US singer Jason Derulo.
US singer Jason Derulo left many South African viewers offended following his performance at the ANN7 South African of the Year awards, held on October 17. While on stage, Derulo asked the audience if they spoke English. “Y’all speak English, right?” he asked. Unimpressed viewers took to social media to express their disappointment with the artist. The Wiggle star later took to Twitter to justify his remark. “”Speaking English” remark I made, was directed at a specific table. It wasn’t literal, just a figure of speech when someone isn’t responding,” he later tweeted. It’s a little too late Jason.
See how viewers reacted on Twitter.
Did J Something tie the knot?
Traditional wedding photos of Mi Casa frontman J Something (born-Joao da Fonseca) and his long-term girlfriend Cordelia “Coco” Gotti were doing the rounds over the weekend. Advice Makhubela alerted celebrity news site ZAlebs on social media on October 17 of the pair’s alleged lobola ceremony in Bushbuckridge, Mpumalanga at Gotti’s home.
J Something and Coco. (ZAlebs.com)
Fonseca has always kept his love life out of the spotlight but he confirmed his relationship with Gotti during an interview with radio personality Gareth Cliff on CliffCentral earlier this year. He added that he met Gotti at a recording studio, before he was famous, and that they’ve been dating for about five years. News of Fonseca come ahead of the launch of Mi Casa’s third studio album, Home Sweet Home, on October 20.
US singer Lionel Richie heads to SA
Lionel Richie.
Big Concerts announced on October 19 that four-time Grammy award-winning US singer Lionel Richie is headed to South Africa in March 2016 and will perform five shows in four cities. Richie’ shows are part of his All The Hits All Night Long worldwide tour that has since travelled through Europe, Asia and now, Africa. The former lead singer of 1970s band the Commodores has given us hits such as All Night Long, Endless Love and Say You, Say Me. In an interview with Rolling Stone magazine Richie describes the tour as “back-to-back karaoke on steroids”. He’ll perform in cities, Durban, Port Elizabeth, Cape Town and Jo’burg from March 13 to March 21. Tickets go on sale on October 21 from bigconcerts.co.za and Computicket.
Eddie Murphy tells joke to live audience after 28 years
Eddie Murphy at the Kennedy Center. (Reuters)
US comedian and actor Eddie Murphy (54) was presented with the Mark Twain Prize at the Kennedy Center on October 18 – a prestigious prize for American humour. Murphy was also honoured by fellow comedians, Dave Chappelle, George Lopez, Tracey Morgan, Chris Rock, Kathy Griffin and Arsenio Hall. But the highlight of the evening was the stand-up comedian telling jokes to a live audience – something he hasn’t done in 28 years.
According to the Washington Post Murphy’s seven-minute long acceptance speech was coupled with thank you’s and jokes about the Mark Twain Prize not coming with money. And although he chose not to make fun of comedian Bill Cosby at the Saturday Night Live special earlier this year, Murphy did a Cosby impersonation. The Cosby Show star received the Mark Twain Prize in 2009. In referring to Cosby, Murphy joked that you know you’ve messed up “when they want you to give your trophy back” and did an impersonation of Cosby refusing to give back his award, the Huffington Post reported. Other recipients of the award include Richard Pryor, Jonathan Winters, Whoopi Goldberg and Ellen DeGeneres.
Carolina Herrera visits SA
Carolina Herrera. (Reuters)
International fashion designer Carolina Herrera, along with her daughter Carolina Herrera de Baez, paid the Breast Health Foundation Unit at Helen Joseph Hospital in Jo’burg a visit on October 15. Her visit to the hospital was part of her #CHPink initiative, a breast cancer awareness campaign. Herrera has helped fund the foundation, which offers treatment, support groups and psychological care to patients. Herrera was also accompanied by Ndalo Media chief executive Khanyi Dhlomo and actor and breast cancer survivor Lillian Dube.
De Baez used the platform to launch the Support with a Smile breast cancer initiative – an initiative that will see the CH brand providing palliative care for sufferers of breast cancer through the Breast Health Foundation, Destiny magazine reported. According to Destiny, the foundation received a R5 million financial commitment from CH for a period of five years; this money will be used to roll out the initiative nationwide. Herrera also took some time to rub shoulders with Jo’burg’s A-listers at an exclusive showing of her clothing line from her Spring 2015 collection at the grand Le Chatelat in Sandhurst. The cocktail event included guests, Zanele Mbeki, Felicia Mabuza-Suttle and Dr Judy Dlamini.