One of South Africa’s most successful exports, Die Antwoord are preparing to release their new album “Tension” next month. The capetonians, who traveled around the world performing to fans last year, released their teaser for the album yesterday. The single Yo-Landi Vi$er sings in this video is called “I Fink You Freaky” and damn I do fink dat. She’s ripping out the heart of a seemingly estranged lover in the video and then she literally smashes it in her face.

More on the record as and when it becomes available.

The lovely Louise Carver will officially kick off her 2012 at Tanz Café, Fourways on the 3rd Feb. She’ll be performing songs from her long and illustrious career, as well the smash hit Days Gone By, which she worked on with dance duo Pascal and Pearce. I know she’s been hard at work on her new album, which I can’t wait to hear so who knows maybe she’ll throw some of those in there too.

Details:

3 Feb 2012

Tanz Cafe, Fourways

Bookings: 011 658 0277

Tickets are R100.

The 2012 Academy AwardsNominations are out. The nominees were announced by Academy President Tom Sherak and Academy member and Oscar-nominated actress Jennifer Lawrence in Los Angeles earlier this morning

Actor in a Leading Role

  • Demián Bichir in “A Better Life”
  • George Clooney in “The Descendants”
  • Jean Dujardin in “The Artist”
  • Gary Oldman in “Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy
  • Brad Pitt in “Moneyball”

Actor in a Supporting Role

  • Kenneth Branagh in “My Week with Marilyn”
  • Jonah Hill in “Moneyball”
  • Nick Nolte in “Warrior”
  • Christopher Plummer in “Beginners”
  • Max von Sydow in “Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close”

Actress in a Leading Role

  • Glenn Close in “Albert Nobbs
  • Viola Davis in “The Help”
  • Rooney Mara in “The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo”
  • Meryl Streep in “The Iron Lady”
  • Michelle Williams in “My Week with Marilyn”

Actress in a Supporting Role

  • Bérénice Bejo in “The Artist”
  • Jessica Chastain in “The Help”
  • Melissa McCarthy in “Bridesmaids”
  • Janet McTeer in “Albert Nobbs”
  • Octavia Spencer in “The Help”

Animated Feature Film

  • “A Cat in Paris” Alain Gagnol and Jean-Loup Felicioli
  • “Chico & Rita” Fernando Trueba and Javier Mariscal
  • “Kung Fu Panda 2″ Jennifer Yuh Nelson
  • “Puss in Boots” Chris Miller
  • “Rango” Gore Verbinski

Art Direction

  • “The Artist” Production Design: Laurence Bennett; Set Decoration: Robert Gould
  • Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2 Production Design: Stuart Craig; Set Decoration: Stephenie McMillan
  • “Hugo” Production Design: Dante Ferretti; Set Decoration: Francesca Lo Schiavo
  • “Midnight in Paris” Production Design: Anne Seibel; Set Decoration: Hélène Dubreuil
  • “War Horse” Production Design: Rick Carter; Set Decoration: Lee Sandales

Cinematography

  • “The Artist” Guillaume Schiffman
  • “The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo” Jeff Cronenweth
  • “Hugo” Robert Richardson
  • “The Tree of Life” Emmanuel Lubezki
  • “War Horse” Janusz Kaminski

Costume Design

  • “Anonymous” Lisy Christl
  • “The Artist” Mark Bridges
  • “Hugo” Sandy Powell
  • “Jane Eyre” Michael O’Connor
  • “W.E.” Arianne Phillips

Directing

  • “The Artist” Michel Hazanavicius
  • “The Descendants” Alexander Payne
  • “Hugo” Martin Scorsese
  • “Midnight in Paris” Woody Allen
  • “The Tree of Life” Terrence Malick

Documentary (Feature)

  • “Hell and Back Again” Danfung Dennis and Mike Lerner
  • If a Tree Falls: A Story of the Earth Liberation Front Marshall Curry and Sam Cullman
  • “Paradise Lost 3: Purgatory” Charles Ferguson and Audrey Marrs
  • “Pina” Wim Wenders and Gian-Piero Ringel
  • “Undefeated” TJ Martin, Dan Lindsay and Richard Middlemas

Documentary (Short Subject)

  • “The Barber of Birmingham: Foot Soldier of the Civil Rights Movement” Robin Fryday and Gail Dolgin
  • “God Is the Bigger Elvis” Rebecca Cammisa and Julie Anderson
  • “Incident in New Baghdad”James Spione
  • “Saving Face” Daniel Junge and Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy
  • “The Tsunami and the Cherry Blossom” Lucy Walker and Kira Carstensen

Film Editing

  • “The Artist” Anne-Sophie Bion and Michel Hazanavicius
  • “The Descendants” Kevin Tent
  • “The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo” Kirk Baxter and Angus Wall
  • “Hugo” Thelma Schoonmaker
  • “Moneyball” Christopher Tellefsen

