2012 Macufe Festival

Its time to enjoy the African cultural festival
Source: www.safarinow.com

Whether you into sports events or into music events, I am pretty sure October is your favourite month since this is the month when the Macufe festival takes places. The Macufe festival is also known as the Mangaung African Cultural festival. This exciting event is presented by Bashomi baAfrica. The 2012 Macufe festival takes places between the 5th October and 14th October in Bloemfotein. This is an annual event and has been celebrated for more than 10 years, it was launched by Free State Provincial Government in 1997 as a celebration of arts and culture in the province. Macufe festival is important to to the Free State province as it attract more and more people each and every year. Its been atrracting an audience of over 140 000 people, making it one of the biggest cultural festival on the African continent. The price tickets range from event to event:

Different programmes taking place at the
Macufe Festival
Source: www.macufe.co.za

• Macufe Gospel R100
• Ons Konsert R150
• Macufe Comedy R150
• Macufe Indoor Jazz R200
• Macufe Divas Concert R200
• Macufe Main Music Festival R280

This festival programme includes a diverse range of events:

1. Stand-up comedy
2. Arts Exhibition
3. Poetry
4. A film Festival
5. Arts and crafts markets
6. Fashion market
7. Sporting events ( Macufe Cup and Macufe Golf Tournament

Laugh your lungs out at the stand-up comedy
Source: www.macufe.co.za

Angie Stone will be entertaining the fans
Soure: www.hypemagazine.co.za

 This event really means alot to the department of Arts and Culture in the Free State as it will attract more tourist in the province that will come from other provinces or countries to come and enjoy the Macufe festival.

Local and international artists will be performing:

• Thandiswa
• Bebe Winans
• Selaelo Selota
• Oliver Mtukudzi
• Johnny Gill
• Jimmy Dludlu
• Heinz Winkler
• Elvis Blue
• Lira

2012 Spring Fiesta Music Festival

Spring is here,time for outdoors events
Source: www.whatson.co.za

Winter is over its now time for spring. This is the time we enjoy being outdoors more frequently. Soul Candi once again decided to come up with the Spring Fiesta Music Festival. This event included over 50 of South Africa's hottest acts. This spectacular event took place on the 22nd of September 2012 at the Wild Waters Complex in Boksburg.The doors were opened from 11am until 1am. This event brought international music festival quality to South Africa's music fanatics. The 2012 Spring Fiesta Music Festival was organised by Soul Candi. Big Brother Productions and SAB's Castle Lite were some of the companies that co-branded with Soul Candi to make this event a success.
The tickets were sold a compu-ticket at:

• R120 (normal entery)
• R200 (VIP)
• R1000(VVIP)

Music lovers enjoying themselves
Source: www.zkhiphani.com

This successful 2012 Spring Fiesta Music Festal was attended by a whooping 14 000 people. The line up included:

• DJ Tira
• DJ Clock
• Shimza
• Oskido
• Mphoza
• The Layabouts
• Mi Casa
• Black Coffee

Through the 2012 Spring Fiesta Music Festival event Soul Candi, Big Brother Productions and SAB's Castle Lite have managed to strengthen their brands and image and also to increase awareness of the event.

Heritage Day Celebrations in South Africa

This year's theme
Picture: www.flickr.com

I am who I am because of my culture and all the beliefs that have been passed on from my great-grand parents to my parents and to me. Heritage is defined as something that is passed down from one generation to the next generation. Every year on the 24th of September, South Africa celebrates Heritage Day which is also known as National Braai Day. The aim of this day is to encourage people to celebrate their cultural heritage and diversity of their beliefs and traditions. It is also a day to celebrate the contribution of all South Africans to the building of South Africa. Way back in 2005, a media campaign was established to "re-brand" the holiday as National Braai Day, in recognition of the South African tasty tradition of holding informal backyard barbecues or braais. Furthermore, end of 2007 National Braai Day changed its name to Braai4Heritage and the initiative received the endorsement of South Africa's National Heritage Council (NHC). Most people celebrate this day by coming together as families and indulge in traditional home cooked meals.

