Sunday 22 March 2015

YaRone Entertainment Rewind

Reports are that Jamaican singer Tessanne Chin and Broadcaster husband Michael Anthony Cuff Jr have split. Both the Gleaner and The STAR newspaper have reported that Cuff is allegedly no longer living in the matrimonial home and is staying with friends. Cuff is also reported to have resigned from is duties as FAME FM uncensored co-host. The couple have been married since 2011.

Internet sensation and now star on the rise Gully Bop is currently on a promotional tour in England for the first time. It was reported that he may have been cheating on his Manager now fiancé Shauna Chin on this tour but Gully Bop quickly dispelled those rumors saying he would never disrespect his woman like that.

Queen Ifrica gave Jamaicans on Social media a lot to talk about when she posted a very intimate photo of her and Tarus Riley and announced to the world that they were together. After social media started buzzing with speculations about Ifrica's relationship with Tony Rebel and wether or not she and Riley actually made a good match she again took to social media this time to set the record straight saying the photo and caption was done all in good fun.

Beenie Man and Carlene's daughter Crystal Davis turns sweet sixteen and they threw her a fabulous party at the Barbican Beach featuring two of her favorite Dancehall artistes Koshens and newest sensation 7/11 singer Dexta Daps.

Chronnixx Capture Land tour started off with a bang in attracting a sold out crowd of both old and young people at the Jamaica College in Kingston.

Yard Flexx reported that dancehall artiste and producer Esco will be heading to the airwaves in a new capacity as Radio Disc Jock. It's not announced yet what radio station he'll be playing on but we are looking forward to hearing what new vibe he'll be bringing to the Jamaican airwaves.

Popular talk show host Ragashanti announces that he is the father of a bouncing baby boy Zion Stewart and the news brought so many people to his website to view the photo of him and his son that it crashed.

Busy Signal's Busy 20/20 Helping Hands Foundation Limited to be officially launched on April 2, 2015 at the Jewels Resort in Runaway Bay St. Ann. According to the Jamaica Observer the first project the foundation will be embarking on will be in aid of the St. Anns Bay Hospital where Busy Signal birth name Reano Gordon was born.

Empire season one finale lived up to its hype. The two hour special gave fans much to remember from: Hackeem's public disrespect of his father in a song, Lucious not having ALS after all, the long awaited fight between Cookie and Anika, Andre's wife accidentally killing Vernon and Lucious getting arrested. There will be a season two and reports are that we can look out for appearances by Oprah and rapper and Oscar winner Common and many more.

Saturday 21 March 2015

Empire Season One Finale Recap.

The Empire season one finale was hyped to be one of the best nights on TV and it lived up to that hype. It began slowly but I didn't mind because from the promos and all the interviews the cast was doing I knew that soon enough it would pick up and to blink would mean missing something juicy. My recap may be all over the place but that's just because I really was not able to make any notes so I did my best to remember the stand out scenes.

The season finale began with Lucious trying to write some new music for his final show (Cookie Lyon Presents The Lucious Lyon Sound) which he couldn't do without her. Cookie however was otherwise engaged on vacation with Malcolm her new man getting it on!!! It was advertised that Snoop Dog would make an appearance one the show and he enters at a press conference with Lucious who has usual is talking about Hackeem's music and not Jamal's. We see Lucious being served with legal papers from his rival Berreti who was trying to stop him from doing the concert with any of the songs that Berreti wrote for him back in the day at the concert. Hackeem is with his friends not answering his father's call because he was pissed about Lucious sending Camile away.

Now for the Juicy parts; Snoop performs Peaches and Cream a very nice funk song that I was definitely feeling. He called Hackeem on stage to do a freestyle and this boy goes on stage and burned his dad rapping about Lucious not being a real rapper that was all good and we'll until Hackeem says in the song infront of everyone at this party that he was going to take his father's Bitch. I was like Ohhh snap....Hackeem drops the mic and every thing walks off stage and there was no surprise when Lucious caught up to him in the hallway and punched his lights out.

Another stand out scene from the season finale was Andre going to church to visit Jenifer Hudson's character. Seemingly he has found God so he hands in his two weeks notice at the Empire but Lucious wasn't having that whatsoever. So he shows up at the church gives JHUD's character a record deal and she quits the church just like that.

