So this year my birthday party was nuts. My birthday is actually in January but I’ve never let that stop me having extra parties throughout the year. As it’s early in January and most people are away, skint, depressed or partied out, I always leave my party until a few weeks later. Hence many think my birthday is in February. This year a high profile pal of mine wanted to tour the UK with some comedy and we agreed I would delay my party to coincide with their dates. Long story short that didn’t happen but I then threw caution to the wind and settled on a May bank holiday for my party and yes it was still billed as my ‘’birthday’’. I’m like the queen darlings. I have 2 birthdays-this one was merely the public one lol.

JASMINE WITH DANIELLE BROWN AND HER RUN DMC CREW
I like to work hard and play hard and this year decided that my party theme should excite the men cos usually they hate me for strange costume demands like ‘’Motown’’ which was last years theme. So this year the men were enthusiastic and came with their best Slick Rick, Eazy E, LL Cool J and RUN DMC looks whilst the girls, who initially struggled with the costume theme, came as various versions of Lil Kim, Nicki Minaj, JLo, TLC and more.

SLICK RICK AND EAZY E CAME TOO.
Subconsciously I think I wanted to prove a point by throwing a party in Mayfair in the West End and letting all my mates turn up in tracksuits, jeans and trainers just to spite the usual doormen politics of dress sense issues. The other part of me was also concerned that if the police saw droves of people heading into town wearing tracksuits they might predict a riot and shut us down lol!.

PR DONETTE JODIE DALMEDA (SONYBMG / VIRGIN UNITE) ,JASMINE,BBC’S JAY DAVIDSON, COOKIE CREW’S COOKIE.
I had really gone to town with my look and the day before had celeb tanner to the stars James Read (based at the Sanderson) to spray paint me brown). Next I popped into celeb hair salon ThreeV in Notting Hill Gate to have celeb stylists Julien and Melissa put a ton of hair extensions in my head to emulate the wild curly haired Puerto Rican chics from back in the day. next celeb facial Nuz Shugaa gave me one of her unique facials and a mani-pedi and finally I topped it off with my make up done by make up girl in demand in London town- miss Kristina Theordoris!

ADIDAS HQ FIRST LADIES AKUA, PAOLA AND AISHA.
Finally Adidas bigwig Paola Lucktung sent me off with Adidas lady Aisha Badmus to personalise an Adidas Jeremy Scott dress with bling for me. They also suggested a 2nd outfit, which we turned into really corny yes amazing his & her’s matching white firebird tracksuits.
I had a bit of a nightmare pre-party as one of the club barmen nicked my phone-not a good look just before your party starts. Then the club decided to charge such high prices for drinks that were ludicrous. So bad that a few LONDON360 TV crew hired a tuk tuk rickshaw, had it ride them to the local Weatherspoons, downed 5 shots each-and got the tuk tuk back to the party-all at a cost less than one round at the club. Oh dear. Sorry guys!
Furthermore the club then told us at the start of the night that their credit card machine didn’t work. So not only could most of us not purchase drinks we were pretty mad. But like a trooper I grit my teeth and partied on.

JASMINE WITH MOBO CEO KANYA KING
MOBO CEO Kanya King dropped a mini black dress and silver cropped jacket. Scary Spice’s sister and actress Danielle Brown and her girls crew came as female RUN DMC’s with bright red pants and Chrissy Lou shoes-too fly- and looked like they were going to break out into a full out routine.

WARNER MUSIC’S TAPONESWA AND UK HIPHOP LEGEND RODNEY P!.
80’s female UK hip-hop groups Cookie (Cookie Crew) rocked her 20-year-old leather goose jacket with fur, former SonyBMG/ Virginunite PR guru Jodie Dalmeda, designer Wale Adeyemi and BBC marketing donette Jay Davidson all rocked matching Adidas trackies. Celeb DJ/actor DJ Jarren came as Rev Run. Rapper Rodney P rocked his old skool ‘fight the power’ leather jacket. Former Eastenders actress Preeya Kalidas came JLo-esque with her mate singer Cherry V who came in a skin-tight red cat suit and bright yellow jacket. We had 2 conscious brothers who came as Afrika Bambata and an Egyptian pharaoh. Young un’s looked at ‘Bambataa’ and screamed ‘’who’s the juju man with juju stick-I’m not going near him!’’ lol.

JASMINE WITH PRINCESS NYAH AKA LIL KIM!
Stylist to the stars Richard Shoyemi came as the ‘’American dream’’ in his stars and stripes look. Warner Music’s Taponeswa dropped a gangsta boss lady look but soon had her heels off, as the dancing got too wild.
There were a few Vanilla Ice’s and Marky Marks- sorry white dudes-you coulda come as Eminem but I guess he doesn’t really have a style of any sort. Oh well. **Shrugs shoulders**
My old music partner in rhyme SonyBMG’s Jennifer Mills wore her authentic bad boy jacket from the original bad boy days. Former head of SonyBMG international and marketing Mervyn Lyn took it all in from his observation spot and praised Richie P’s set.

THE #TEAMUK COOL KIDS
Choreographer / dancer Royston and Duane came in old b boy sweats whilst grime goddess Princess Nyah came as Lil Kim in a long blonde wig and had men drooling over her all night as usual.
Comedienne Gina Yashere was hilarious as she leapt into the front of every picture being taken. Who else could have captured the night but the UK’s best-known photographer for music- mister Paul H.
The triple threat ladies Adidas crew (Paola, Aisha and Akua) brought the room to a stand still as they entered in their white musical note trackies and then we had the room roaring again as I stepped out of my 1st look (a fierce Jeremy scott for adidas dress with diamond sleeves) into my all white 2nd trackie (beautifully embellished by the hand and lock team that Adidas use).

ME AND SOME OF MY GIRLS IN MY OUTFIT NUMBER 1-JEREMY SCOTT FOR ADIDAS BLING SLEEVE DRESS.
Even though the party wasn’t formally an Adidas event by the time all the guests arrived you could’ve shot an Adidas ad in there. Everyone had pulled out their oldest most classic 3 stripe looks and the venue looked amazing! The Adidas team even had huge tall cut out RUN DMC images for guests to stick their heads through. Like the ones on Brighton pier but more classic lol!

