/ 28 September 2015

Entertainment News: All eyes on Trevor Noah; Joy of Jazz in photos

Jon Stewart with Trevor Noah.
Jon Stewart with Trevor Noah.

“The most challenging thing is trying to make it look like it’s easy,” said South African comedian Trevor Noah during a test show, ahead of his debut as the new host of The Daily Show in the United States of America.

Noah’s first ever show as the host of the late night satirical programme will air in the United States on September 28 at 11pm and in South Africa on September 29 at 9pm on Comedy Central. 

According to the New York Times, Noah explained that the purpose of the test show was to see if the content was a “good idea or not”. The test show, which took place last week, featured events of the day, in-studio and field segments with Daily Show correspondents and interviews with cultural and political individuals, New York Times reported. 

The guests on the first show include, comedian Kevin Hart, founder of the new dating app Bumble Whitney Wolfe, New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie and musician Ryan Adams. The format of the show hasn’t changed, but Comedy Central president Michele Ganeless explained that the show would now focus on building a strong presence on various social media platforms,  USA Today reported. 

Noah is taking over from The Daily Show’s previous host Jon Stewart who sat in the host’s seat for 16 years. This year the show won an Emmy for Outstanding Writing For A Variety Series. All eyes are now on Noah to see if he has what it takes to steer the ship in the right direction. He has described this moment as  “nervous excitement”, much like skydiving.

Joy of Jazz in photos 

The Standard Bank Joy of Jazz came to a close on September 26 with artists Simphiwe Dana, Lee Oskar, Peabo Bryson and Ray Phiri with Stimela on stage. This year’s line-up also included Dee Alexander, The 3 Cohens, Marcus Miller and Cecil McLorin Salvant. 


Cecil McLorin Salvant (Delwyn Verasamy)


Marcus Miller (Delwyn Verasamy)


Marcus Miller (Delwyn Verasamy)

Zahara’s new album goes gold


Zahara. (Gallo)

Platinum-selling singer Zahara, born-Bulelwa Mkutukana, just proved that having a loyal fan base is important for any artist. Her third studio album and latest offering, titled Country Girl, was released on September 25 and soon went gold in 24 hours, selling 20 000 copies,  Drum magazine reported. 

Her debut album Loliwe (2011) was certified double platinum within weeks of its release. This time around the afrosoul star stuck with a winning formula that includes working with music producer Robbie Malinga, who has worked with singers Kelly Khumalo and Naima Kay.

Mkutukana’s 13-track album features a couple of love songs, which are probably inspired by her current relationship status, “happy and in love”. In an interview with V-Entertainment she mentions that she experimented a lot with pop music for Country Girl. So fans can expect to hear Zahara like they’ve never heard her before.

And this was Twitter’s reaction to her new album:

Menzi Ngubane ties the knot, again


Menzi Ngubane and Sikelelo Sishuba (Gallo)

Actor Menzi Ngubane tied the knot with his ex-girlfriend Sikelelo Sishuba in a traditional wedding in the West Rand over the weekend,  Sunday World reported. According to the paper, the couple starting dating 10 years ago but drifted apart thereafter. They both worked at the SABC at the time. 

Ngubane’s life has played out much like a drama series. He divorced his wife Lerato Sedibe and was fired from local soapie Generations in 2014, and he was suffering from renal failure. 

But things have since turned around – he underwent a kidney transplant in 2014, which improved his health and he joined the cast of eTV’s drama series, Ashes to Ashes.  Now the local star has found love again.

Bruce Jenner still a sore point for Kris Jenner 


Caitlyn Jenner. (AFP)

Reality star and momager Kris Jenner (59) couldn’t fight the tears back while she was going through her ex-husband Bruce Jenner’s old clothes on an episode of Keeping up with the Kardashians. Her daughter Kim Kardashian brought back some of Bruce’s clothes from a pile that he was throwing out. 

The clothes included suits, jackets and a shirt that Bruce wore in one of the family Christmas cards.

Bruce (65) came out as transgender in April 2015 and now goes by the name Caitlyn. His divorce to Jenner was finalised in 2014 after 22 years of marriage. The pair has two daughters together, Kylie and Kendall.

“It makes me really sad,’ Jenner tells her daughter Kim, while she wiped the tears from her eyes. “I think going through something like this is difficult because the whole thing is something I’ve never dealt with before and I realise that I still have a long way to go before I can process all of this and understand it.

“It’s just crazy that he’s gone.”