Foreign Language Film

  • “Bullhead” Belgium
  • “Footnote” Israel
  • “In Darkness” Poland
  • “Monsieur Lazhar” Canada
  • “A Separation” Iran

Makeup

  • “Albert Nobbs” Martial Corneville, Lynn Johnston and Matthew W. Mungle
  • “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2″ Edouard F. Henriques, Gregory Funk and Yolanda Toussieng
  • “The Iron Lady” Mark Coulier and J. Roy Helland

Music (Original Score)

  • “The Adventures of Tintin” John Williams
  • “The Artist” Ludovic Bource
  • “Hugo” Howard Shore
  • “Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy” Alberto Iglesias
  • “War Horse” John Williams

Music (Original Song)

  • “Man or Muppet” from “The Muppets” Music and Lyric by Bret McKenzie
  • “Real in Rio” from “Rio” Music by Sergio Mendes and Carlinhos Brown Lyric by Siedah Garrett

Best Picture

  • “The Artist” Thomas Langmann, Producer
  • “The Descendants” Jim Burke, Alexander Payne and Jim Taylor, Producers
  • “Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close” Scott Rudin, Producer
  • “The Help” Brunson Green, Chris Columbus and Michael Barnathan, Producers
  • “Hugo” Graham King and Martin Scorsese, Producers
  • “Midnight in Paris” Letty Aronson and Stephen Tenenbaum, Producers
  • “Moneyball” Michael De Luca, Rachael Horovitz and Brad Pitt, Producers
  • “The Tree of Life” Nominees to be determined
  • “War Horse Steven Spielberg and Kathleen Kennedy, Producers

Short Film (Animated)

  • “Dimanche/Sunday” Patrick Doyon
  • “The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore” William Joyce and Brandon Oldenburg
  • “La Luna” Enrico Casarosa
  • “A Morning Stroll” Grant Orchard and Sue Goffe
  • “Wild Life” Amanda Forbis and Wendy Tilby

Short Film (Live Action)

  • “Pentecost” Peter McDonald and Eimear O’Kane
  • “Raju” Max Zähle and Stefan Gieren
  • “The Shore” Terry George and Oorlagh George
  • “Time Freak” Andrew Bowler and Gigi Causey
  • “Tuba Atlantic” Hallvar Witzø

Sound Editing

  • “Drive” Lon Bender and Victor Ray Ennis
  • “The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo” Ren Klyce
  • “Hugo” Philip Stockton and Eugene Gearty
  • “Transformers: Dark of the Moon” Ethan Van der Ryn and Erik Aadahl
  • “War Horse” Richard Hymns and Gary Rydstrom

Sound Mixing

  • “The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo” David Parker, Michael Semanick, Ren Klyce and Bo Persson
  • “Hugo” Tom Fleischman and John Midgley
  • “Moneyball” Deb Adair, Ron Bochar, Dave Giammarco and Ed Novick
  • “Transformers: Dark of the Moon” Greg P. Russell, Gary Summers, Jeffrey J. Haboush and Peter J. Devlin
  • “War Horse” Gary Rydstrom, Andy Nelson, Tom Johnson and Stuart Wilson

Visual Effects

  • “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2″ Tim Burke, David Vickery, Greg Butler and John Richardson
  • “Hugo” Rob Legato, Joss Williams, Ben Grossman and Alex Henning
  • “Real Steel” Erik Nash, John Rosengrant, Dan Taylor and Swen Gillberg
  • “Rise of the Planet of the Apes” Joe Letteri, Dan Lemmon, R. Christopher White and Daniel Barrett
  • “Transformers: Dark of the Moon” Scott Farrar, Scott Benza, Matthew Butler and John Frazier

Writing (Adapted Screenplay)

  • “The Descendants” Screenplay by Alexander Payne and Nat Faxon & Jim Rash
  • “Hugo” Screenplay by John Logan
  • “The Ides of March” Screenplay by George Clooney & Grant Heslov and Beau Willimon
  • “Moneyball” Screenplay by Steven Zaillian and Aaron Sorkin. Story by Stan Chervin
  • “Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy” Screenplay by Bridget O’Connor & Peter Straughan

Writing (Original Screenplay)

  • “The Artist” Written by Michel Hazanavicius
  • “Bridesmaids” Written by Annie Mumolo & Kristen Wiig
  • “Margin Call” Written by J.C. Chandor
  • “Midnight in Paris” Written by Woody Allen
  • “A Separation” Written by Asghar Farhadi

.

Check out the announcement of this year’s 84th Academy Awards Nominations Announcement online now.

Singer Seal and his soon to be ex wife Heidi Klum made headlines at the weekend when they shocked everyone by announcing their plans to divorce. He talks candidly and fondly of his life with Heidi, their eight years together and their four children. The full episode of this interview airs later on today in US. Check your TV listings for more deets.