ME AND MY CAKE-TWITTER-COS APPARENTLY I’M ADDICTED!@
My partner had warned me that my cake would be a surprise. I assumed this meant he’s dug up some horrific old photo via my girl friends to have put on the cake but I was wrong. In his wrath at my constant addiction to twitter he put the thing that I apparently love most on my cake- the twitter logo! Surprised? I was!
DJ’s on the night were my big brother and former Rampage sound system member Richie P who flung down the best set from the 80’s and 90’s including Onyx, Lost Boyz and a crazy aerobic jungle set which had the club jumping and sweating so badly we had to have a slow session in the first 23 hours to get our breath back.

JASMINE AND FRIENDS.
Next up was DJ Kayper. Kayper is tinier than me. A pretty, slight Asian girl that can scratch, mix and drop a hot track like certain video chics drop the line ‘’I’m a model’’. She is fascinating to watch…that is if you could have seen her. The clubs DJ system isn’t really very well thought out for a hip-hop vibe so you can barely see a 6 foot man behind the decks let alone a 5 foot female so I kinda defeated the purposed there. But hey you live and you learn.

JASMINE WITH CAPITALFM’S ENTERTAINMENT HOST KEVIN HUGHES.
Immediately after Kaypers set girl group Rogue surprised me with an old skool rendition of Salt & Pepa’s Push It before launching into their own single ‘’Girls Anthem’’.
Finally the big man himself DJ Richie F- son of the legendary Mike Sweeny from RJS sound system took the decks and properly smashed it up. You have club dj’s, you have party dj’s and then you have a dj that just gets with the crowd to work them up into a frenzy the likes you’ve not seen since the Bad Boy party days. Richie. Tore. The. Spot. Down. With nuff call and response tracks like Lauryn Hill’s Lost Ones and Puffy and Mase hits, many party guests including me had lost our voices the following day. it was a night full of great vibes, non-stop dancing and outfits that had to be seen to be believed!
There goes another ode to hip-hop-the culture that nurtured and made me what I am today-! See you again same time next year!

JASMINE JOINS HOST TRISH ADUDU ON THE REAL TALK DEBATE SHOW ON OHTV WITH BOE THE COMEDIAN AND MP DAWN BUTLER.
What a week. Never let it be said that I don’t live up to my own work ethos of work hard, play hard!
This past few days have seen me attend East London’s Streetfest where Wookie, Radi Dadi, Rattus Rattus (Urban Nerds), Knicker Bocker Corey (Urban Nerds),Spectrum City, Jon Burgerman, Project G, Stylinquents and more were doing their thing.
The same night I had my annual theme party!-more on that next week!
The following day all roads led to dance and spoken word impresario Jonzi D’s annual Breakin Convention jam at Sadlers Wells Theatre, the next night was the One World Media Awards and frankly my dears I am now pooped!
I also managed to fit in a night at a screening of the new Noel Clarke film Fast Girls and another screening for the Price of Kings series which is fascinating and a must see for all you folks that want to be leaders.

JASMINE WITH JOANNA-(PRICE OF KINGS PRODUCER) AND JODIE (PR)
The ‘Price of kings: Shimon Peres’ is a fascinating documentary, which captures the human side of what it takes to be a leader.
The first film was on Yasser Arafat and the third will be CostaRicanpresident Oscar Arias. These are all intimate portraits that reveal both the political and personal sacrifices made by leaders like President Peres and the impact on them and their families. The beautiful thing is you don’t need to be a history boffin to enjoy this is series (there are 12 leaders in theprice of Kings series) as it has a range of exclusive, insightful interviews with those that were there when these historical events took place and the man himself. Its good British documentary making- informative, thought provoking, beautifully shot, and emotional. I went with my femalepower players Jay Davidson (BBC marketing), Cookie (Cookie Crew rap collective), Terri Walker (singer song writer) to go support our girl JodieDalmeda who is running the PR on the series of films.

JASMINE WITH TERRI, JAY AND COOKIE AT THE PRICE OF KINGS PREMIERE.
Later that night the cast and crew went to the Haymarket Hotel for post-premier cocktails where a fewviolet martini’s went down a treat as I congratulated film maker Joanna Natasegara,(Producer/Director) on the inspirational work from which I would be noting and remembering for life some of the aspirational quotes within the movie. I highly recommend it to anyone interested in gaining a deeper understanding of leadership. www.priceofkings.com
Next I joined a panel that included Boe the comedian and former MP Dawn Butler on the REAL TALK show (OHTV-SKY 199) hosted by the lovely Trisha Adudu. We debated the Olympics, young peoples access to negativity on the internet, whether London needs a black mayor, natural hair VS fake hair and whether we’d prefer to be beautiful and hated or ugly and loved. You know I could rant for hours about all of these subjects so it was hell for me to keep it short and sweet but we managed to get to the end without scratching each other’s eyes out. The big thing that came out of that was that both myself and Dawn Butler are considering running for mayor in the future LOL.

Finally we all got our comedy loving side together to attend a celebration acknowledging 21 years since the BBC TV show the REAL MCKOY began.
The invite promised an audience with all the shows original cast, producers and now black entertainment scene legends! it was a full nice turn out at the new BBC 8million cost building in town in their lush all bells and whistles theatre screening room.
As we entered I note it was like an old skool reunion with folks In the house who included Angie Le Mar, Kojo, Eddie Kadi, Eddie Nestor, police bigwig Leroy Logan, comedian Slim, DJ Daddy Ernie and many more. Our hosts Brenda Emmanus and Eddie Nestor had to deal with a very lively crowd who knew moreabout the legendary show than one of the BBC bigwigs who got all his facts about where and how the show started wrong-oops-fire the staffer that briefed that man! (clanger numero uno).The main man that runs BBC TV -our big man- mister Pat Younge came and did a welcome introduction where he urged the audience to e mail him TV show ideas. Straight away amongst the attendee’s was a discontented murmur as a few folks heckled ”we have, with no response”.Awkward moment number 2. And readers, to be perfectly frank from there on in whilst it was a brilliant night with great memories about the Real McCoy show with fascinating anecdotes from the cast and backstage crew , there were a lot of awkward moments one after another as cast and audience berated the BBC about not supporting black programming and not being up to date with the modern British cultural world. It was great to see the main cast including actors Felix Dexter, Meerya Syal, Judith Jacobs, Curtis Walker, Leo Chester (now Mohamed) and the producers all bantering with each other about their memories and current journeys. However, Ima keep it real. It was a BIG night and funny as hell. But the BBC bashing was dominant. The general feeling was that “Nothing in TV has really changed for black talent and black TV audiences in 20 years on the BBC”. I feel like I came to a party and we were trashing the hosts house. Someone suggested that if all the ethnic influencers and talent in this room united to form a company it could be huge. I agreed but know that only 1% of us sitting in that room would actually stick to our commitment in making it work whilst the other 99% would be all talking hecklers. I’d leave my full time paid job daily at 6pm to work on my own company for no money for months if others joined me. But who is really going to believe in themselves enough to do that? ….Luckily Angie Le Mar showed an exclusive trailer of her new TV show “The Ryan sisters” about 3 black sisters which looked brilliant!