Cookie gets back from her little vacation and is stopped by security before she can enter the building because Lucious was jealous when he found out she was with another man and decided that he wasn't going to allow Cookie to stay working at the Empire or produce his final concert. On top of that slap in the face from Lucious, Cookie finds out that Andre, her own son, screwed her over by letting her think she was on the Empire board of directors even though he knew a convicted felon couldn't be on the Board.
Next we see Lucious in the club talking to Jamal but I just felt the writers were just having Lucious con Jamal into helping him to write his new song. Jamal and Lucious go to the old house and have a great music session but "Nah son" Jamal wasn't going to have Lucious take is song. So Lucious strikes a deal with Jamal- in order to get Empire Jamal would have to be willing to "take it".

Jamal shows up at a party being thrown by Berreti and holds this man over the railing and makes him sign over all his father's songs.Yes y'all!!!!......Jamal went gangsta on us. Cookie shows up at the Lyons mansion becuase she got word Hackeem and Jamal were meeting with Berretti and wanted to know what Lucious had her "babies" doing. That scene ended with Lucious leaving to go get his boys but I thought that he really was just going to see if Jamal could actually go through with "taking the Empire"  and he saw that soon enough when he showed up the party. That wasn't the only show Lucious was gonna see for that night though becuase when he went to look for his beloved Jamal he walks into a room to find Anika aka Boo Boo Kitty and Hackeem pretty much having sex. They didn't even stop. These writers are too much.....they just had Anika and Hackeem continue kissing even after seeing Lucious walk in.
Another OMG moment was Lucious finding out he did not have ALS thus was not dying. Yes, you read that right Lucious is not going to die. That was the game change moment in the show. With this new diagnosis Lucious is placed on some new medication that had him seeing and talking to Bunkie. Cookie the good woman that she is was right there taking care of Lucious when he began hallucinating and making "God like" confessions that he killed Bunkie. After hearing Lucious confess Cookie tried to kill him in his sleep but we knew the writers were not gonna let her do it. At least not yet.

Lucious woke up the next morning acting like he was a new man giving out gifts and though I'd love to tell you about all the gifts he gave his sons only one stood out that gift was Jamal being handed the Empire. Jamal and Andre were not too happy about that and so they decided to team up with Anika and Cookie to carry out a hostile take over. Before they could start hashing out the details though the fight that we all have been waiting for since episode one finally happened. Let me tell you that was one of the best cat fights I've ever seen on TV. Cookie moved the pearls too. Anika tried to fight back but in the end Queen Cookie reigned.

Andre and Vernon ended up fighting in one of the final scenes and becuase there were reports that Malik Youba was going to be leaving the show  when Andre's wife hit him over the head I knew he wasn't just knocked out. Though it was clear self defense they didn't call the police her reasoning being she's pregnant. I wouldn't have written it like that but that just increases the suspense for what the next season of the show is going to bring in relation to their cover up of Vernons death.

At the concert Rita Ora performed, Jenifer Hudson and Snoop Dog and Patti Labelle and Jamal. Lucious got arrested and he immediately accuses Cookie of being the one to snitch on him. Seems though that the FBI are building their case based on Vernon being a star witness but he is dead. So maybe the case is going to be thrown out. The two hour event ends with Lucious in Jail about to get out in a few days (Season 2) and he is plotting against everybody. His final words before the credits was "Game on bitches." so you know Season 2 from the first episode is going to be great.

I'm looking to see how the writers are going to have Andre use Vernon's death to get back into Lucious's good graces and how Jamal being the only loyal one to Lucious is going to impact on the relationship with every one else after the hostile take over is carried out.  Until then keep reading my posts and stay tuned for my recaps on POWER season 2 beginning June 6.

Wednesday 11 March 2015

American #Idol 2015 Top 12 Review.

Sarina Joi Crowe was first into top 12 and first to perform she did the song she auditioned with "Love Runs Out" as I said last week in my review she has one of the better voices in the competition and she proved that again tonight. It wasn't a flawless performance but it was still pretty great. Rayvon Owen (love his name) was the first male into the top 12 and his stripped down rendition of Katy Perry's "Wide Awake" gave me chills. The young cutie Daniel Seavy sang "Straight Up" by Paula Abdul he forgot some of the lyrics but caught himself slipping quick and didn't miss a beat after that. Harry wasn't very impressed and called him inexperienced but #JLO and Keith felt he just needed a song that played to his strengths. I say give him a couple #JustinBeiber or One direction song and he'll so fine. Plus because he is so young and cute I'm sure he has all the young school girl votes so he could actually win. Let's see. Maddie Walker performed "Suitcase" by Gwen Sebastian I don't know that song but I felt the topic she was singing about needed more emotion behind it I felt like she was practicing the song instead of performing it.

