We Salute you.....FUSE ODG !!!

Now its not often I salute artist due to the fact.. well i dont know why LOL but.....

What can i say, I've been wanting to blog about FUSE ODG for a very long time. This guy is possibly one of the hardest working solo artists Ive seen. From touring around Africa, touring around the UK. He is definitely holding the Ghana flag high around the world putting Ghana on the Map. And making us very proud.

I first came across Fuse when there was a big buzz around his single "Azonto"..Now at first i was like whats this.. Cause it wasn't like the normal type of Afrobeats i was used to hearing. It was a bit more upbeat more commercial sounding, but after time it grew on me, and the with Azonto video's and competitions going viral,  I was like I need to nail this dance.. I cant allow myself to be the only Ghanaian in town struggling just to get the leg and arm movement co ordination .. I had to learn the dance so that I could add my own 2pence, 2 Cedis, 2 Nairas to it.. Make it my own..!

 When that song came out, it set the Azonto craze in the UK going wild. Everybody was doing it Aunties, Uncles, Grandma's , Grandad's even the homeless. Now there are many debates as in to who created the Azonto or who started the trend..WHO IS THE ORGINAL AZONTO DON DADA ?? !!  But for the people who aren't really in sync with the Afrobeat scene..The Azonto single was the first they had heard of the dance.. SO REALLY AND TRULY he helped create an awareness of the dance to those who had never heard of it in Europe.

And THEN, just as we thought the "Azonto" song was simmering down, he gave  us a big GRENADE OF TRACK!! He literally GBOSA'D us in the face with it " You dey do me Antenna" JESU! .. This song had the Afrobeat scene going cray cray.. AND NOT only that, yet again Fuse ODG had got people all over the world (LITERALLY) making 2- 3 min video's of them dancing to Antenna .. Hoping to be featured in the official video.. in which he selected the SPECIAL 2 which you can view down below!

So from getting so much worldwide recognition from the Afrobeat scene in the UK..He also caught the eye of a legend MR. FUGEE HIMSELF.. Wyclef Jean who jumped on the Antenna track as a feature.. Which also gained a Top 10 position on the UK charts, which is a very big deal.. 

Collaborating with so many other world wide respected artist in the industry, Fuse is definitely marking his territory by pioneering his very own movement T.I.NA ( This Is New Africa ) !

To me this is the first time an Artist from the UK  has represented so hard for his people across the WORLD!.. He is setting levels for other aspiring afrobeat / Afro pop artist.. Like i cant even label him.. Because he is beyond a genre.

And recently he was awarded a GMA( Ghana Music Award) and MOBO for best African act, beating well known artist such as.. Wizkid, Ice Prince, Tiwa Savage  and Atumpan.. When he got that award and was talking about the REAL AFRICA.. i was sitting there screaming "Yess DARZ IT CA'MON.. Talk the real talk.. They dont know "

 Now every Aunty Akua, Aunty Cynthia and Uncle Kwame will be saying they knew Fuse when he was just a little boy, or they know his Auntie from Broadwater farm.. LOOOOOOL (Typical Ghanaians).. But that just shows how all Generations and ages are proud.. to have someone representing us aswell as the whole of Africa on this level. Staying true to his roots..Now also nominated for several other Awards "ITS FUSSSEEEEEE" has definitely has a great year

So I take this time to SALUTE ...MR.FUSE ODG! For what he is achieved so far.. And this is only the beginning.. ALSO SALUTE TO HIS TEAM! Cause they say when you have a great team behind you.. You will go very far..! !

SideBar:  I think i have mastered the way Fuse says "Its Fusseeeeeee" ! Only the elite can master it

Follow Fuse on Twirra : @Fuseodg

Website: Fuseodg.com 

BUY HIS THE ANTENNA REMIXES  HERE 

MISS GHANA UK 2013

This being my First Miss Ghana UK event I have to say i was very very impressed, just to put it out there. And i know that everyone has their own opinion about the event.. BUT THIS IS MIKA'S OPINION and i was highly impressed.

     I DONT CARE WHAT ANY OF YOU SAY.. ME I ENJOYED PAAAA!

Luckily for me i had a chance to meet all the beautiful contestants and the members of the team. Thier Amazing and beautiful stylist JAYDE ( SHALLA OUT to Jayde) .. before hand at their rehearsals a week before the show. It was intense

NOW LETS GET TO THE JUICY PART OF THE MEAT!THE ACTUAL EVENT

Now i cant even lie i was super excited because,  i knew what the girls were going to do, what they would be speaking about. The dance routines and all of that good stuff. But i couldn't wait to see how they would look in their outfits.. 

