Countdown to the 2013 Grammys

We’ve got just a few days to go until the 55^th Annual Grammy Awards take center stage – and no doubt #TheWorldIsListening. Music’s Biggest Night^® will honour some of the biggest, the best and the most successful stars we’ve all come to love and adore. The ceremony is set to take place at the Staples Center in Los Angeles and trust you won’t want to miss this.

Get this, artists like Dierks Bentley and Miranda Lambert, The Black Keys, FUN., the Lumineers, Mumford & Sons, Rihanna, Taylor Swift, Carrie Underwood, Jack White, as well as Elton John and current nominee Ed Sheeran will all be on stage come the 10^th of Feb. While that list is WELL IMPRESSIVE, I’m looking forward to Justin Timberlake’s performance. The news about him performing at the Grammys was announced yesterday and this will be the first time we’ve seen the six-time Grammy winner perform in over four years. He’ll be putting on his (Tom Ford?) Suit & Tie and rocking the stage. Barring Beyonce’s Super Bowl performance on Sunday, this will easily be one of the most talked about and highly anticipated performances of the year.

The Grammys online:

@TheGRAMMYs on Twitter,

“The GRAMMYs” on Facebook,

Google +,

Instagram,

Pinterest,

Tumblr,

YouTube.

I’m going to be up, watching and blogging live on Monday morning (the usual deal). If you’re up with me, it’s on from 3am on Channel O, DStv channel 320. The repeat is on Vuzu (116) at 19:30.

Chris Brown releases ‘Don’t Judge Me’… watch now

Chris Brown‘s new album, Fortune is brilliant. It has songs for days and if you don’t have yourselves a copy as yet, best you hit up iTunes or head to your local music store. My personal favourite off the album is a song called, Don’t Judge Me. It shows off a softer, raw side and in my opinion is an instant classic. The video for the song is finally out and you can watch it above.
News is out that the star is heading out to South Africa at the end of the year, as part of his Carpe Diem tour. When he sings this song, there will no doubt be a bunch of ladies weak at the the knees. More details on his tour coming up, but I do know that tickets go on sale on Monday.

UPDATE: 15 Dec JNB at the Coca Cola Dome

17 Dec DBN at the Outer Fields, Moses Mabhida Stadium

19-20 CT at the Grand West Casino

Pretty surprised that he is only doing one gig in Jozi and two in Cape Town, when the latter is known to be slower in terms of sales. Jozi sells fast and it sells out! Alas, he’s coming and that is pretty cool.

O-Access returns this March

The hit-show O-Access returns to our screens this March, the 6th to be exact. The all new season sees the host, the lovely Dineo Moeketsi traveling to LA LA Land and beyond to interview some of the biggest names in the game. Some of them you can expect to see include Mary J. Blige, B.o.B, Robin Thicke and Estelle (among many others). Make a date with Channel O, channel 320 on DStv on the 6th of March at 9pm, CAT!

Want tickets to Channel O’s O-Sessions?

I’ve been asked on numerous occasions if I can hook people up with tickets to events and/or concerts to which I often respond, do I look like Computicket? That is generally the case, but this time I can hook you up. Channel O on DStv has a new show coming up. It’s called O-Sessions. It’s an intimate gathering of fans and some of SA’s biggest names in music. Artists like Jozi, Slikour and Pro will all be part of the line-up and I have no doubt in my mind that more of these events will be coming up soon.

So the good news is I have four double tickets for the recording of Pro and Jozi’s performances next Thursday. The first two recordings will be held at the Red Pepper Studios in Johannesburg on Thursday the 17th. So if you’re not in Jozi, but you’re keen to be apart of this, please note you need to make your own way up here. For the rest of y’all, drop me your deets below or drop me a tweet @JasonVonBerg (full name, contact number and email address) and who you would like to see… Jozi or Pro. Simple as that. Support local music and be apart of their story!

Who is the new O Access presenter?

The answer to that is…. Dineo Moeketsi. The 21-year-old was last named as the presenter of the hit show on Channel O. No stranger to the entertainment industry is Dineo. She attended the National School of Arts, has done backing vocals for the Flash Republic; acted in Soul City and appeared in M-Net’s reality show, High School Musical. In reaction to the news she said, “Tears, tears, tears. The minute they called my name I gasped and said, “Really” then water works just kept coming,”.

The reason the show has done so well is mainly because of the lovely, Nonhle Thema who said Dineo stood out for several reasons. “She was able to take direction from us and that made us see just how hungry for this job she was. Dineo’s beauty and wonderful personality were also factors in earning her the job.”

The new season of O Access is currently in production and will air in February 2011. Well done to Dineo!

Who will dance with Keri Hilson?