Minenhle in traditional Zulu attire
Picture by Minenhle Ngcongo

I plan to celebrate this year's heritage day by dressing up in my traditional Zulu attire and cook for my family some traditional dishes:

• Umfino-Spinach
• Isijingi- Type og pumpkin
• Amaqina- A hoof of a cow
• Amadumbe- Potatoe like
• Tripe and dumplings

One of the radio station in South Africa Phalaborwa FM, it has organised an event which will be held on the 24th of September 2012 . This event will be held in Ga-Selwana Villiage at 10h00-15h00. The pupose of this event is:

1. To unite the community of Ba-Phalaborwa from different tribal houses and diverse cultures.
2. To embrace the common heritage we all share in a form of celebration.
3. To also educate the younger ones of their heritage, culture and tradition and that all these need to be respected.

There will be different activities which will be done during this event. Each tribal house will be having their activities to showcase. Activities will include traditional dance and singing.

Splendid 2012 Paralympics Closing Ceremony



Goodbye London 2012 Paralympic Games
Source: www.google.co.za

 Who said having a disability or being paralysed should keep you from taking part in anything that makes you happy? Well during the 2012 Paralympics Games also known as "Festival of the Flame" we witnessed people who had some kind of disability or who were paralysed do exceptionally good during this successful sports event. This was yet another terrific sports event, seeing people coming together to enjoy this spectacular sports event. People who were responsible for this event which was held on the 9th of September 2012 at the Olympic Stadium in London were the London Organising Committee of the Olympic and Paralympic Games (LOCOG), these people were responsible for overseeing the planning and development of the 2012 summer olympic and paralympic games. They were jointly established by the UK Government's Department for:

• culture
• media and
• sport

LOCOG worked closely with the publicly to fund the Olympic Delivery Authority (ODA) which is responsible for the planning and construction of new venues and infrastructure.


It was sure a Festival of the Flame at the Olympic Stadium
Source: www.google.co.za

 This year's event was themed around festivals and the four seasons and the audienced were entertained to live performances by:

• Coldplay
• Rihanna
• Jay-Z

During this event the paralympic flag was passed from Boris Johnson who is the Mayor of London to Eduardo Paes the Mayor of Rio de Janeiro, which will be the host city of the 2016 summer paralympics. There was also a 17-piece orchestra of musicians with disabilities who performed during this closing ceremony. With such sports events and including disabled musicians perform in such events , this could spread international awareness for disabled sportsmen, sportswomen and musicisns.

Rihanna performing during the 2012 Paralympic
Closing Ceremony
Source: www.google.com

The British national anthem was sang by the talented blind and autistic singer Lissa Hermans. Having been part of an estimated number of 7.7 million people who watched the 2012 Paralympics closing ceremony I am sure we all enjoyed and were not disappointed with the outcome of this splendid Paralympic Closing Ceremony.

In Celebration of Women's Month

Album cover of Anthony's latest album
Picture: www.google.com

August is known as a women's month in South Africa.The reason for this is because on the 9th of August 1956 over 20 000 women of all races and ages from every corner of South Africa marched towards the Union Buildings in Pretoria. The march was against pass laws. This march was organised by the Federation of South Africa Women ( FSAW) and it was led by four brave women:

• Helen Joseph
• Rahima Moosa
• Sophie Williams
• Lillian Ngoyi

I believe that it was brave of these women to do such a thing, to fight for what they belived was right. Even though there are women who are still struggling out there, there are campaigns that do empower women: 

• Women's Campaign International ( Empowering Women to Transform their Communities)
• ONE ( Empower Women in the Fight Against Poverty and Preventable Disease) 

This year the well known event management company Afropluse entertainment decided to bring the RnB sensation Anthony Hamilton to celebrate women's month in South Africa. The organisers planned a four day concert in different cities in South Africa:

• Ellis Park Arena in Johannesburg on August 16 and 17
• Cape Town International Convention Centre on August 17



Mr Hamilton strikes a pose next to
 Mr Mandela's picure
Picture: www.google.com

• People's Park in Durban.