Now we all know that there have been numerous Ghanaian events this year..that have been SHAMBALIC, DECEPTICONS, NKWASIASEMBILITIES FAILURES OF ALL FAILS

Taking place in East London's based Troxy

MISS GHANA UK 2013 definitely made up for that..When you came in you were asked to take a picture infront of the Miss Ghana UK board. From there you were greeted and dealt with upon entrance, you were ushered to your seat by BEAUTIFUL GHANAIAN HOTTIES, they made you feel welcomed. You even smelt some sweet sweet food in the air. The lighting set the mood, slightly dim with the Ghana flag colours reflecting off the walls.. above the stage was the bands set up and they had this amazing LED lighting that looked like stars in the dark setting. Oh Chale, i was LIKE DARZZ IT, show those doubters. This year they showed LEVELS PAA! THEY CLIMBED THOSE LADDERS

 So i got ushered to my Table as it was V.I.P (pops collar) .

The table was graced with different advertisements and cards and a gift bag from Money Gram (Thanks Money gram)..

So now it was just waiting for the show to start, while the DJ (DJ BLACKSTAR) was killing it, entertaining the folks as they took their seats. I literally felt like i was at hall party with the tunes he was playing.. Almost felt to go buy a white handerkchief!.

THE SHOW

The lights went low , the stage lit up...and up came on a projected screen a clip of all the MISS GHANA UK 2013 contestants came up..saying their names and all of that..

CAN I SAY GHANAIAN GIRLS YOU HAVE SOME STRONG  NAMES..half of the names i was like "EI EI".

The names had BASS,  MELODY, and RYTHMS , SOUND EFFECTS even.

You could truly tell which contestant had FANS.. The screams and cheers when their names came up..

I can tell which contestant used SOCIAL NETWORK for promo!!

So now the compare comes on stage to welcome us all, and gives us a brief history about Miss Ghana UK also letting us know that Miss Ghana UK was 21 years old. Then he introduced the Judges...

To be honest..please forgive me BUT the only judge i knew was E-PLUS ( Dj from Choice FM) i didn't know the others. There was a panel of 7 and i could only remember one..

So now the compare introduces the hosts of the Night who were 

SIMPLY ANDY & YVONNE (Fantastic hosts)

They came on, Yvonne looked gorgeous in a custom made dress from Ohemaa Ohene beautiful.

And Uncle Simply came on rocking an Ankara print Blazer. Now if you've never seen Simply Andy host before, just know you are in for 6 PACK GAINING LAUGHS. They came on and did the formal welcomes.. Then Simply Andy called out to the people at the top asking could you hear me they all with confidence and excitement shouted out "YESSS"  and called then he called them cheap cause those were the cheap ticket seats £20 at the top, £30 in the middle and £50 at the Bottom The way the excitement turned into an "OHH HOO" Those are known as the NOSE BLEEDER SEATS

.. I cant even lie, i laughed, cause all i heard in my head was "Started from the bottom now were here" as he called out to the V.I.P.. 

GOD YOU ARE AWESOME

So the hosts introduce the contestants unto the stage.. In which they came on performing an intro dance which was Adowa. They did the damn thing.. i even had my peace sign in the air.. Then the rest of the contestants came out which was led by contestant 12 leading in song, they did the APATAMPA DANCE, BOBOOBO,KPANLOGO and then they brought it back to the recent times which , then all you hear is "OH VERA".. 

KW33333H. (Oh my dayssss)

The crowd was cheering the girls azonto'd.. then duo's came out and did their routines and ermm *scratches head* .. Ive come to the conclusion that Azonto is not in every Ghanaian's Veins..

Watch the Dancing intro below

It was now time for the contestants to come out and give their speeches, Now the theme for this year was SANKOFA.

Individually they came out speaking about their chosen topics.. Now there were 20 finalists with speeches. But the main ones that i felt were really good were...

 Contestant Number 1  ( Channelle White) She spoke very clearly, She had that colgate smile gleaming
Contestant Number 2  (Nada Denu )  She spoke about the Ewe Culture

Contestant Number 3( Janet Djan)  She spoke the Ghana Flag 

Contestant Number 4 ( Vivian Osei- Tutu) Spoke about the Blackstars

Now Number 5 ( Nana Adjoa) I think she must have been nervous, she started well getting people's attention and then, it just went a bit left wards.. Then she just cut it short and left, majority did well, but some had a few accidental mistakes.. 

Contestant 13 : Was asked by Simply Andy : "If you were an animal, what would you be" ?

She said Dove, i was like awww ok thats really cute, then he asked her why.. and she answered: So she can be close to Jesus or follow Jesus.. It was like.. everyone will quote Jesus to get into the next round .. or maybe i need to be in church more.... i wasn't expecting her to say that KRAAA!

