San Francisco-based digital distributor IODA.label
“Wyre is an exciting addition to our Rockstar family and one of the first artists from East Africa that’s consistently pushed the boundaries of his music and making better music videos with his eye on expanding his fan base and music outside of the boundaries of Kenya and East Africa. With Wyre’s talent and commitment as an artist we’re looking forward to crossing many borders with him in the near future” says the CEO & Founder of Rockstar 4000, Jandre Louw.
Wyre is planning on launching his latest album Ten Years Younger in Nigeria later this month.

The trio that makes P Unit; Frasha, Bon Eye and Gabu will be touring Dubai for a concert dubbed Desert Storm.
The group popular for their hits Hapa Kule and Kare are scheduled to blaze up Dubai on August 6.

MTV award- winning songstress Cecilia Wairimu aka Amani has added yet another feather on her cap. The multiple award winner has been nominated as one of the top African sexiest entertainers. The results of Africa’s Sexiest Entertainers was compiled by DSTV’s Studio 54 entertainment channel.

“I am happy for the recognition. It is such an honour for me to be counted as one of the continent’s top stars. Besides, I thank my fans, as they have been my greatest motivation. I will never let them down,” she told us.

After winning the first round of the hip-hop showdown against Chiwawa last Friday, rapper Abbas Kubaff appealed for unity among Kenya Hip-hop stars.

“We have good rappers and hip- hop can be big here if we unite. We have better rappers than Nigeria and Tanzania but they package themselves better to win continental recognition. We need to team up together and put up a better image of who we are. That way, we will go places,” he told us.

“It’s time we grew up and forgot petty differences which only help to put us down,” he said.

Barely two weeks after the July 11 Kampala bomb blasts that shook Ugandans to the core. Ugandan musicians are already beginning to pen their fiercest reactions. Batabazi  &  Momayanja were among the first  musicans to release a song commemorating the tragic event titled ‘Rise Up’.

Mowzey Radio and Weasel have also released a song titled ‘Ndi muna Uganda’, Released under the ‘I’m a Ugandan’ group that began as a Richard Kawesa idea. A collabo between Kawesa and Juliana Kanyomozi is also reported to be in the works.