The organiser's Afropluse entertainment said " the two Johannesburg shows were sold out and there was huge demand for tickets".
Instead of stikes, marches or women abuse we need more concerts like this to celebrate the women we have in our country.

Goodbye 2012 Olympic Games

Mayor of Rio de Janeiro Eduardo Paes,waving the Olympic
Flag during the closing ceremony. Source: www.google.co.za

With an opening at the end ther must be a closing, this closing ceremony was more of a a party. This past Sunday ( 12 August 2012) I got the opportunity to watch the London 2012 Olympic Games Closing Ceremony which started at 21:00pm. This event was held at the Olympic Stadium. I decided to watch this closing ceremony so that Icould see if it would be a success like the opening ceremony which was a success. As I expected I must say it was a success because I could tell that the organisors did put alot of effort in organising this closing ceremony. With any event or ceremony that becomes a disaster it will receive bad publicity for the company or an organisation. This sport event featured more than

The view of the Olympic Cauldron being extinguished
Source: www.google.co.za

• 4100 performers
• 3500 adult volunteers
• 380 schoolchildren from six east London Host Boroughs

 To signify the end of the 2012 Olympic Games, the Olympic cauldron was extinguished at one minute past midnight. this ceremony commenced with fireworks. The guests of honour included:

• IOC President Jacques Rogge and
• Prince Harry

It would have not been a successful closing ceremony if it was not for these artists who performed:

• Emeli Sande
• Jessi J
• Tinie Tempah
• Taio Cruz and the
• Spice Girls just to name a few



The Spice Girls entertaining the audience
Source: www.google.co.za

Will the next Olympic Games in 2016 which will be held in Rio de Janeiro be this successfull? I guess we will just have to wait and see in 2016.

Blissful Ukhozi Fm Gospel Music Festival

Ukhozi FM oluhamba phambili
Picture: www.google.co.za

Finally the 4th of August 2012 arrived, the day i had been patiently waiting for. This was the day when i witnessed the Ukhozi FM Gospel Music Festival which was held at Coca-Cola Park, formaly known as Ellis Park staduim in Johannesburg ( South Africa). The gates opened at 08:00am but the festival started at 10:00am. The aim of this gospel music festival was so that the proceeds would be taken to the Arnie William's Foundation for Abused Women and Children, who do a sterling job in catering for the needs of the abused. This really shows that Ukhozi FM cares. This event was also a celebratory party for Ukhozi FM, which has become one of the biggest radio station in the world seeing that they have 7,2 million listeners.


Gospel music lovers feeling the presence at Ellis Park
Picture: www.google.co.za

 This blissful event was organised by Ukhozi FM in partnership with EMI LIVE (recording company) and Sipho Makhabane of BIG FISH's Productions. The sponsors for this event were:

• Vodacom
• SABC 1

This event was a success because it was well organised, planned in time, well advertised, flyers were made, different artists who performed on the stage were interviewed on Ukhozi FM prior the event just to let the listeners know what to expect on the Ukhozi FM Gospel Music Festival and lastly this event was advertised on the official Ukhozi FM FACEBOOK page
Some of the gospel artists who graced the stage where:

• Rebecca Malope
• Hlegiwe Mhlaba
• Sechaba
• S'fiso Ncwane
• Lundi Tyamara




Well known gospel artist Winnie Mashaba
Picture: www.google.com





Lundi Tyamara entertaining the fans
Picture: www.google.co.za

Opening Ceremony for London 2012 Olympics

London 2012 Olympic's Logo
Source:http://www.google.com

On your marks, get set, ready, go. Its once again that time when we sit back, relaxe and enjoy the 2012 Olympic games. Whether  you are a sports fan or not you can't help it but watch and support our fellow South Africans who are going out in London to make us proud. With alot of planning and hard work put into this event it therefore makes it the biggest sporting event in the world seeing that 204 countries participate in this event. Just to name a few countries they are:

• South Africa
• United States of America
• Brazil



London 2012 Olympics stadium
Source:http://www.google.com

Finally the 27th of July 2012 had arrived, the day which thousands of people including myself witnessed the splendid opening ceremony for the London 2012 Olympics Games which took places at 21:00pm. The title for this ceremony was "Isles of Wonder". In organising such a huge event organisors had to make sure that they organise sponsors for the London 2012 Olympics Games. Sponsors for the London 2012 Olympics Games are:

•  Acer
•   Atos 
•  Coca-cola
•   McDonalds, just to name a few.