Moving on from that, now after all the contestants had said their speeches it was time for the first PERFORMANCE OF THE NIGHT. Rebecca Elis graced the stage looking beautiful.. her guitarist on the other hand..did she not inform him on what type of event it was.. he came looking like he had just finished painting the house, and he was forced to come.. chop plenty MTCHEWWS!

Her voice was amazing, just hitting notes.

Now it was time for the Talent show part..they were split into groups of 3 and each group created and themed it based on a topic.

Group 1

2- (Nada Denu)

4- (Vivian Osei- Tutu)

19- ( Jessica Kissiwa)

I think this group had to be one of my faves, they based it on the evolution of Ghana Dance, NADA you can tell she's a dancer, the way she was doing the alkayida , the azonto, the makosa, Oh it was too live! I was like HELLL YEAH!

Group 2 

14-Nana

9- Daquan Konlan

13- Roberta Ansah

Based it around education, and how gaining an education helped the generation to progress

Group 37- Sheivonne Domfeh

1- Channelle White

8-Sandra  Allotey

They based their talent on Sickle Cell which i thought was such a brilliant idea.... Sandra had a monologue were she talked about being a sickle cell carrier..and talked about how she didnt let it bring her down. Which i thought was amazing.  She continued to give thanks to the GOOD LORD up above.. and then Sheivonne and Channelle grace us with a BEAUTIFUL SONG worship song in twi.. They sounded soo good together it was really good. They had the audience singing along. Then once they had finished serenading everyone..they came together and gave a lil speech about Sickle Cell and its awareness.

Group 4, Unfortunately i wasn't able to catch theirs..(Apologies)

Group 5

16- Victoria Antwi

10-Anita Annobi

6- Drusilla Lartey

Their talent was based on Monologues about being a Ghanaian Women.. the different sides of a Ghanaian woman, which were Beauty, Traditional, and Elegance. Watching this and the way they put it together it actually made me proud to be a Ghanaian woman. I was sitting just clapping away.. so kudos to them for that.

Group 6

5- Nana Boitey

12- Stephanie Boatemaa

17- Natalie Agyeman

This one was funny, they based their talent on Tribalism, now for someone who lives in London and is not aware of the term "Tribalism" this drama opened up my eyes.. The daughter of an Ashanti falls in love with an Ewe  guy in her university.. she comes back to Ghana to tell her Mum the good news.. Her Mother doesn't approve of it, because the guy is Ewe and she is Ashanti.. but what the Mother never knew was her father was Ewe.. A good role play..

Group 7

3- Janet Djan

15- Mercy Ankama

20- Pamela Darko

Their performance was really good aswell an interesting..they put together a live performance and they performed a well known Ghanaian song..it was soo beautiful how the crowd were singing along.. Janet was playing her Guitar, Pamela had a cello.. and Mercy was on the keys.. despite a few complications in the beginning the group stuck out and continued.

Now that talent part was done.. It was time for the next thing, which they had short documentary talking about Sickle Awareness., and why people should get involved. Very Informative..

Now its time for the Swimwear , each girls comes out escorted by GORGEOUS , HOT male models showcasing their individual Swimsuits, Bikini's THE BODIES Ghana hips DONT LIE Chale!

After it was time for a live performance from Ghana's very OWN EAZZZY BABAAYY...
She came on with energy.. whining her waist.. Now can i say it was a bit awkward cause there was older Aunties and Uncles in the crowd and the way she was gyrating.. you could just the Aunties giving  her that side eye.. HAHA! But anyway.. she performed her hits, "Go Go Whine", "Wengeze" and "Bo wu sen ma mi" Lastly she performed her Latest hit.. Scream.. it was basically i call African fist pumping music.. She has good stage presence.. NOW.. the thing that confused me was a guy came on.. STONEBWOY he performed one song and left.. I was like this 1.30 seconds performance..did not agree with my spirit....

The Miss Rachel Kerr came on with her band and her ON POINT BV'S.. no lie i felt like i was at a major  concert.. The performance levels were AMAZING..her songs are so uplifting.. She's just ahhhhhh!

TIME NOW FOR THE EVENING WEAR.. The girls looked sooo gorgeous.. walking on the stage with  GOD'S GIFT TO WOMEN, Male Models the girls walked unto the stage gracefully and elegantly to slow songs one by one showcasing their customised Evening wear.. Now i have to say.. the girls who's evening wear's stood out to me were Contestants 3, (Janet Djan) Contestant 12 ( Stephanie Boatemaa) 16 (Victoria Antwi) . The girls all looked Gorgeous.. but it was just something about those dresses that caught my attention.