Tyanna Jones performed Little Minx "Wings" I love her and her powerful vocals. JLO and Harry spoke about her composure and comfort on stage. She is definitely one to watch can't say that I absolutely loved her performance but it was good. Nick Fradiani sang "In your eyes" by Peter Gabriel. Again not a song that I'm familiar with but he has a nice voice but I didn't really enjoy his performance because he wasn't singing like he was enjoying his performance.I am a Jax fan. Her voice is unique and her rendition of "I Wana Hold Your Hand" by The Beatles reminded us of why we fell in love with that voice but just like Keith Urban I would have loved if she had stayed on the piano though just like she did in the auditions.Qaasim performed "Sir Duke" by Stevie Wonder but he wasn't really paying attention to those notes though. He had high energy and I lovethat he can do it all but I wish Mr Middleton would stay still and just sing atleast one time becuase I really want to hear his voice.

The ninth contestant to make it into the top 12 was Clark Beckham. He is definitely one of the males to watch in the competition his rendition of "This Is A Man's World" was great. JLO said that his was the vocal of night and I agree. "King of Spain" by Tallest Man on Earth was sung by Joey Cook the tenth contestant to make it into the top twelve. I'm not a big fan of her style but she could grow me. Finally, can I tell you that I may have been the most excited to see Quentin Alexander in the top twelve when JLO called his name I was saying "Yeessss!!!!" His delivery of "Royals" by Lorde was very good and emotional at the end I felt his joy and his relief.Adanna Duru sang "You And I" by Lady Gaga and as much as I love her attitude on stage I wish she had just stood there and sung that song.  

Empire Season One Episode Ten Recap.

Episode Ten of #empire started off on a very sad but educational and real note. We find out that Andre is diagnosed as Bipolar. With that said let me drop some knowledge on you. According to mentalhealthamerica.com an estimated 2.3 million Americans suffer from Bipolar disorder or manic depression. Manic depression is not just a "white people" thing as Cookie said it was in scene one of the show. According to the site many black people go untreated for Manic depression and many other mental illnesses because they too feel "it's a white people thing". Follow the link at the end of this review to learn more about Bipolar Disorder/Manic Depression.

In scene one we see Andre flashing back to a family event where Olivia and Lucious are giving each other "that look". When I saw that I tweeted immediately that the writers and producers were telling us to look for a secret coming out that Lucious was actually creeping with Olivia on the low and the baby girl Lola
we all think is Jamal's could actually be Lucious'
daughter. We also see little of Miss Mary J. Blidge singing while Lucious plays the piano. 

Scene two is Lucious talking to Vernon about the IPO signing off on who gets what amount of Empire shares. Lucious also told Vernon in that scene that he was planning to marry Cookie again but this time he is going to make her sign a pre-nup. I was like whaaat!!!, ok not a bad idea writers but the scene following that shows Cookie kissing on Lucious' head of security Malcolm which means Cookies mind
wasn't on Lucious anymore. That meeting between Vernon and Lucious didn't end very well though so I'm looking to see Vernon stab Lucious in the back in the season finale or in season two. It's clear to me that is coming.