Picture: Sir Chris Hoy of Great Britain

 Olympic cycling teams carries his county's

 flag as he leads GB into the stadium

Source: http://www.google.com



As part of the marketing strategy a single called "survival" was released by the English band Muse, this will be the official song of the London 2012 Olympics. Two £5 coins have been made to mark London Olympics designed by Saiman Maih. A ribben with blue, yellow, black, green and red stipes winding through the text LONDON 2012, making the shape of the River Thames in East London. For this event 8 million tickets would be available for the London Olympic Gamesand 1,5 million tickects for the Paralympic Games.

Well planned event-18th MTN SAMA awards

MTN title sponsor for the awards

Whether you refer to it as Kwaito, Gospel, Jazz, RnB, House, Maskandi, Contemporary, Sokkie or Pop at the end of the day its all music. Well for me music is important because its something that relaxes me when I am under stress.
On the 29th (Sunday) and 30th (Monday) of April 2012 the 18th MTN SAMA (South African Music Awards) took place at the Sun City Resort in North West. This is an annual event which takes place between April or May, this event was established in 1995. Basically the aim of this event is to show the musicians, producersand everyone else who worked on the album that their hard work is recognised and appreciated. Winners receive a statuette which is called a SAMA.

Image source:www.google.co.za/images

Events like this one should be planned, directed, managed and co-ordinated. Budgets need to be drafted, wide and effective relationships need to be built with the sponsors of the event and through marketing and advertising the target audience should be informed about the eventweeks or months before the day of the event. Seeing that the SAMA awards events was a success I believe that it was well organised and well advertised.

From singer to designer-Victoria Beckham



Victoria at an event to unveil the Range Rover

Victoria is well known for being in the girls group the Spice Girls, to marrying one of the most famous football players David Beckham, to being a model, to being a fashion designer and lastly being a car designer, I definitly say she has built a brand for herself, to top it all she won Designer Brand of the year 2011 at the British Fashion Awards.
I see Victoria Beckham not only as a celebrity but as a brand because for me she is different from other celebrities who just focus on one thing. So Mrs Beckham will not be known as just a singer but also as a designer of not just clothing line but also cars

Victoria with the car she designed

Just this week ( Sunday April 22 2012) Victoria launched her limited edition off-roader bearing her name, Range Rover Evoque in Beijing. This car is aimed at well-heeled customers who think the standard Range Rover Evoque just is not posh or bling enough for them. This special edition of the Range Rover Evoque styling was created by Victoria in collaboration with the Land Rover bosses. This stunning event of unveiling of the car took place on the eve of the Beijing motor show at the trendy Cafa Art Museum, the guests included the British Ambassador to China Sebastain Wood and his wife Sirinat and the boss of her management company,Simon Fuller. This event attracted major luxury car firms from around the globe, from Rolls Royce and Bently to Ferrai and Lamborghini to the world's biggest and fastest growing car market


One of the Land Rover bosses and Mrs Beckham

Victoria Beckham attended the event wearing a beige gown from her Victoria Beckham line with a corset style top, her hair pulled of her face. Seeing that Victoria had fashion background and the fact that the Beckham family have owned series of top of the range and bespoke Range Rovers and other Land Rovers including mini replicar for their children and lastly the fact that the Beckham name is a significant 'brand' across the world, this made Victoria Beckham well placed for the job. This clearly shows how important branding is and it has become a major issue in marketing strategy