So after the girls graced the stage it was time now for another Performance from Singer.. MRS MELODY.. her performance was good.. i loved the stage energy. But i couldn't hear her vocally.. i could just her P.A. Track....After her was another performance..

NOW THIS PART.

A live band called Compozers came on to perform.. i thought there was going to be a singer.. But it was just them.. And nothing could prepare us for the FANTASTICAL performance we were about to see.

The band started off with Ghana's National Anthem and from there it was A wrap, alongside the songs, the band played HI LIFE LIVE... they had everyone out of their seats for a good 20-25minutes girls weaves were sweating out..the Brazilian started looking like Ghanaian hair again... i broke out into a sweat.. they played that Old school Hi Life, some Hip Life.. and some new Gh sounds also.. Like words cant describe the enjoyment.. their set was definitely the highlight of the night.. I was using the Money gram bag as a handkerchief thats how good it was.. so cooling off from that..

Its was time to announce the Top 10 finalist, but before that Miss Ghana Uk 2012 (Esther Titi- Lartey) came up to talk about her year as a queen, and the opportunities given and gained from the reign..She talked about her growth from when she first started to now..and what she would be doing next.

Now it was time to give awards to The Best Traditional Wear/Miss Personality/Miss Eloquence..

Best Traditional Wear - 16 (Miss Victoria Antwi) Ghanaian Artist Tiffany came out and presented her with her gift and award.

Miss Personality - 8 ( Sandra Allotey)
Miss Eloquence - 1, 3 (Janet Djan, and Channelle White) Their award was presented by Tim Westwood, who did a small azonto for us before.

So now the Judges come together to pick the Top 10 contestants unto the next round. now at this point.. the audience were screaming and shouting for the girls they wanted in top ten..but obviously are opinions were INVALID!

 The Top Ten contestants were

16- Victoria Antwi
14- Nana Serwaa Werner
6- Drusilla Lartey
1- Channelle White
20- Pamela Darko
3- Janet Djan
12- Stephanie Boatemaa
4- Vivian Osei Tutu
18- Lorraine Kudom
17- Natalie Wireko Brobbey

The Ladies who didnt make it, were asked to leave the stage.. the looks on thier faces, some of them looked like they wanted to cry.. but they left with their dignity and walked off the stage..

Now it was time for the Judges to announce the TOP 5.. it got so INTENSE.. my heart was beating like i was the one on stage.. It was like the final moments.. it was soooo close.  Aunties , Uncles,  friends, even one Gateman was shouting.. the top 5 results were collected and the

TOP 5 WERE....

1- Channelle White
3- Janet Djan
18- Lorraine Kudom
4- Vivian Osei Tutu
16- Victoria Antwi

16-Victoria Antwi  THIS ONE HERE HAD FANS ..everytime her number was called or her name came all you hear "BOOOP BOOP, VICCI VICCI."


The crowd goes WILDDDDDDDDD now........

Now its time for the ladies to give an individual speech, as in to WHY they should be crowned Miss Ghana UK 2013..

Contestant 16 (Victoria Antwi) - Talked about empowering the young ones, and being able to override her insecurity as a burn victim and overcome her fears and take part in Miss Ghana..which was like an Awww moment..

Then contestant number  1 (Channelle White ) was Called up to make her speech.. she spoke about Miss Ghana Uk 2013, helping her achieve her dream of becoming  motivational speaker to empower the youth.. She spoke so confidently..i was like i think this girl might take the DISTIN...And she had those pearly Colgate whites.. Those pearly whites would make Jesus proud.

At some point one of the Contestants forget half of her speech, she tried.. but yh it was a wrap time was running out..

Contestant Number 3 (Janet Djan) Came out and did her speech, with such elegance and humbleness she spoke about not living for herself but for others, helping others.. I was like YHHHHHHH she's got it.. Thats, that Queen talk, thats what a queen represents.

Now the compare comes back and by now all the girls are off the stage.. he announced the prizes and they were..

Were some money for the Winner, Mary kay makeup, custom made dresses for them , Jewellery, Dinner for 2 at Gold Coast restaurant.. (How nice)   and a RENTED CAR FOR A WEEK This prize made me EL OH EL for real.. can the girls drive kraa.. anyway..

NOW EVERYONE IS SHOUTING THE NUMBERS. who should be the winner

So now its time for the winner and runner ups to be announced..  they announced the 1st runner up 1st..

1st runner up was Miss Victoria Antwi
2nd Runner up Miss Channelle White

AND THE MISS GHANA 2013 UK IS  : MISS JANET DJAN

The crowd screams, I SCREAM.. i lost my voice... it was a really good night.. Well, done to all the girls that took part.. YOU ARE ALL STILL WINNERS!!

THAT WAS MISS GHANA UK 2013

Catch me here same time next year