My heart just aches when I think that the Mnet series The Wild is being cancelled due to production costs. The Wild will end in March 2013, two years after it started with much fanfare and controversy. Theo Erasmus, M-Net’s director for general entertainment channels under which the M-Net channel falls, said that The Wild, which is a high-cost production, is getting cancelled so that its massive production budget can be used to create other new shows. The Wild’s viewership was “not in line with the vast investment,” the pay broadcaster said. The Wild, filmed in high definition, set on a game farm and which lured big names like real-life soapie couple Connie and Shona Ferguson, hardly cracked M-Net’s Top 10 list of most watched programming from week to week. M-Net moved The Wild around to several timeslots trying to find a bigger audience; the last timeslot change happened in January.
M-Net tried twice to re-purpose The Wild on sister channel Mzansi Magic (DStv 107) in a bid to lure a bigger audience and expose the show to more viewers. The Wild also battled a wildfire which cause the production to shut down, faced ongoing rezoning challenges which could still take many years to resolve and saw tumultuous changes behind the scenes where writers, producers, heads of departments and the series producer left the show.
I liked it and I don’t know why many South Africans are dissing it because compared to The Bold & the Beautiful, its way more entertaining. I think they could’ve explored the option of selling it or airing it on SABC. It’s a pity that the majority of South Africans don’t have DSTV. I’m so disappointed.
Khanyi Mbau will be releasing a tell-all biography titled Bitch Please! I’m Khanyi Mbau. It’s written by entertainment and celebrity journalist Lesley Mofokeng and, according to the blurb, it’s the story of a young starlet who let sudden fame go to her head. The 180-page book will hit bookstores on August 15. It will be released in soft cover, and a limited-edition hard cover of 500 copies. Mbau is currently rehearsing for her role as SA music icon Lebo Mathosa in a musical tribute to her.
Rumour has it that actress Sophie “Queen” Ndaba is on the way to reconciliation with her ex husband Bishop Keith Harrington. According to my understanding of what’s written, the Bishop has sent people to talk to Sophie but there’s a woman Ruth Mazibuko who’s already accusing Ndaba of ruining her three-month relationship with the bishop. Mazibuko said her and the bishop met through Facebook and had some sort of affair when the bishop came to her house. He has since denied these accusations, “I don’t know a Ruth. I know Princess, a fellowship companion. She is someone who helped me deal with the burden of my separation.” He is clearly still committed to Sophie from his words “I wish we were back together again. I never wanted to leave her in the first place.” “I love her very much. She is a good woman. I’m hoping that the people I’ve sent to talk to her will do so successfully.”
Talking about TV shows “Yizo Yizo” is back on SABC 1. It was shown on SABC 1 between 1999 and 2004 is now back on the screens from Thursday, 09 August at 10pm I know there’ve been complaints about it being explicit and enticing violence but I think we as a society don’t mimic everything we see on TV and it is made up so it shouldn’t be taken seriously. It addresses issues which do affect society somehow but it is entertainment at the end of the day. I know some of the scenes are graphic but if you can’t handle the heat then don’t watch it. I can’t wait to see Papa Action and Chester, Hazel, Sonny Boy and all the other amazing actors.
I watched the Top Billing presenter search just in time to see contestant Lauren Blackwell interviewing Justin Bieber in Australia. She was nervous as hell and it showed. Some of her responses where really dodgy and she seemed to shy away from Justin. The judges addressed these issues and how she missed the trump card which could have got her trending on twitter. He has over 22.5 million Twitter followers and counting and she should have used this. It was sad to see her hang up her top hat. Justin’s fans the ‘Beliebers” are crazy though. They cry and get all snotty when they see him, wow I wonder what they’ll think when they see themselves doing that five years down the line. Zama has been in the bottom three for two weeks in a row. I wait with baited breath to see who’ll win. Who do you want to win?
Congrats to:
TV and radio personality Pabi Moloi who has just been signed on as Avon’s new local celebrity spokesperson and the Avon Justine iThemba Ambassador for two years! Pabi will officially begin her role in August 2012, and will address the Avon Justine staff and field as their new ambassador.
And
South Africa’s Keagan ‘the Legend” won AfricaMagic’s Big Brother StarGame on Sunday, 5 August. He received the massive $300 000 prize after 91 days of 24/7 drama and thrills. He’s the first South African to win after seven years of SA hosting the game without a win.
Hip-hop mogul and entrepreneur Russell Simmons is heading to South Africa in September as a speaker for the next Destiny Forum event. As co-founder of the pioneering record label Def Jam in the 1980s, he helped launch the careers of several artists, including Run-DMC and the Beastie Boys. His empire includes the Phat Farm clothing line and an energy drink, but it’s his social activism that has caused some to speculate that he would make an ideal Mayor of New York City. Khanyi Dhlomo, CEO of Ndalo Media and founding editor of Ndalo’s Destiny and Destiny Man magazines, says her group is honoured to be hosting the prominent international businessperson. “He’s the ideal sequel to our highly successful Destiny Forum held in Johannesburg in July this year. That we attracted so large a number of delegates demonstrates South Africans’ thirst for self-enhancement.”
Simmons will be presenting on Friday, 21 September 2012 at Johannesburg’s Hilton Sandton Hotel and is brought to you in association with M-Net and City Press. Tickets cost R850 (including VAT) per person, which includes cocktail dinner and an after-party with Tumi and The Volume. I really wanted to go but R850? I’ll pass thank you. 