Raven's character Olivia re-enters in episode ten and she is in an abusive relationship and may have left Lola with the Lyons because she was trying to save her self and her daughter from this man's (Reg)
abusiveness. He finds her though and we see them meet with Vernon at a Club where Olivia tells Vernon that she wants to know where Lola is so she could go get her. At the Lyon's Mansion Hackeem enters with his woman Camilla and he performs a new song about how great "older women" are a move pretty much controlled by Camilla. Lucious brings her to his office and we finally get to learn Camilla's story. Now I thought she was just a rich cougar truly inlove with Hackeem.Turns out she is broke selling the clothes off her back and Lucious wanted to pay her off to leave Hackeem alone. She didn't take the money though but she still left after reading Lucious to filth darlings. Telling him that she will be back as soon as she hears that he is dead. This character Camilla is afraid of no one. Andre didn't show up to IPO signing opting to stay at the hospital but he made his wife Rhonda his proxy. She goes through the papers and notice that Andre and all the sons' shares were reduced so that Cookie could get some shares as well. That was a nice gesture on Lucious part but has Rhonda puts it, he's probably just trying to buy Cookie's loyalty. Jamal
hears the bickering enters the room and before he could find out what the arguing is about, in comes Vernon high of the "Coco" with Olivia and Reg behind him. We are then thrown into a musical therapy session with Jennifer Hudson and Andre. The therapy wasn't working so JHUD locks the door kneels before him her forehead on his and  I thought they were about to kiss but much to my disappointment  she just wanted to pray. When all else fails prayer is next I guess. 

Back at the Mansion......

So this guy Reg, Olivia's (Raven Symone) abusive boyfriend pulls a gun on every one in the house when Jamal tried to run up on him and after he grabs Cookie Lucious steps forward to confess all is bad deads, which includes him being Lola's father and forcing Olivia to marry Jamal for a record deal and a bunch of other things we already knew from previous episodes. As I mentioned earlier I saw it coming that Lucious was Lola's father. What I didn't see coming was the writers having Lucious willing to give up his life to protect his entire family like that. Malcolm the body guard returns from dropping Camilla off at the airport right on time to shoot Reg in the head and then my minute of actually liking Lucious faded away just like that. 

In the final scene we see Lola saying goodbye to every one. It was really a sad scene that little girl can act cus I felt the sadness. Andre was leaving his Empire office with a huge box so I'm  not sure if he has left the company or the writers are just having him take a short leave of absence due to him not being well.Lucious was no where in sight until we saw him asking Cookie to marry him in a very not so romantic way in his office. Cookie turned him down though telling him that she was over the fantacy she left prison with of of them being together and that she believes Lucious is just throwing them getting back together on the table becuase he didn't want to die alone. Before the show ended we saw Cookie telling Malcolm, her new love interest that she wanted to go away with him.She
moved from "Take these Cookaaays" in last week's episode to "take me away with you Malcolm" in this week's. Good for you Cookie.

Next week Empire will be two hours long for its season finale and from the promo it looks like a whole lot is going to go down including Andre attacking some one, Anika and Cookie finally physically fighting and Cookie and Lucious going to war against each other and Hackeem looking mad as hell about something. According to Empires official twitter account Lucious will be announcing who will run the Empire. I am sure after that two hour season finale we are all going to be saying O.M.Geeee!!!! I can't wait. 

http://www.mentalhealthamerica.net/conditions/bipolar-disorder-and-african-americans

Love Notes: Toxic Friends.

I watched  Being Mary Jane on BET last night and several scenes stood out to me. One scene in particular though gave me the idea for today's  article. In this scene we see Mary Jane talking about her best friend from grade school with another friend the best friend enters the room over hears the conversation and begins reading Mary Jane to filth. Some of the things she said to Mary Jane was straight up jealousy and resentment speaking. Mary Jane hit back though, saying she was pretty much done with always taking care of that friend and was now basically finished with the friendship. In that moment  I began to think about how many of us in real life are hanging around and holding on to toxic friendships because we are on some "I don't want any new friends" mess or because we feel some level of obligation to a friend because of something they did for us in the past. I'm sure many of us can say we are guilty of having toxic friends. Some of us don't even realize that we are actually in toxic friendships. Below is a list of six signs that you may have a toxic friend.

1. Toxic friends bring nothing but stress to your life they are often times always in need of something from you with nothing to give in return.

2. Toxic friends are never encouraging. You tell them of a plan you have to move your life forward and instead of giving you positive energy they would rather fill your mind with all the reasons you should not go through with your plans.

3. Toxic friends are jealous of your success and sometimes even your relationships and all the joy you have in your life. If you are ever in an argument and they say stuff like "You think you are better than me because you make more money." or anything down that line; that's a sign they are envious and it's never good being friends with someone who is jealous instead of happy for everything you have in your life.

4. Toxic friends always make you feel as if you can never say no to them. They will bring up all the things they did for you years ago in order to make you feel like you owe them some level of obligation. If your friend makes you feel like you have to ask how high each time they say jump, that right there is a sign you are in a toxic friendship.