JASMINE WITH CURTIS WALKER, JUDITH JACOBS AND BBC’S MICHELLE MATHERSON.
Part 2 of the evening showcased new faces with new heat coming like comedian/ radio host Kojo, comedian /radio host Eddie Kadi, Comedy promoting legend John Summit and comedienne/actress/writer Angie Le Mar all talking about doing it their way after being rejected by various mainstream broadcasters and establishments over the years. Kojo has made his own DVD from his sell out show at Hackney Empire. Eddie has sold out the 02!. Angie has had her work seen on stage, heard on radio and televised. All without mainstream corporate help.
I have to say from the internal staff point of view I have a lot of admiration for development and talent executive Michelle Matherson who has been at the broadcaster for years and must have seen the in’s and out’s with working with a corporation that does have to play it very safe and the internal politics must be horrible to deal with day in and day out. (I bet she couldtell some stories!). She must have to see a lot in her drive to bring in diverse talent.
In May the BBC Comedy teams/TV Collective and more are working with new comedy talent to find the stars of the future…….get in touch with the tv collective online. Like voting-if you don’t act you can’t change anything. If you’re not in the game you can’t even be a player let alone be a winner!!
See http://thetvcollective.org for more info……….if u don’t take your opportunities and responsibility for your own careers, who will?

JASMINE WITH KIRAN SHARMA!
Londoners! Its Voting day! I will be making time today to go and vote and make my voice and existence stand for something. I have relatives in countries where people die to fight for their vote and voices to be heard and spend hours queuing to make their cross on a ballot paper to bring in their leader of choice. Think I’m going to take this for granted? Hell no! Today I will vote! So many whine about their lives, the government, politicians and their community but when it comes to making a stand and being counted if you don’t vote- you have no right to complain.

After voting I’m popping down to OHTV to be a TV panel guest alongside MP Dawn Butler where the theme is…. you guessed it-voting LOL! (To be honest I’ll be glad when this London Mayoral Election is over- YOUTHVOTELONDON did sign up 600 new young voters so it’s a slower start than I’d hoped, but at least the car has pulled off the kerb. I dream that the momentum and understanding will grow until we have an Obama to call our own.

This week when I haven’t been yelling at the politicians in live TV studios, I attended a UK premiere of The Price of Kings: Film 2, Shimon Peres, and a 21 year celebration to mark the success and nostalgia of the old BBC ethnic sitcom –the Real McCoy.

I also caught up with a very understated lady who I think should be brought to your attention. Her name is Kiran Sharma and she is one of the movers and shakers that make the music industry run at a higher level.

Kiran has worked on all manners of music events and books artistes for everything from spectacular private parties to festivals and concerts, through her company, KIKIT Entertainment. She is also the manager of Prince. Yes, you read correctly. The legend that is Prince Rogers Nelson; the American singer, songwriter, musician, producer and actor.

Kiran was shaped early on by her days in her birthplace of Luton, which was “a bit rough and tough”, until she was eight. At the age of nine, due to her father’s work commitments, the family moved to Norwich which she recalls as being completely different. ‘’At that time ethnic minorities in Norwich made up a tiny percentage and there was hardly anyone to relate to. I was the only Indian kid in my school and got bullied for a couple of years.”

I imagine it’s this early need for self-defence and survival that has made Kiran into the tough cookie and astute businesswoman she is today. She could just as easily have turned into the bullied underclass, but she didn’t let it subdue her. She fought, toughened up and grew to be a bit of a tomboy.

So this early grounding shaped her character and she’s able to roll in the best of both worlds and adapt to all societies and circumstances.

Due to her traditional Indian background, Kiran’s education was more academic and less artistic. She was expected to get a corporate job, so did an engineering degree majoring in marketing “to please everyone” although she would have preferred to do art.

After graduating, Kiran worked in a very corporate environment and despite enjoying the challenge, she decided it wasn’t really for her and went through all the career stages as fast as possible. From being a marketing assistant for a small magazine to account director for an international marketing agency, Kiran ticked all the boxes for her parents and peers before casting her career net even wider.

She explored how she could merge her knowledge of business with her love of music and the arts. She knew that one day she wanted to work with established artistes, but had no expectations and just took the plunge to launch KIKIT Entertainment in 2005.

Kiran helped out a new unsigned American singer, managed a few events, put together the tours and generally worked crazy hard to build her experience and reputation. Thus came her early connections with acts like Martha High, Maceo Parker, Annie Lennox, Leon Ware, Mint Condition and Prince.

For two years she worked two jobs simultaneously, working her day job until 6pm then working on KIKIT until the early hours. She admits she had no time for relationships and family, but her time was well spent as she was so passionate and was having so much fun working on building a future, which would make it worth it. ‘’I was working with acts that had been in the industry for over 20 years and got to learn loads from them,’’ she enthuses her eyes twinkling with memories.

Of course I had to ask Kiran why she thinks Prince gravitated towards her in a business capacity in this later part of his career. “Well you would have to ask him that,” she judiciously responds.

She went on to explain that she first met him when she booked him for a London event, but that they didn’t even talk, (lesson 1, ladies — no groupie behaviour!), but eventually that all changed. “I was touring with Maceo Parker briefly and we met a few times backstage, but it was a friend who finally introduced us.”