Range Rover Evoque

Terrific fun filled Event- Rand Show 2012

Schools were closed for the Easter holidays in South Africa and what most people, especially the young kids looked forward to was the Rand Show event which takes place annually during the Easter holidays. I personally must admit that I was excited about this years event at the Johannesburg Expo Centre in Nasrec. This event started on the 6th of April 2012 and ended on the 15th of April 2012. With all the advertising that took place for this event most people wetre well informed about the dates, prices of tickets and the venue for the event. Seeing that the owners of this event had estimated 250000 number of visitors they had to use different types of channels to advertise this event to reach their target aydience or the public, this event was advertised by using:

• billboards
• television
• radio
• posters
• and newspapers

Rand Show including the Green initiative in their advertising

In public relations we mainly use advertising as a tool to advertise an event that would take place so that we create awareness about it for the public to know and support the event. Events such as the Rand Show bring opportunties such as sponsorship, brand activation and experiential marketing, exhibition opportunities, auction and sale room opportunities. So besides the fun and games that the Rand Show provides, it is a good platform for vendors to do good in their businesses, companies to market their product and for public relations practitioners to showcase their exhibitions. What I personally enjoyed about this event was the South African National Defence Force who exhibited at the event.

SANDF opened Rand Show with fire and noise

An eventful Gay pageant

Mister Gay World pageant which took place at the Gold Reef City's Lyric Theatre atrracted a sold out crowd on Easter Sunday ( 8 April 2012) when the international lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex ( LGBT) community crowned its new world ambassador. The aim for this year's competition was to highlight the plight of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex people across Africa as well as to give hope to lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex people themselves by showing them positive role models and that can be achieved if they persist. The tickets for this event were ranging from R100 to R750 at Computicket. The MCs for this huge event were Cathy Specific and Will Fennel. The guests who attended the even were entertained by Kamaliya from Ukraine, Umojo from South Africa and other various local artists. The day before the event on the 7th of April 2012 a charity auction was held at Fairway Hotel and Gold Resort, each competitor had to bring a memento from his home country, which was auctioned with the proceeds going to a children's charity. 

Umojo entertaining the crowd

With this year's competition, different events were held over five days ( from the 4th to the 8th of April)these events included physical fitness tests, interviews, nightwear and swimsuit competitions, what took place during these five days was the Bone Wear Model of the year, Best Sports Challenger, Best Charity Participant, Mr Congeniality and the new Mr Gay World 2012 was crowned.
Mr Gay World is an annual event for gay men that seek to appoint global ambassadors for the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex community and the event attracts contestants from all over the world. Mr Gay World was launched in 2009, with the first event held in Canda, Norway hosted the event in 2010, Philippined hosted the event in 2011, so this year it was South Africa's turn to host the event which went successfully. The mission of Mr Gay World is to advance national and international gay rights through education and public performance. Mr Gay World has to create authentic leaders who will take responsibility, not only in his community but on a global stage, speaking out for equal rights by inspiring those around him. He has to be genuine and be a positive role model that will champion equally and diversity in the media both gay and mainstream.

In this year's event gay men from 22 countries took part and this year's event was different because it was the first time it was held on African soil and the first time that black African men participated. This was a very important world event which took place for the first time on the African continents, which meant that the African participants faced the most intense discimination and prejudice. A lot of public relations elements was put in this event like the billboards advertising the Mr Gay World pageant, so that people could know about the event

Billboard seen in one of the highways in Joburg

 In this eventful gay pageant the lucky gentleman to be crownd that evening as Mr Gay World 2012 was Andreas Derleth of New Zealand. The following Mr Gay World 2013 will be held in Belgium, to be eligible to compete, the delegates must be over 19 and must be chosen to represent their country in 2012.