5. A toxic friend can never admit that they are wrong. If you find yourself always being the one to apologize after an argument or trying to reach out after a disagreement even when you are not to be blamed
or if you spend majority of your friendship arguing or fighting then that's a sign you have a toxic friendship.

6. If other people in your circle tell you that a particular friend is always talking negative things about you behind your back or you get a lot of shade thrown at you by this friend that's a sign you have a toxic friendship.

If you find that you are experiencing everything on
this toxic friendship list then that is a sign you should be having a real conversation with your friend or current group of friends. You should also be thinking about whether or not the friendship is even worth
having anymore. When making the decision to end a toxic friendship remember that we all grow up and out grow each other from time to time and there is no sense to continue to have friends who on the low resent you for every thing you have. It makes no sense having friends who stress you more than they uplift you.

Monday 9 March 2015

Love Notes: How To Deal With Your Ex.

Image from winterlyricswordpress.com

You may have spent months or years in each others lives. The relationship may have ended badly or on a good note. Either way, it's over and the big question consciously or sub consciously is how are you going to deal with your ex. I believe that there are different levels of "relations past". There is the ex that you hate, the ex that you still love and the ex that you are good remaining just friends with. For each level I am going to give a few tips that may help to make things easier.

The Ex You Hate.
When it comes to the ex that you hate and in this social media age I would recommend that you not troll his or her social media pages and leave negative comments because you are hurt. If you remain friends on social media which I do not advise by the way, try not to throw "shade" at each other no matter how tempted you are to do so. If you share a child or children together make sure that for the sake of the "pickney dem" you do not speak badly to your child about their mother or their father because what ever he or she did or the negative feelings you hold towards him or her it has nothing to do with the innocent child you both brought into the world.

The Ex You Love
Dealing with the ex you still love is always some what tricky. You may hate what he or she did to you in the relationship but you can't help loving and remembering him/her for all the great moments you shared. The heart wants what it wants right? Sometimes the best way to deal with this person is to ensure that you put space between each other.Take some time to get to know yourself without that person in your life. Delete those old affectionate messages and try not to hold on to those old pictures
for too long. Stay off his or her social media page becuase the more you try keeping up with what's going on in his or her life without you, is the harder it will be for you to move on with your own life. Whatever it takes, try not to send that infamous "I miss you text.", often times that may lead to a quick hook up and short term reunion. But guess what, if you get back together without dealing with the reasons you broke up in the first place, that reunion will be short lived. Often the reason why you feel you still love your ex is because they are familiar and they are the safe choice. As they say it's better the evil you know than the evil you don't.

For those of you who have a child or children with the ex that you still love all of this may be easier said than done becuase you'll constantly be in each others lives. But try to limit communication to things about the children. Try to make pick ups and drop offs short, never end up in situations where you both are alone reminiscing about the good times. By taking these precautions, lines won't be crossed and you both won't end up dipping back into the sugar jar for all the wrong reasons.

The Ex You're Friends With
It is ok to remain friends with an ex. Sometimes this happens because you both realize you didn't truly love each other and are better off as friends or you both have moved on and are now happy. It could also mean that you both are still very much in love with each other. If you start a new relationship though, I  would advise you as soon as your new relationship
begins to get serious to tell your significant other that you are still friends with your ex, gain their prospective on this. If your new boyfriend or girlfriend has a problem with the friendship especially if you don't have child with your ex it's best to cut off the friendship with your ex in order for your new relationship to flourish. Again, for those of you who have a child/children with you're ex maintaining a good friendship with your  ex while maneuvering a new relationship may be hard especially if your new significant other feels that you are too close with the father or mother of your child/children. If your new man or woman is telling you that remaining so close to your ex is a problem for them you may need to reconsider that relationship for the sake of your child/children or compromise by limiting the interactions you have with your ex. When all is said and done if you and your ex both realize that you are still in love with each other whilst trying to be "just
friends" ensure that you get closure on all the issues that caused the break up before being swept back into starting from where the relationship left off.

At the end of the day relationships come and go. Whether you move on, stay great friends or get back together be mature about the decisions playing games only hurt in the long run.


Saturday 7 March 2015

Magnum Kings and Queens Of Dancehall: Season 8 Live Show 6 Recap.