TV companies and magazines really should be focusing more on characters like Kiran. Features about how a small town girl grows up to manage one of the biggest names in the world? The challenges of running a multi-million dollar business? How to earn the respect of male-peers? Its only logical as Kiran is one of the few higher ranked women to achieve success in the music industry.

“Everyone has this perception that successful women are hard-nosed. I realised that just being myself worked for me,” she tells me with a smile.

She knows that her ethnicity has of course aided her career and life values. ‘’My background and ethnic values mean I understand the concept of total respect for all people,” she says.

“Indian people tend to have a respect level for all other cultures and ultimately respect hard work. These things are instilled in us at kids. My granddad used to say to his four daughters, ‘I can’t give you a house or money, but I can give you an education. No one can take that away from you.’ Close family helps too. If I needed support tomorrow I know my family are there. It makes everything a little less scary.”

As with many big power players, Kiran’s attention to charity and giving back plays a dominant part in her work. Many of her music acts began performing at charity events like Save the Children and Kiran became increasingly involved in various campaigns. Today, she a trustee of Arms Around a Child, which supports kids affected by HIV and AIDS in India and Africa and builds orphanages for abandoned children.

Kiran has also been nominated for Entrepreneur of the Year in the Asian Woman of Achievement Awards 2012, which takes place on May 16 2012 at London’s Park Lane Hilton.

“Its great to be nominated alongside these women. The Asian Woman of Achievement Awards is such an important platform for British Asian women and I am hugely honoured to be shortlisted alongside such exceptional ladies. I met a few of them recently and they’re all fascinating and I felt proud to be in their company. One thing in common we all had was our similar experiences as women of Asian background. If you can come out of this industry doing something you love and can sustain your lifestyle, and you’ve managed to do it in a way that’s respectful to you, your culture and all around, then its a winning situation.”

Her entrepreneurial flair doesn’t just end with KIKIT Entertainment. Kiran is also launching KIKIT Ventures, which creates investment portfolios for artistes.

Now that’s business balls with a female chromosome!

JASMINE WITH SIOBHAN BENITA – ON MAY 3RD SHE GETS MY VOTE!
April 14th came and all roads led to the ministry of sound in Southwark for YOUTH VOTE LONDON where London’s mayoral candidates Siobhan Benita, Brian Paddock, Ken Livingstone and more came out to meet and greet and talk to the resembled young people.

JASMINE WITH ”RED-UNCONNECTED TO THE YOUTH” KEN.
The stage was hosted by spoken word artist dean Atta, mtv/choicefm’s kat and other ambassadors from the sprit of London awards, uprise and represent radio.
The red carpet was outdoors and saw a huge branding board with all the logos of all of London’s big youth organisations like Live / Livity-Somewhere To…, Catch22, lives not knives, enthuse youth, enterprise lab, press for change and more emblazoned across it where celebs were all clamouring to be snapped by the papps.

JASMINE WITH BRIAN PADDICK- A VERY NICE INFORMED MAN!
Many of these youth org’s also had stands inside where youth could get engaged and on board with the hundreds of initiatives that are on offer to London’s young people- who said there’s nothing out there for them? There was so much I couldn’t keep up! There were voting booths and ballot box’s teaching youth how to physically make a vote, there was a stage where dj’s and music acts were all interacting with the crowd and the outdoor area was awash with networkers and politicians.

JASMINE WITH EASTENDERS ‘NASTY NIC’-NOT SURE WHAT HE WAS DOING THERE? (AND I DONT THINK HE WAS EITHER LOL!)
Of course socially aware pro-social music star Sway attended as did West London act princess Nyah (who came to speak to the kids and did a freestyle too) and comedian Kevin j who spoke to the bloggers and press about why young people should use their vote to make a change for themselves.
Bizarrely ex eastenders actors nasty nick cotton and actress Tanya franks attended too. All the candidates arrived sporadically during the day so when Siobhan and Kev arrived most of the youth were on the red carpet interviewing and snapping away at them. But then they all relocated indoors to hear them speak so that by the time poor Brian Paddick arrived there were minimal red carpet press and I think he didn’t feel any love. poor guy.
Tory affiliated Shaun bailey was heckled a lot for speaking ‘’on behalf of the African Caribbean community in the uk’’.
Siobhan Benita got the most cheers and applause and talked about issues that the audience all really seemed to feel and broke out into spontaneous applause for. I wish Siobhan had started her campaign earlier as I think with the right championing on board co-signing her she could have actually made a dent. I will still be making my first vote Siobhan and my 2nd Boris. Siobhan is mostly definitely filling a gap by speaking for the under represented young of this capital city but Boris has always honoured his commitments by the policies I have felt an allegiance for and unlike Ken does care what the people say in my humble opinion.

Next an old friend, ex SonyBMG head honcho Mervyn Lynn called to see if I wanted to bring a group of friends along to the very swanky prestigious LAWRENCE OLIVER AWARDS.