The beautiful and exceptional Keri Hilson is on her way to SA this October. She can move, sing, has worked with some of the biggest international star and now she’s giving some of our local star a huge opportunity. It’s called The Ultimate Keri Hilson Dance Challenge and it will see the star teaming up with music channel, Channel O searching for four of SA’s top dancers. The winners will then join Hilson on stage at the Coca-Cola Dome when she performs here. They will rehearse with her in Durban, in preparation for the big night out in Jozi. WOWZA this is cool. So how will this happen? Well the entries will be sent to Hilson and her choreographer in the USA, where the both of them will judge the entrants

The crews involved include MO5 (Channel O Urban Dance Competition Champs), Freeze Frame (Masters of Rhythm Champs) and Reptiles (Strictly Hip Hop Champs) and they will be joined by Clinch Crew.

The first episode airs on the 15th of October @9pm on Channel O, with Keri deciding which crew wins the competition.

Channel O Music Awards nominees are out

The annual Channel O Music Awards are going down on the 29th of October at Carnival City, Johannesburg South Africa. Check out the video to find out more about the awards this year:

Below is the full list of nominees for this year’s awards:

BEST MALE VIDEO
NAETO C- KI NI BIG DEAL
PRO- UTHINI NGO PRO
BUFFALO SOULJAH- JUDGEMENT
HIP HOP PANTSULA- MPITSE
DAREY- NOT THE GIRL
XOD- I WANT YOU BACK

BEST FEMALE VIDEO
AMANI- TONIGHT
LIRA- WA MPALEHA
LIZHA JAMES- ESTILO XAKHALE
NNEKA- HEARTBEAT
THANDISWA MAZWAI- INGOMA
SASHA- ONLY ONE

BEST NEWCOMER
THE DREAM- PLENTY PLENTY
BRIAN TEMBA- DOMINOES
NNEKA- HEARTBEAT
KHULI- TSWAK STIK’EM
JAY RU- BIG BOI ANTHEM
XOD- I WANT YOU BACK

BEST DUO OR GROUP
DA L.E.S.FT. BONGZ & MAGGZ- WE ON FIRE
KALIBRADOS- BAMBRIBAM
P SQUARE- NO ONE LIKE YOU
BUFFALO SOULJAH/TAYGRIN/GAL LEVEL- MY TYPE OF GIRL
MWANA FA/ AY MAMBA- NAONGEA NA WEWE
D’BANJ FT MO HIT STARS- PERE

Vuzu TV launches tomorrow

Channel Go is gone and it’s being replaced with Vuzu TV. A new channel that officially launches on South African TV tomorrow and will roll out to the rest of Africa in the next few months. Be sure to check it out on DSTV 123. Now I went to the launch of the channel recently and if you’re not so sure about Vuzu, or you’re wondering what to expect or who you’re going to see, check out the video below for more:

Music channels dedicate the weekend to M.J.

Channel O (Channel 320 on DSTV) will pay tribute to the King Of Pop</em> tomorrow in the form of a 30-minute specialised video mix of the stars biggest tunes… 30 minutes of some of the biggest, the best and the most expensive videos ever made. The show airs on Saturday at 09:30. If you miss it, don’t fret… repeat times:

12:00 and 17:00 on Saturday
12:00 and 17:30 on Sunday
13:00 on Monday
11:00 on Tuesday

Meanwhile MTV Base (Channel 322 on DSTV) has adjusted it’s programming schedule, having different Tribute packages, stings and music videos flighting as we speak. You can expect at least three music every hour and a lot more. So while more details and news on the sudden passing of Jackson sinks in, tune in to your favourite music channel for more classic videos, songs and interview. On that note, I leave you with one my favourite MJ songs:

Africa Day

Today is Africa Day. It’s one where the people of Africa commemorate the founding of the Organisation of African Unity (OAU)- now known as the African Union (AU). So in celebration of Africa Day, there’s a whole host of things happening in South Africa. The annual Africa Day concert took place at the Mary Fitzgerald Square in Newtown, Johannesburg: Check out some of the highlights below:

At the official press conference the artists expressed their dissatisfaction with the xenophobic attacks that happened in South Africa a year ago. They urged people to tolerate each other and accept differences:

Now in celebration of Africa Day I’d like to turn your attention to Channel O’s new campaign. It’s called Young, Gifted and Black and it’s forming part of the DSTV’s new campaign. The creatives behind the campaign are from ad agency Ogilvy and they best describe YGB as a movement. So in addition to the music video, which features the likes of Lira, Loyiso, Yvonne Chaka Chaka and Da L.E.S, the team have come up with a line of T-shirts, among others things to push the point. Find out more about the campaign below:

Check out the music video:

Channel O, Young Gifted and Black from Nice Work Ross Drakes on Vimeo.

Now speaking of music videos, here is another Africa Day-focused one, in which Namibian artist Gazza has teamed up with SA star Zola on a song called “Hold On”. The song is sponsored by UNICEF and Standard Bank Namibia and it calls on all Africans to unite against the atrocities and conflicts that damages the African image, Check out the video:

Go behind the scenes of the video and find out more about the campaign here:

What does being African mean to you? How will you be celebrating this day? Holla…