The show started with the two males and two females from castle blue with the lowest votes facing off to see who would remain in the competition. Katara came out driving some hard lyrics, though Innocent changed the lyrics in her song to show she was clearly ready for the war  the judges decided to select Katara to push through to the next round of the competition. The males were up next and Difference came back to show he runs Bouyah  Miss Kitty selected him to go through, Professor Nuts decided Lava Vein was more deserving of the spot and with that it was up to Skatta Burrel to break the tie and he too agreed that Lava Vein's clean performance was enough for him to remain in the competition.

It was time for Castle Blue to roll out with the performances and  M.O. was the first contestant for the night her song"Go Fi Dem" was boring and she forgot the lyrics to her song close to the end of her performance. The first male for the night Govana J "Deh weh mi Deh" song had a good riddim he didn't perform the song well and went off key in many parts. Tamar Blueprint the producers pick was the second female for the night she turned Miss Kitty's comments from her first performance into a catchy chorus. Her song "Gal Good" gained a "forward" from the crowd at the end. Kritik the second male for the night had elements in his song that reminded me of Kalado the second verse in his song was note worthy though I thought his chorus could have been better. Miss Kitty stated that the structure of his song was an issue. I agree, if he had re arranged the verses the song would have received a stronger reception from the crowd throughout his performance. Angel Eyes gave a great performance, a great chorus and good verse she too got a favorable response from the crowd and favorable comments from the judges. Lava Vein the winner of the face off was next to perform he was clearly still in a battle mood. Lyrical shots were fired by him at some of Magnum King and Queens top contenders from castle red. The judges and the crowd loved his performance and so did I. Sexy Cat was the fourth female performer for the night with "Nah pretend" and I won't pretend that I liked that song. Sean Di Vere was the next male contestant to perform and I loved his song, he had a great melody, excellent stage command and his lyrics were on point. I catched on to the chorus of his song so definitely I loved his performance. Katara the female who won the face off followed him she was loud but didn't really carry any punch she claimed to be "In It To Win It" but didn't prove that with her lackluster lyrics and performance. 

In the second segment of the show it was Proffesor Nut's turn to select his Wild Card. Smallz from Trinidad and Tobago was first to perform with "Wine It", he had a great voice and great melody but failed to get any response from the crowd.Upsetta was next and he certainly created an upset with his song, he was selected by Nuts to continue in the competition as his wild card.The top performers for the night on both the male and female side in no particular order in my view are: Angel Eyes and M.O. And on the male side Sean Di Vere, Lava Vein and Upsetta.

Friday 6 March 2015

Preachers Daughters: Season 3 Episode 6 Recap

Preachers Daughters season three may just be the best season yet. I've never watched a full season of this reality series before but season three is definitely my only Reality TV guilty pleasure. This is my first article reviewing this show so before I jump into what transpired tonight in episode seven, let me give a synopsis of the show and the previous episodes.

Season three was shot on location in beautiful Cabo where a group of preachers daughters are on mission work while still managing to party. Lolly a big personality and I believe the star of this season, enters the house as the new girl and immediately tension and drama follows from her not wanting to go do the mission work, to her calling the girls nasty for not tidying the house and inviting strange guys she met on the beach to come party at the house without the other girls' permission. Need less to say the other preachers daughters didn't appreciate her for that and soon there was conflict between her and them. One preachers daughter in particular though- Kayla, seemed to have a stronger dislike for Lolly and decided to devise a plot to get her out of the house. Tyche decides in another episode to tell Lolly about this plot and after Lolly confronts Kayla, things between the two went from bad to worst.

Fast forward to episode seven we the viewers were in for the most explosive episode yet.Lolly was still steaming from the war of words between her and Cierra over a joke directed at Jade that was blown out of proportion.Later back at the house a few of the girls went out while Lolly and Kayla stayed home. We see where Lolly tells Kayla who is about to use the phone that she's waiting for a call from her pastor and would just like to know whenever he calls. Long story short, Lolly wasn't informed any calls came in for her and saw that there were missed calls from her pastor and felt that Kayla purposefully didn't tell her that calls came in for her. I don't know what to belive in that regard but we see where calls were coming in while Kayla was on the phone and she never clicked over to accept any of them. It could just be editing by the producers and no call actually came in until long after she was off the phone but I guess we will never know. Lolly however, felt that was Kayla's third strike and decided to pack all Kayla's belonging and brought them outside. I honestly think Lolly was wrong for that. She didn't wait to hear what Kayla had to say about the missed calls before jumping to conclusions and resorting to technically moving Kayla out of the house.Kayla returns home from running an errand to hear from Meagan and Cierra that Lolly has packed up her things and this is where a shouting and swearing match ensues between the two.I honestly thought that they were going to physically fight. Kristiana and Lolly also got into an argument and I got why Kristiana became so angry at Lolly.We see where she has been there for Lolly but still Lolly was saying she doesn't have any of the girls support in the house and that just wasn't true. Kristiana also kept it real saying that she felt both Kayla and Lolly were wrong for there roles in the conflict and I completely agree. Two wrongs can never make something right.