JASMINE ON THE OLIVIER AWARDS RED CARPET PRE-SHOW WITH A SUPERSTAR THAT SHE’S HAD TO CROP OUT FOR SILLY REASONS.
The Olivier awards honor achievements in London plays, musicals, dance and opera. Winners in most categories are chosen by a panel of stage professionals and theatergoers.
Now whenever folks ask things like this I always look at my phone quizzically? I mean? Is the pope catholic? Is the British sky grey? is puff daddy the richest rap icon 2012? Of course I played nonchalant but was inside jumping up and down with glee. However many years I am in this industry every invite is an honour and I never take any for granted. It a blessing to work hard and play hard in this game. And Mervyn has always worked so hard-its nice to see nothing changes as he was still working lol. So I scooped up a few of my nearest and dearest (after a very OTT drama about whether one of our male friends had left his black tie outfit at his country house) and there we were walking down the longest, poshest most fabulous red carpet I’ve seen this side of the Atlantic. Make no mistake-this night at the royal opera house was about the biggest names in theatre and stage. The fact that a whole road –Drury lane- in Covent Garden was rolled over with plush red carpet was testament to the fact.
As we walked the practically 100 metre long red carpet at every turn of the head were TV crews, walls of paparazzi and household name celebs being interviewed. It was so exciting to run shoulders from the bigwigs of a parallel world! It was, as the OLIVIER AWARDS sponsors Mastercard always say ‘’priceless!’’
What I didn’t mention to anyone was that a mate and I had just jumped out of our jeans and into our posh frocks in the royal opera toilets and luckily had managed to dump all our clothes and bags in the cloakroom after sneaking past the backstage security guard, otherwise we would’ve had to have carried bags and coats down the red carpet and that my dears would have been frankly mortifying!
So we’re in! (Said like a bank robber that just snuck into the World Bank). The liveried doormen check out our tickets and directed us upstairs to the bar where we are surrounded by other fabulous folk in black tie and gowns and we sipped champagne.
Darlings I must mention that all theatre functions are a hoot to attend. When you see a ‘’black tie’’ instruction on an invite in the music world, to many it’s about flesh baring usually vulgar outfits that leave hardly anything to the imagination. Every theatre event I’ve ever attended I don’t worry about a fabulous frock. Theatre folk like quirky, eccentric outfits. They’re all uber creative people who wouldn’t be seen dead in a boring old frock from your average designer. They like to stand out and show off their uniqueness. So knowing I couldn’t compete with that I wore the most formal black floor length ball gown that I own lol.
We were soon ushered into our seats and eve though I’ve attended ballet performances many a time at this venue back when I was studying for my degree I still took a breath as I looked around at the breath-taking architecture and glitz of the auditorium and wondered at the fabulous theatre history and tradition in this quite recently regenerated building.
Before you knew the show was off to a very fitting start and from here on in 3 whole hours flew by in a magical blur. We had performances from practically every west end musical to entertain us in between the awards categories. These included performances by We Will Rock You featuring Queen guitarist Brian May, Ronan Keating and Kimberley Walsh singing No Matter What, Siobhan McCarthy and Maria Friedman coming together in tribute to Tim Rice and Elaine Paige rolling back the years to captivate the Royal Opera House with Don’t Cry For Me Argentina. It was breath taking!

Furthermore, name after name just kept popping out onto stage as the already ultra fab attendees even gasped at certain names who included Stars from the worlds of film (James McAvoy, Jonny Lee Miller), television (Zach Braff, Jack Davenport), music (Will Young, Ronan Keating) and theatre came together to see the prestigious awards handed out.
Matilda The Musical – The musical is based on Roald Dahl’s tale of an extraordinary little girl from an ordinary family.-created history, winning seven awards, more than any show has ever won before-so of course you know my next mission is to try and beg, blag or hustle tickets for this asap!
Also among the accolades the RSC production picked up were Best New Musical, Best Actor in a Musical for Bertie Carvel and Best Actress in a Musical for the quartet of young stars playing the title character.
One of my favourite highlights was a performance by The Royal Ballet from Wayne McGregor’s Limen to mark ballet goddess Dame Monica Mason’s Olivier Special Award,
In summary, we laughed, clapped, sang, jumped around in our seats with excitement all evening. Even the interval was fabulous as we were served champagne in our seats!
Oh the good life lol. Post show we were guided into the reception where an abundance of starters and small bowls of scrumptious food were served-our fave? The sausage and mash! The drinks continued flowing well into the early hours as we chatted to the big and bold of this world that were so open to strangers speaking to them. Acting celebs were happy to chat, mingle and pose for pics with all the attendees. There were no haughty, awkward folks-in fact a much nicer crowd that the music world which can be very egotistical. In fact, its refreshing to see an area that many think is inaccessible to ethnic minorities and others minority groups that is so openly embracing. I know a lot more minorities enjoy the theatre now than ever before with so much focus being put on the arts so this can only get better.
Ball gowns, champagne and theatre world luvvies…..just another day in the life of a media hustler- and the Diva Dotiwala Diaries.

JASMINE WITH CONOR MAYNARD AT THE #NANDO’SSECRETGIG
Easter weekend came and went in a flurry of fights over Easter eggs, a near 3 hour service in church on good Friday, a lovely trip up north for a fun family day in Telford (Telford! you know I usually don’t frequent anywhere north of Euston-in fact if I leave London its usually on plane outta the UK! LOL), and lots of friends time.

Straight after that I filled a day off mid-week with as much fun as I could arrange from morning till night.
I started at the Adidas UK HQ where with the triple threat that are Paola, Aisha and Akua we created outfits for my impending annual themed party-this year which is themed old skool hip-hop. Usually my parties excite the ladies and distress the men with themes like underwear, pyjama wear and Motown so this year I thought I’d let the men have some fun by channeling their inner ll cool j, slick rick and puffy daddy looks. the ladies as you can imagine have been distressing about the theme as some think old skool hip-hop ladies just weren’t sexy or too sexy- oh well-you can never win them all.
Needless to say, this years party will be up there with the rest. If you’ve attended before you know what to expect.

JASMINE WITH CLEO SOL AT THE #NANDO’SSECRETGIG
Next I met a friend my lunch after which we went to see the first ever UK screening of Plan B’s movie ILL MANORS.
After hearing his single of the same title I was intrigued to see how he would translate this into film and he did an amazing job.
It was heart breaking, ugly and horrific….that’s going to make viewers sit up and understand that for once Revolver isn’t exploiting urban street culture and just making an urban street film full of violence, but a film that makes viewers recognize why Britain’s youth are so dis-engaged.
It made me sit up and realize that whilst the HEAD OF MTV BASE production for many years I may have been part of the problem. Encouraging youth to live bout a fantasized life that’s not reality perhaps wasn’t my greatest moment.
Plan B’s movie gives examples of many stories that happen daily across the capital that many aren’t aware of or choose to turn their backs on. I was also hardened to many stories like this in the past but the movie left me feeling sick to the core and I was shook and troubled for many hours after watching it.
A very well written, beautifully shot piece of work- a big congrats to Ben and all involved.
Ben really is an act that is reflective of rock & roll stars from yesteryear that really believed in standing for something.
He has a voice and is not afraid to be opinionated and articulate. A great moment for us all if we can understand what this film is truly attempting to explain to us all.