Today is the day many actors, filmmakers and industry experts and employees have been waiting for- the Academy Awards nominations. The 2012 nominees will be announced at 15:30, South African time. Who will be in the running to take home the coveted award?

George Clooney, Jean DuJardin, Ryan Gosling, Brad Pitt and Leonardo DiCaprio are bound to feature in the list of nominees for their roles in a lead role. The Artist and The Help have enjoyed early wins this awards season and they’re bound to continue on that winning tip, well at least in terms of nominations that is. The Descendants, Hugo and Moneyball are bound to feature too.

In terms of the ladies, Meryl Streep, Glenn Close will surely get nominated. Will our golden girl Charlize Theron get yet another Oscar nod for her role in Young Adult? I think so. I think Michelle Williams will get one too.

Scorsese, Clooney and Allen will go up against Alexander Payne(The Descendants) and Michael Hazanavicius (The Artist) in the Best Director category. I think this is going to be one of the most hotly contested categories and the one to watch out for.

Overall, The Artist seems like a firm favourite this year. Let’s reconvene at 15:30 to find out who will be in the running for one of Academy Awards, the 84th of its kind.

News broke over the weekend that one of Hollywood‘s most loved couples, Heidi Klum and Seal are splitting. While there was a lot of speculation on the social networks as to whether this was real or another one of them jokes, it seems as if the former is indeed the truth. This is very sad news but the couple will have their reasons as to why they have decided to split. Below is a joint statement released by their reps:

“While we have enjoyed seven very loving, loyal and happy years of marriage, after much soul-searching we have decided to separate. We have had the deepest respect for one another throughout our relationship and continue to love each other very much, but we have grown apart. This is an amicable process and protecting the well-being of our children remains our top priority, especially during this time of transition. We thank our family, friends, and fans for their kind words of support. And for our children’s sake, we appreciate you respecting our privacy.”

Good luck to both of them.

The legendary and soulful star Etta James has died. The star passed away this morning following a long struggle with dementia, kidney problems and leukemia. She was 73. Messages of condolences have been pouring in from far and wide:

Black Eyed Peas star, will.i.am said “Showing respect appreciation and love for all the wonderful music and joy #ettajames brought to the world…#ettajamesforever”

Jessica Alba said, “RIP #EttaJames u r a legend and 1 of my all time favs -thank you for giving us all the gift of song http://bit.ly/zaP8jl -what a voice!”

Hayley from Paramore, “#EttaJames, I will be forever grateful for your voice and your soul. Rest in peace.”

 

The President/ CEO of The Grammys, Neil Portnow also released the following statement:

“Three-time GRAMMY® winner and Recording Academy Lifetime Achievement Award recipient Etta James leaves behind a dynamic legacy spanning six decades. Her music knew no boundaries as she explored diverse genres including blues, soul, R&B, rock and roll, gospel and jazz. She will forever be remembered for her timeless ballad “At Last,” and a powerful voice that will echo around the world for generations to come. We extend our deepest sympathies to her family, friends, fans and all who have been stirred by her soulful songs and passion for music.

Neil Portnow
President/CEO
The Recording Academy®

May her star and her legacy continue to shine bright and her voice continue to inspire new and upcoming musicians. The music industry and the world has lost a true legend. Rest in Peace Etta James:

 


 

 

Rapper and actor LL Cool J is set to host the 54th Annual Grammy Awards on the 12th of February.  This makes him the first person to host the coveted award ceremony in seven years. The peops behind music’s biggest night announced the news yesterday.
“I’m thrilled to be part of Music’s Biggest Night,” said LL COOL J. “I will always have fond memories of my first GRAMMY Awards and to now be hosting the GRAMMY show, in the company of so many other incredible artists, is a dream come true. Great performances and great music — it’s gonna be a great night!”

More presenters and performers will be announced soon, but in the mean time LL joins the likes of Jason Aldean, Kelly Clarkson, Bruno Mars, Nicki Minaj, Taylor Swift and Foo Figthers, who will all be taking to the stage this coming Feb. Man I’m excited!!

Did you love the 1998 smash hit, “The Boy is Mine” from R&B superstars Brandy and Monica back in the day? Well if you did, like me, you’ll be stoked to know that they two have teamed up again for a new track called “It All Belongs To Me,” which is due for release on the 6th of February.

The single will be released on both their new albums respectively. Monica’s new album, “New Life” will be available on the 6th of March, while Brandy’s is expected to drop later this year.

The track is written and produced by Rico Love, famous for his work with the likes of Usher, Beyonce and Chris Brown). Looking forward to hearing it, and hey ladies… no pressure, but your last track was at number one for 13 consecutive weeks, I’m #JustSaying ;)