In the end Lolly after talking with her mom apologized to the girls and  Kayla for touching her things and that was a very mature thing to do because she really
didn't have to apologise. Kayla on the other hand decided she wasn't sorry for her role in the conflict and I feel with that utterance she showed us that she was really the one who caused all the drama to begin with and not necessarily Lolly. Kayla left the house and that was her decision. Moral of the episode though is that small things can cause a war and also get to know someone before you judge them. I can't wait to see how much the dynamic in the house is going to change now that Kayla is no longer there.

Thursday 5 March 2015

American Idol: Top 8 Girls Night

Tonight on American Idol was about two things; finding out which of the twelve girls made it into the top eight and after the top eight boys performed the best of Motown classics last night, it was also the top eight girls turn to wow us with their motown selections.

Teyanna Jones was the first name called, she performed Rockin Robin by Michael Jackson and had JLO rocking and singing along in her chair. She  didn't change the arrangement of the song any at all and that was my only disappointment but her voice and performance was great. Second girl to enter the top eight was Loren Lott. I didn't absolutely love Loren's performance last week and her rendition of Michael Jacksons "Wanna Be Where You Are" I thought was just ok. Maddie Walker was next and she is not one of my favorites but I'll admit she sang better than she did the week before. She gave us an ok rendition of  "I'll be there" by Michael Jackson. Keith Urban said she was nervous and I agree. Her performance would have been close to perfect if only she could have delivered a more heart felt performance of that song. Joey Cook was the fourth girl voted in to the top eight. She sang "Shop Around" by the Miracles. She made the  song her own her quirky unique spirit came out and I enjoyed it. 
      
I was extremely happy to see Sarina-Joi Crowe make into the top eight. I believe that she has one of the best voices in the competition and all three judges agree. Her rendition of the Miracles "You've Really Got a Hold On Me." was not her strongest but she still sounded amazing. Adanna Duru another contender as it relates to best vocals was next. She sang Lionel Richie's "Hello" and let me tell you she packed that song with a lot of sex appeal and definitely held our attention throughout her performance. My twitter followers know that I like Jax since her audition and I still like her now she has an amazing voice. Jax took Marvin Gaye and Tami's "Ain't No Mountain High Enough" and gave it a nice jazz arrangement which I didn't mind but the judges thought it wasn't probably was not the best idea to have changed a well known song like that. 
      
Only five girls remained on stage but only one space was left in the top eight. Honestly I was waiting for Ryan Seacrest to call Shi to the stage. Instead Alexis Gomez took the final spot in the top eight girl and top sixteen however her version of the Four Tops "Can't Help Myself" was not great it sounded a bit Karaoke or High School talent show. Sadly we said good bye and good luck to Shi, Katherine, Lovey and Shannon.

Love Notes "Dealing With Disagreements In Your Relationship"

      Disagreements will arise in a relationship but the minute they do try not to turn the situation into a shouting match, however, ensure that you and your significant other are able to find a common ground so you can reach an amicable compromise. I know that it may be easier said than done but there are several ways in which this can be achieved.

1. Calm down it makes no sense to speak in anger. The fact is, that only makes things worst.
2. Remember that your partner is entitled to their own opinions and it is ok if they are unable to see things the way you do. However, listen as best you can to your partners points of view with an open mind.
3. Take time to talk to each other and not at each other. Don't ever allow your partner to feel as if they are being bullied into giving up their points.
4. Try to reach a compromise. Many disagreements escalate because both parties are competing to be right instead of actually trying to resolve the issue.

Thank you for reading. Stay happy stay in love.