JASMINE WITH CLEMENT MARFO’S MAIN MAN! AT THE #NANDO’SSECRETGIG
Next I zoomed up to Nando’s in high street Kensington where they had put on a secret gig showcasing a few about to blow acts from the scene. On arrival the venue was heaving with a variety of celebs, bloggers, journo’s, taste makers, fashionista’s, music industry folk-generally a really cool, uber trendy crowd that were enjoying the free drinks and Nando’s food that the restaurant had put on. It’s a very clever way of getting positive branding with the youth. They were tweeting in droves and supporting new music all in one fell swoop. DJ’s melody kane and manny Norte were on the decks, the networking was in full swing and the evening was buzzing early on.
In the house enjoying the new music were DJ Jarren C, music producer Dready (So Solid/ Busta Rhymes) , music manager Carla Marie, actress music act Preeya Kalidas, film director Mo, music act Master Shortie and more. Above and Beyond’s management’s Daren Dixon had tings well organized as act after act took to the stage in between the food being passed around. so it was a feast for the eyes , ears and mouth!. Cleo sol was looking well, extremely tall in vertiginous heels and sang with gusto-her vocals sounding much stronger than when I’ve heard her in the past. The guys were particularly excited by her too lol. Cleo mentioned to me before hitting the stage that she was readying her 2 new singles and album with a video shoot next week but wouldn’t reveal any titles yet.

JASMINE WITH THE MAC TWINS AT THE #NANDO’SSECRETGIG
Next up were Clement Marfo & The Frontline who are a seven-piece diverse collective from South London led by the charismatic Clement. Born to Ghanaian parents and raised in Kingston, South London, Clement has become a phenomenon in the underground British grime scene but I don’t think they sound grimy at all. I think they sound like a great hip hop/ rock hybrid and could do huge at music festivals with their energy and dynamic hooks. Clement told me years ago at the MOBO AWARDS that he would be doing big things and here he was, working hard to make it happen.
Finally onstage was a young man that has been dubbed continuously by press as the ‘UK Justin Bieber’. His name is Conor Maynard and according to press reports may be the world’s next big teen star. With close to 30,000 twitter followers already and over 3 million views on his YouTube Channel, 2012 could well be Conor’s year. I have to disagree that he sounds like Justin Beiber tough. I would suggest he is more Justin Timberlake, which is better. bieber has a kiddie corny sound. Timberlake is melodic with swag and charisma and harder sounds. Conor was a sweetheart- he spoke to me backstage before he went on and had beautiful manners and energy. He told me he was nervous but excited as he looked around the noisy venue. he surely did his thing onstage though and thankfully sounded exactly the same live as he does on record proving he does have a voice. Will he be the next top male pop heartthrob? Only time, hard graft, a solid team and his fan base will tell.
Now I’m off to scare my new LONDON360 team for series 3 who started this week. They’re about to get on a rollercoaster they’re going to love and hate that will catapult them into their media careers. Lets go!

JASMINE WITH ESTELLE- A WOMAN THAT WOULDN’T BE HELD BACK BY INDUSTRY BULLSHIT.
2 years ago I was on twitter asking where all the females in our entertainment industry were as the men had taken over. Now don’t get me wrong-we all long a bit of male empowerment but after months and months of seeing acts like Tinie, Tinchy, Dizzee, Chipmunk, Lethal B, Sway and others in the UK music charts and on our TV screens and radios I had to wonder where all the ladies were.
Seems I spoke not soon enough as within the last year record labels and artist managers have been signing up the females as if the last woman on earth was about to ovulate and we had to save the egg for the continuation of mankind!

JASMINE WITH LEONA- A LADY THATS BEEN PUSHING HARD ON THE SCENE WELL BEFORE X FACTOR!
With the hard fight that grafters like Estelle and Leona Lewis have had over the last few years and finally making it we saw the females start to come through thick and fast for this decade. And believe me these ladies slogged for years on the music underground scene at talent shows and more!
Estelle, who is in town with her new tour and music next month, was at every underground hiphop jam on the mic competing with the guys years ago. she was signed and let go but fought through and made her mark bigger in the States. shes ambitious- and talented- a great role model in an industry that had traditionally spurned darker skinned females.
Leona’s brother Bradley used to be one of my editors at MTV, he often mentioned his lil sister entering talent shows and practising her craft hard at home singing countless Mariah classics to sharpen her vocal instrument.
I recall the same issues when female acts like All Saints, Spice Girls, the Honeyz, Cleopatra, Truce, Mis-Teeq and more were trying to make it years ago. None of us know who will make it. Some folk lay money on acts making it whilst others that were relegated to the pop chart bin ended up being superstars. When the roc told me about Tierra Marie being the new roc princess they had Rihanna tag along like the understudy- 7 years down Riri put in the work and she’s here to stay. For now. Honestly, if a female music star has stood the test of time and sold as many records as she is gossiped about in the press she is made of tough winning material.

JASMINE WITH BRATT- A YOUNG LADY THATS FINALLY BEEN SIGNED AFTER PROVING HERSELF FOR A WHILE!
So it’s always interesting to see this happen in cycles. In the latest resurgence of the female music star race to the finish all my manager friends started signing both female soloists and groups. We saw talent like Miss Bratt, Princess Nyah, Cleo Sol, Delilah, Ruby Goe and others start to make their presence known. Boy band members from JLS (Ortise) were signing girl groups (Vida), former UK rappers ( Jean Paul Esq) was managing girl band Rogue, song writer Carla Marie was managing female trio RD and had them signed to Polydor. Next trio stooshe came along and have signed to Warner Music. Just this fortnight Dominique Young Unique signed a global deal with Sony music. Oh-and where’s Yasmin?
Often females get signed, become divas, don’t have the right synergy with their teams and record labels that thrive on all their insecurities and then are quickly dropped again. Female acts cost more money. they require hair and make up at all times as well as a wardrobe fit for a princess. This alone can be the make or break factor as to whether a record company head decides if someone is in the ‘’hot’’ or ‘’drop’’ category.

