Year 13 student at the Roman Ridge School, Nicole Amira, over the weekend thrilled hundreds of Christmas carol lovers with Tori Kelly’s ‘O Holy Night’ at the 5th Annual Christmas Tree Lighting Ceremony at Kempinski Gold Coast City Hotel, Accra.

The 17-year-old, after her electrifying solo performance of ‘O Holy Night’ also led The Roman Ridge School to perform ‘Mary did you know’ to usher guests into yuletide.

In attendance were the First Lady of Ghana, Rebecca Akufo-Addo, Chief of Defense Staff, Ghana, Members of the Diplomatic Community, Members of Parliament, Guests and Friends of Kempinski, and Management and Staff of the hotel.

Nicole Amira is in Year 13 student at The Roman Ridge School who is currently pursuing her A level. The first born in a family of 2, visited Ghana for the first time in 2020 and relocated permanently a year after.

She enjoys dancing, acting and plays the Piano, having done ABRSM (Associated Board of the Royal Schools of Music) up to level 4. She also has IGCSE certification for music and drama. She aspires to make a career out of music and also be a psychologist in the future.

Currently, she performs during school events and in church with her performance being drawn from Indie pop music. Nicole is open to perform at musical concerts. Her favorite artist is Billie Eilish, but also has a special liking for music from Alec Benjamin, Cavetown, Doja cat, Bruno Mars, Dean Martin and UPSAHL.

Besides music, Nicole loves to contribute to global reforestation efforts and was involved in a tree planting CSR program organized by the Rotary Club here in Accra in September 2022. She hopes Ghana can borrow from Kenya’s social, environmental and a political activist and the first African woman to win the Nobel Peace Prize, Prof. Wangari Maathai’s ‘Hummingbird narrative’ and save Achimota Forest, a topic she has presented in her school’s project. She points out that with the global campaigns against global warming, she hopes Ghana can ban use of plastic bags and bottles.

The Kempinski Tree Lighting event also saw musical performances from Accra Chamber Orchestra (ACO), Reuel Ansah (Clarinetist) and members of the Allegro Classics Conservatory, Frederick Wood of the Lincoln Community School, SOS CV string ensemble, Boatemaa Ofori Boadu, Choir from the Akropong School of the Blind, and GH Jazz Collective.

Prolific GH, organisers of the annual Western Gospel Awards have successfully organised the second edition of the awards at the Word of Life Assemblies of God Church in Takoradi on Sunday November 27, 2022.

In all, over 19 categories were won by industry players in the gospel fraternity. Mrs. Amy Newman was honoured with Lifetime Achievement Award whereas Dr. Stephen Wayoe was honoured with Remarkable Contribution to the Growth of Gospel Industry and Cwesi Oteng was also Honored as Contemporary/Urban Gospel Artiste of the Decade.

Expressing his gratitude to his sponsors and other contributors, Mr. Maxwell Bills Ansah, CEO of Prolific GH, organizers of the awards mentioned that “such event comes with a huge budget but with the support of our sponsors, we organized a befitting event to honour the works of the industry players in Western Region. The sponsors have always been the strongest support system.”

Sharing some of the challenges of the organization of the awards, Mr. Ansah mentioned that; “sponsorship remains the biggest challenge but we are grateful to those who see the good in what we do and always come to our aid,” adding that, “my team remains the best to get the excellent work done, not forgetting the people of Western Region for their unflinching support.”

Renowned Gospel Musician, KDM won the Artiste of the year at the second edition of the Western Gospel Awards (WGA). Aside winning the Artiste of the year, KDM also won the ‘Songwriter of the year award.

The well attended event witnessed outstanding ministration and performances from Gospel artists from the Western Region.

Notable amongst the winners at the second edition of the Western Gospel Awards include; Western Best Blogger of the Year which was won by Nana Kwesi Coomson (233times.net), Western Gospel Collaboration of the Year, Ruger Quarm ft. Kofi Owusu Peprah – The Name of Jesus, Western Female Vocalist of the Year, Georgia and Georgette, Western New Gospel Artiste of the Year, Etriakor Charle, Western Gospel Song of the Year – Mabel Love – OSOMBO, Western Best Lyrical Content of the year – Max Praize – Spirit Life, Western Gospel Music Video of the Year- Efua Black – Oye Jesus, amongst others.

THE line-up of events and international artistes coming to Ghana this December keeps getting exciting and the latest to join is Jamaican singer, poetess and actress, Dianna Wright.
The US based artiste will be in Accra to shoot the video of her trending song, Ahoo and also participate in events to mark the festive season.

The song is already being played on some radio stations in Ghana and Jamaica and Dianna who is signed to 16-Bars Multimedia LLC, hopes to cement its popularity with the video which will be shot in a village setting in Ghana.

While here, she is also open to shows and collaborations with local artistes and bands.

Dianna who was part of acts for the Hands Across Africa concert held at the National Theatre in July said she selected Ghana to shoot the video for the love she has for the country.

“When I come to Ghana, it’s just like home, Ghana is a bigger Jamaica. I love how the people dance with so much energy. I will feature some young and talented dancers in my video. I love the newness, vibe and energy anytime I am there.

“For the video, I want a natural setting and it was Ghana that first came to mind, the unique and serene villages in Ghana is the kind of vibe I am looking for,” she said.

With the exception of her engineer and a couple of her team members, Dianna will use Ghanaian based creatives for her production saying, “there is no point flying in many professionals as Ghana has them in abundance. There are so many talents here who can help us execute this project perfectly”, she added.

As a way of giving back to the Ghanaian society, she adopted the drama troupe of the Manya Krobo Senior High School and supports the group regularly.

Philip NeeWhang is set to release yet another sensational new song titled “Orente”. The single which transforms Dany Starking’s original – Orente released in 2022 has been made over again with a fresh new breath and vocal from the sensational musical artist – Philip NeeWhang. Orente is a song that is sure to burst your brains with its smooth and melodic romantic afrobeat vibes much desired in today’s music market.

When asked what influenced Philip NeeWhang to do a cover of the song and re-release it under his vocals, he stated “The first time I listened to the song, it transported me to a different realm, I felt good, I loved the song, I did not even think I would be doing a cover on it but then I kept singing it over and over and over and then I realized, – I need to pick on this challenge and do my very first cover song and which better song than this new track which has just struck me in the heart”. The original track is one released by Dany Starking, a Nigerian musical artiste presently based in Ghana.

The song which was largely sung in English heavily uses the ‘broken’ Nigerian pronunciation style of speech and uses some native Yoruba words within its lyrical flow shockingly, Philip NeeWhang stays true to the song’s lyrics and style, often diverting to his vocal pitch as slight differences can be observed in the version released by Dany Starking and the one by Philip NeeWhang – You need to hear how the Ghanaian Musical Artist loses himself to the lyrics singing it so beautifully and true to its core, it baffles the brain.

The original as covered by Philip NeeWhang shockingly is produced, mixed, and mastered by the same sound engineer – King Kueyx under CockaStudiox who worked on Dany Starking’s original giving immerse room for improvement on the cover by Philip. Philip NeeWhang who has been hailed as the next big hit in Ghana you need to watch out for and aiming for international status has already earned 19 original songs released to his credit inclusive of Two (2) EPs which contain four (4) tracks each. Philip NeeWhang is a NAFTI alumnus with BFA Degree in Film Directing.

Check out Orente which is now exclusively released on Boomplay starting Nov 17, 2022 – releasing in other stores on Nov 24, 2022, and enjoy a lifetime of sweet bliss contained within this music. Next to be released is “Freedom” on Nov 25, 2022, on Boomplay exclusive a week before other stores.

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