Wednesday 4 March 2015

Empire Episode Nine Review.

       Episode Nine of Empire was not so great but was still good. The first five minutes had me but the middle was kind of jumbled, the end had me saying Ohhh snap and then as soon as I was getting into it the show ended I felt cheated. Let me take you through it. If you didn't watch let me warn you there will be spoilers.
        In the beginning of episode nine we saw Anika and Lucious meeting at home with their wedding planner sorting out the detail for their wedding. In comes Cookie and Portia telling Lucious that Boo Boo Kitty has been playing him and is actually now working with is rival Berreti. For those of us who hate the character Anika I'm sure we were all happy to say "Bye Fellicia" in unison with Cookie who immediately begins to throw Anika's clothes out of the house. Anika's action sends Lucious and his Empire into war with Berriti and things got crazy from there with every one trying to ensure Empire does not lose its artistes to Berreti. There were guns drawn but no shots were actually fired only words thrown.
           Jamal did his thing with the beautiful and talented Estelle who entered the show as Delphene and they did a beautiful duet titled "Conqueror" which may just be my favorite song from the show so far. Jamal also gave Lucious a peice of his mind aaagain re his homophobia. Close to the end Lucious came around and we saw them come togther alongside Delphene, Tiana, Hackeem and Cookie to perform the much talked about song from last week's episode "You're So Beautiful"- it was great to finally hear Terrence Howard sing.
          After all the above ended the next scene was Andre having a full psychological break down inside the Empire board room. We did know that more of his mental troubles was going to come to the fore front based on happenings in the previous episode and he definitely gave us a crazy believable performance
then was brought out tied down to a stretcher.
           Next week on Empire Season One Episode Ten Andre is going to be diagnosed as bipolar, Jennifer
Hudson will enter as his music therapist and new love interest and as usual we will get a lot of drama from
the Lyon family. I can't wait.

NCB Capital Quest Season One Review

         Season one of NCB Capital Quest ended last night and from the very first episode to the finale the show had me and many other Jamaicans hooked. The program premiered on Television Jamaica on January 20th 2015 at 8:30pm. We were introduced to seven Jamaican SME executives competing for a capital equity investment of fifty million dollars.  The seven episode program gave us a cross between ABC's Shark Tank and The Apprentice with a creative Jamaican twist. Contestants went through several challenges all leading up to two winners being announced during the finale.
             The final round of the competition was down to who could present the perfect pitch and get the judges excited and interested in investing in that business. I thought Javette Nixon of Vein Centers of Jamaica, Lisanne Chai from The Stationary Centre and Nayana Williams from Life-Span Company Limited had the best presentations. I felt that Javette's company had lower barriers to entry and other unique selling points hence had a chance at winning  the competition however based  on the judges comments during their deliberations I definitely saw Nayana from Life Span winning the competetion they kept referring to Lifespan as a "Gold mine" however in the end I felt she was eliminated because her business partner could not meet the judges request for twenty five percent  of the company for their fifty million dollar investment which is understandable- it is business after all. I was also shocked that Denese from Southside Distributors did not end up in the top three.l get that we cant easily differnttiate her products from all the other products similar to hers but she mentioned that fifty six percent of her company's  profits is exports that means foreign exchange coming into Jamaica that can never be a bad thing. I was not surprised though that Heneka from Patwa Apparrel was first to be eliminated during the finale. Though the concept of Jamaican creole and proverbs on clothing is great it's not completely original or hard for any one to start a t'shirt business that only has Jamaican sayings printed on them, there would be issues with trade marking the words and
proverbs printed on the shirts.
             The biggest twist of the night was that there were two winners instead of the one as most viewers expected. Javette Nixon and Lissanne Chai walked away with twenty five million dollars each invested into their respective businesses. It was not a "tadaaaah" moment no real build up was created before the announcement was made that was dissapointing. All in all the NCB Capital Quest was a well produced show from the host, mentors, judges and contestant. It was also educational many business terms and definitions were given I'm sure many college students and business owners learnt a thing or two from the season. The twitter interaction was also great,  as a social media expert I was appreciative of the fact that NCB was tweeting and retweeting with viewers. Personally I can not wait for season two.
             Congratulations again to Javatte (Vein Centers of Jamaica) and Lissanne (Stationary Centre) on being the first NCB Capital Quest winners.