JASMINE WITH PREEYA-A LADY THAT KEEPS PUSHING FOR EVERY ANSPECT OF HER DOUBLE PRONGED ACTING AND MUSIC CAREER- A FIGHTER WITH PERSEVERENCE!
Also women in music face the same barriers that professional women in any career face-the biological time clock and its affect on our lives.
Ms Dynamite came, saw, conquered and then left to be a mother. It’s tough to comeback when you’ve been off the scene for so long.
My mate writer Hattie Collins did a feature in the guardian a couple of years ago about females in the UK music industry. She noted ‘’The last major British female rap outfit to make it big was Cookie Crew, the group that scored a top 10 hit with Rok Da House in 1988 and even achieved the impossible: success in the US. But Debbie Pryce, one half of the band, says British women can make it in hip-hop if they want it enough. “Challenges? What challenges?” she says. “We reigned supreme. Nothing deterred us. It wasn’t about being held back because we were girls. If you want to make it [in hip-hop], you have to love it and understand its true culture.”
And here is where I fear the buck stops. So many young females in the scene today don’t give us the impression they are musicians in the real sense of the word. They like to dress up and be sexy like Tulisa N -Duz, but do you get the impression they know the first thing about how to read music, play a musical instrument, how to structure a song without a producer or songwriter? Not often.
When I hang out with male new acts they talk to me about their music and desires for their music to affect social change. Many females talk to me about their fashion or hair issues. I know both are equally talented but the ladies don’t do themselves any favours by highlighting stereotypical images that they are already struggling to lose. It’s even worse when musicians are in a mixed band. Whether I’ve worked with the Fugees or N-Dubz its always the men that are ready at their call time and the lone females that have loads of crew waiting for hours as they get their hair and make up right. Why don’t they factor in their time deadlines?
Really it comes down to whether they have the X Factor. Do they light up a room with their presence or are they the wallflower? Are they genuinely amazing artists like Amy and Adele or are they playing up to the record labels pressure of being ‘’quirky’’ like Jessie J.
I attend numerous music industry functions and all the young female acts still with something to prove are always trying to outdo each other in the sexy stakes. On the other hand females with nothing to prove roll in wearing their jeans and tee’s and still look hot. Sexy can only sell records for so long. When the time catches up with you where will you be? Ask yourself this question as a measure of your current status- If you have a public profile, can people immediately break into a chorus of your hit?. if not–then you have failed already. Start your career strong now. Work!

JASMINE WITH LIL KIM A TRUE DOUBLE THREAT!
It’s a very tough world for females in the industry. But the main understanding that will carry you to longevity and success is to do YOU. Alicia Keys was dropped many times before making it. I know acts that had thousands spent on grooming and developing them and then 2 years in they decided they didn’t really want it anymore!? Honestly it’s a crazy career to want but if you want it-BE GREAT at what you do. Lil Kim wasn’t just a sexy, vulgar, controversial rapper-she had verses, bars and flow to match. The fate card is very important in whether you will or won’t make it but hard work added to talent and luck will guarantee success. Ladies-may the force be with you!.

JASMINE WITH ROADMAN BOXER DEREK CHISORA.
So we’re all looking forwards to this weekends bank holiday, but last week all the hype across the UK was the arrival of the Young Money Cash Money young prince Drake, who had the biggest show of his life so far at his concert at the 02 arena. On arrival I was surprised at the very young, mixed pop crowd swarming around the venue. I wondered if I had walked into a one-direction concert on the wrong date. But after seeing the merchandise stand-selling drake clothing I reassured myself I was truly at the right show. The t-shirts were £30 whilst the hoodies were over £100! And lots of fans had bought them!. How crazy is that? In this day where people have to look after every penny £100 is deemed an appropriate price for a basic hoodie with a logo? I mean if it were designed by a designer fashion house with a label and cut that reflected the quality then fine but a basic hoodie with a logo? Drake’s team are having a laugh-with an extremely heavier and heavier bank balance. With his label Cash Money Records and EMI Music having settled EMI’s recent lawsuit & their financial disputes I guess they now have even more dollars being flung around like its Christmas at the strip club. Oh well. I guess if you’re going to buy it you’re the fool right?
Once my people and I had got over that initial shock we wondered over to Nandos for a quick pre-show chicken thigh only to see drakes record label person jumping the queue with her plea to the waitress that drake needed to eat before he went onstage and her order was worth well over £100. Oh how we laughed as we chipped in with ‘’our order for 6 people is going to come to well over £100 too so stay in ya lane’’. (Having written that now I feel that perhaps the £100 hoodie is worth more than 20 minutes in Nandos lol).
With the distant echo’s of support act Labrinth doing his thing onstage we hurried up to the Adidas VIP BOX where as usual the movers and shakers of the scene (including Olympic hopeful gymnast Louis smith) were all congregated with fancy food and beverages. In my excitement I kept dipping the tortilla chips into salsa and guacamole and accidently had it flying all over the place including my blouse and the plush carpet- which a very zealous adidas big wig immediately jumped down to wipe clean. Sorry. You can take the girl out of the hood…..
As we were getting our drinks ready and catching up David Haye’s best mate, boxer Derek Chisora walked by our box and spotted someone he knew so popped in to say hi. I was feeling very awkward. After all I –like most other red-blooded women- feel like I have a loyalty to David Haye. After all he is a fine specimen. I said hi to Derek as my mate totally threw me under the bus by exclaiming in a loud voice ‘’ooh that’s very controversial jasmine-after all you LOVE David Haye’’. awkward.com.

Once the show started I admit I was expecting bigger and sexier staging as I see Rihanna as being a female equivalent of drake in popularity and her staging at her recent tour was extremely expensive and elaborate but Drakes was very simple with a bank, DJ and lighting graphics backboard. I was also disappointed that live Drakes breath control needs a lot of work. He couldn’t keep up with his own studio vocals and was performing to a backing tape of his own vocals so often you saw the moment where his mic isn’t to his mouth but the lyrics are still heard.
The style of the show was very basic but his fans didn’t seem to mind. He staggered monotonously through song after song and of course when his big hits made an appearance the crowd was sporadically excited. I can’t really take him seriously though when I consider his middle class happy educated background and then see his stage character swear like snoop with nearly as many m****** f****** thrown around throughout his set. What’s that about?
The energy did seem to pick up in the 2nd half of the show with the lighting back board throwing out some much more dynamic images.
I know that I have a ride or die loyalty to jay z after working alongside him around the planet for so many years but I have to say it REALLY grated me when Drake started pointing out fans in the crowd by describing what they were wearing. Every hip-hop fan knows that’s a classic jay z live strand. Jay does it for 3 minutes max. Drake did it for around 20 mins. He might as well as have shouted out the pink nail polish on my feet too, I’m sure he pointed out nearly every one of the 10,000 fans in the arena.
However I did warm to him towards the end where he seemed more humble as he revealed this was the biggest show of his career so far and he had felt very nervous before going onstage.
After spending so many years watching British acts trying to be on the Americans jock strap, It was ironic to hear Drake continuously shout out UK acts Sneakbo (twice), Wiley and Shola Ama. He also hollered at Florence and The Machine twice and pointed them out watching in the central sound desk.
As we left we spotted young fans all swarming around sex tape Tulisa in the box next door to us.