Mr Gay World 2012-Andreas Derleth

E-Toll event fails as about 40 people turn up

Electronic tolling has caused a bit of havoc lately in our country in the past few months, resulting to a massive strike formed by unions who call on the banning of the e-tolling systems. the strike that has took place has caused the country billions of rands due to the fact that during a strike everything comes to a standstill meaning business do not run like on normal basis because most workers go out to support the strikes that take place.

www.google.com

The first strike on the electronic tolling was organised by the union COSATU and it took place on the 7th of March 2012, its turn out was positive and the strike was successful as thousands and thousands of people from all over the country participated. Unfortunately the same cannot be said about the second protest organised by the Freedom Front Plus (FF+), the National Taxpayers Union, the South African Caravan Association and various motobike club. This event was to take place on Thursday 29 March 2012 at the Ultra City on the N1 highway between Pretoria and Johannesburg, this event failed because:

• it was not well organised
• a proper research was not conducted
• lastly its because only about 40 supporters turned up for the protest.

Protersters voicing their views

In public relations I have learned that in order for an event to be successful the company or an organisation should plan the event, conduct a good research and do some sort of advertising which is a way for an organisation to be able to communicate with their target audiences. Had the organisers done these three things I am pretty sure that the protest would have not failed as it did. the Joburg metro police clearly said the protest was illegal, this is because no one had communicated with them before the day of the strike.

Leader of Freedom Front Plus Pieter Mulder

Freedom Front Plus spokesman Anton Alberts on Thursday morning said the idea behind the protest was to make sure that a "certain section" of the population was heard, not just the Congress of South Africa Trade Unions, he added that there are certain organisations and sections of the population who are still unhappy with the tolling system and they also want to encourage other sections of the population, other political parties and civil organisations to come out and hold various actions on their own.


Besides the protest failing the only positive incident that erupted was the public relations stunt that was pulled by "Mal Jan " van der Merwe who is the stuntman at the Jacaranda 94.2 FM breakfast show, he decided to show up with his camel at the march. The camel had attracted considerably more attention than Freedom Front Plus stikers which were encouraging R15 SMS donation to their cause

Mal Jan van der Merwer and his camel

Hopefull the organisers of this event will learn to organise properly in order for their event to succeed next time.

An end to end action Soweto derby

The much supported soccer teams in S.A-Kaizer Chiefs and Orlando Pirates

Some hearts were broken and some hearts were filled joy, this is after a thrilling soccer match which took place on the 17th of March 2012 in front of a whooping 87 171 fans at the FNB stadium. The teams that took part in the game were the glamour boys from Naturena Kaizer Chiefs and Orlando Pirates. A match between Kaizer Chiefs and Orlando Pirates is famously known as the Soweto derby, its considered one of the most fiercely contested matches in Africa football. The very first match played by these two big teams was on the 24th of January 1970.

FNB stadium

Matches between these two rivals seem to attract a large fanbase seeing that the tickets had been sold out earlier in the week prior to the big match. A public relations practitioner from Metrorial issued out a press release on the 16th of March 2012 just a day before the Soweto derby, to inform the fans who were going to the stadium that a train service was going to be available for the fans travelling from Vereeniging, Leralla, Pretoria and Johannesburg directly to Nasrec station, which is a five minute walk from the stadium. A total of six trains was made available and fans were suppose to purchase the tickets for the train at Metrorail stations from as little as R20 for a return trip. As a public relations student i would say that the Metrorail did a good to issue a press release, this was a good way to communicate with the fans who were going to the stadium. Motorists were also advised to use alternative routes because the Soweto highway was closed between the N1 and Mentz road and the Nasrec road was closed between Rand Show road. The roads were closed from 10:00am and were re-opened at 19:00pm. These road closure usually happen when there are huge events taking place at the stadium.

Chiefs and Pirates fans joined together to watch their teams play

This soccer event was supported by alot of soccer lovers and die-hard fans of Kaizer Chiefs and Orlando Pirates. Fans walked in the stadium with their different funny outfits. From men sporting grofesque masks, miniskirts, bras and church robes and women in odd wigs and kitted in full soccer gear.This is truly one event that does bring people together.

Etv Pulling Out Of The 2012 SAFTA Awards

The well known television channel Etv was once again in the news following the issue of the station pulling out of the 2012 South African Film and Television Awards (SAFTA). Etv is the fifth terrestrial televison channel in South Africa following three channels operated by the state owned South Africa Broadcasting Corporation (SABC 1, 2 and 3) and privately owned subscription funded M-NET which is operated by Multichoice. According to [www.wikipedia.co.za] Etv is the first privately owned but free to air television station in the country. 

http://www.google.co.za/images

The SAFTA awards started way back in 2005 when the representatives of the South African Film and Television industry resolved to come together under the auspices of the National Film and Video Foundation of the South Africa to establish the annual SAFTA awards. The primary objective of the SAFTA awards is to honour, celebrate and promote the creativity, quality and exellence of South African Film and Television talent and productions and to encourage entrepreneurship and the development of new talent within the industry.

The 6th Annual SAFTAs were held at the Gallegher Estate in Midrand on the 9th and 10th March 2012. The first event on the 9th of March was for winners in the non-fiction categories and the second event on the 10th was for winners in the fiction categories. The Gallegher Estate was filled with the best actors and actresses that our country can offer.

Head of Etv Monde Twala

Even though the awards ceremony was supported by many people from the film and television industry unfortunately Etv had withdraw they programming from the SAFTAs, the channel refused to divulge reasons for its withdrawal. Etv issued out a statement  Monday afternoon prior to the awards confirming the withdrawal of its shows. Group head of Etv channel Monde Twala said in the statement " it is unfortunate that we have had to withdraw our programming from the SAFTAs but we feel that it is necessary to do so in order to achieve greater organisation cohesion." According to articles that have been written the channel felt that their shows and performers had been sidelined in both the nominations and events surrounding the ceremony.Does Etv feel that the SATTAs are only supporting the SABC programmes more than them? Do they feel they not well recognized as a channel? Or did they just withdraw because they felt they did not need to be honoured, celebrated by the SAFTA awards? We will just have to wait and hear the reasons of the withdrawal from the channel itself.

www.google.com/images

The Glitz and Glamour at the Oscar Awards 2012




The day most actors and actresses have been patiently waiting for,the 26th of Febuary 2012,this years event took place in Hollywood at the Highland Theatre.The awards were hosted by Billy Crystals, it was his ninth time hosting the Academy Awards. He opened the show by acting in scenes from several faboulous movies. These awards were bestowed by the American Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to recognize the excellence of professionals in the film industry which includes directors, actors, and writers.

This well known event was covered by the Guardian film team through out the night. The event was set to start a 1:30am. The stars came walking on the red carpet looking stunning and elegant, some came with their partners and others just prefered to come and enjoy the celebrations alone. Some of the top well known designers had design some of the outfits that were worn by the stars, well known designers like Atelier Versace, Christian Dior and Tom Ford just to name a few. As from a public relations point of view a lot of prepartions were put in to making this a successful event.



The award most stars were
 anticipating to get their hands on



Angelina Jolie looked stunning in her black dress with a high split, her hair was out and flowing and this year she opted for red lip colour. New mum and last year's best actress winner Natalie Portman wore a red strapless polkadot gown which is said to be by 1954 vintage Christian Dior. Miss Jennifer Lopez wore a designer dress by Zuhair Murad, the dress had sleeve cutouts,low V-neck and small train. Princess Charlene decided to show off her swimming arms was accompanied by her husband, Prince Albert II of Monaco, she wore an ivory coloured, shimmers sleeveless gown. Baron Cohen was not even a nominee but he caused perhaps the biggest stir on the red carpet when he showed up with his Mummar Gaddafi inspired outfit from his upcoming film "The Dictator". Ryan Seacrest wore a Burberry suit, which was later on covered in fake ashes of Kim Jong-il, courtesy of the Dictator who spilled them down on the television presenter's front, and he was not pleased at all. The Dictator was accompanied by female security guards dressed in mini-skirts who were carrying large bouquets. One of the winners of the eveninng Octavia Speucer wore a stunning gown courtesy of designer Tadashi Shoji.                                                                  







Natalie Portman and husband






Jennifer Lopez better known as J-LO by fans

Princess Charlene and Prince Albert II

Merlyn Sreep in gold Lavin gown and chain link belt.