JASMINE WITH ANGIE LE MAR AND JOSIE D’ARBY ON BBC RADIO LONDON.

Saturday night was spent on the radio in the Ladies lounge on BBC Radio London with comedienne and script writer Angie Le Mar where myself and TV presenter/actress Josie D’Arby debated all the weeks latest news including woman beater Denis Waterman, the Trayvon Martyn tragedy and many other subjects.

Its only a few days from the massive #Youth vote London registration rally at Ministry of Sound where thousands of young people will register to have their voices heard so they can vote on may 3rd in the London mayoral elections. so many movers and shakers have lent their support for the change.
MARK FEEHILY from WESTLIFE said, “Unless we change things, they just stay the same. Voting gives you the power to change things you care about like flaws in the education system, or a law about something that’s unfair. Stand up and be counted”. LONDON360 ambassador ALESHA DIXON enthused ‘‘this is a fantastic opportunity for young people to shape their destiny! It’s simple, come along on 14th April and get registered to vote. No vote means no voice!’’. Musician and actor Ashley ‘Bashy’ Thomas stated ‘’I think that young people are the future and one of the most influential groups in the world. Young people need opportunities, which once given are usually greeted with open arms. They have innovative ideas and often view the world from a different standpoint. Young journalists are able to give a non-bias opinion and have the skills and knowledge to engage with people their own age and older’’. West London’s finest ESTELLE urged ‘’It’s important that young people vote because again this is your life…this is your world. The world isn’t for the people over the hill, the world isn’t for the people that have passed the point and have lived their prime of their lives…the world is for the young ones. It is important that you get out there and make a decision and what your future is going to look like. It’s very important’’. UK champ TINIE TEMPAH stated ‘”Lead the change and register to vote on 14th March. Be part of the solution, use your vote – Young people are the future and have the power to make a change!”. North London’s finest WRETCH32 said ‘’ “This is an amazing chance for you to change your future. It’s easy, come along on 14th April and get registered to vote. Make sure you vote and get the chance to share your voice!”. Grime heart throb Scorcher added ‘’”I want to see young people come out on 14th April and register and then use the power of their vote to create the changes they want and need. All over the world we see young people fighting for their right to vote and have a voice. We’re so lucky to have that right and should use it to create a better future.’’ Radio 1’s DJ Scott Mills explained ‘’ “I think for me as a Radio 1 DJ, a lot of the tweets and texts we get in to the radio station are: ‘ah if I vote, what’s the point, it’s not going to make a difference, a lot of young people don’t really care,’ I think it’s important for you to care, for you to get there (to vote) it’s really easy. You’re the future, the next generation, you are, pretty much, forming how the country will run, so it’s more important than you think it is.”
New kids on the block Rizzle Kicks understood ‘’Young people aren’t engaged in politics, I think, because the involvement of youth in politics isn’t that evident, a lot of young people feel like they have no connection with politics, it’s like a grown-up thing to do and they don’t have much of a voice. “It’s quite like for a young person, it’s quite off-putting, you see these big court meetings, it seems quite dull, “Young people should vote in the upcoming election because if a certain part of society isn’t heard, if a large proportion of the voting public choose not to do so, it will become evident in who is chosen and then that could have a backlash, that part of the public might find themselves excluded or not included in the decisions that are made as a result of the voting. If they were to stand up and make a decision early on, then there wouldn’t be any dispute.”
TV and film star Ashley Walters told us ‘’Young people should vote because their votes count you know even if you don’t have an opinion or you don’t agree with whatever is there you can abstain…but I mean in it’s own right that is a vote…that is you having your own opinion, and it’s counted. I think yeah definitely if you want things to change we have to come to the table as well and you know I think young people are having an issue with the government and authority at the moment and if they want to address those issues this is the right way to do it. So go and see what’s out there for you and give it a chance, see what you think, and if it makes sense do it.’’ soon to be big Princess Nyah added ‘’I think young people should vote because it really does make a difference. I think the population of young people in the United Kingdom it’s just crazy…there’s a lot of us. And I think if we all get together and we all vote it will definitely make a huge difference. I don’t think that a lot of young people believe that their vote does make a huge difference but it’s power in numbers. You see everyday in the news a town in another country has overturned some kind of rule or you know a law that they’re not happy with and I think that young people need to understand that there’s loads of us…there’s loads of us put there and if we stand together and we all make a choice then we are definitely will be able to make a difference’’.
Magic man Dynamo urged ”come and register to vote at the rally on the 14th – use the power of your vote to make a real change. Without a vote you have no voice! i know young people can make things happen-we need to dispel the illusion that you have no power!”
Final word went to LONDON360 ambassador Noel Clarke who voiced ‘’Make sure you vote, a lot of politicians don’t tell the truth and do what they’re going to do, make sure your voice is heard at all times, its your human right, it can affect your credit rating for mobile phones and mortgages-use your vote-make a change’’.
Now I’m telling you all, we made a change in our music charts with our movement. Now its time for all the young un’s to show what else you can change for your lives! after all, if you stand for nothing- you’ll fall for anything.

#YOUTH VOTE LONDON CELEBRITY TRAILER

YOUTH VOTE LONDON
watch to see why your vote counts and makes a difference to the way you live!.

JASMINE WITH ANGEL AT THE V INSPIRED AWARDS.
The week began with London’s music fans trotting down to the 02 Arena where drake was performing (more on that in next week’s juice).
Tuesday was my girl Mariah’s birthday and so in honour of a diva friend, I decided the best way to celebrate a Queens ‘’anniversary’’ as she likes it to be known as, was to spend the day doing things that made me feel like a diva. I started at the celeb hair salon 3V in Notting Hill Gate to get my hair done. Always dangerous as hair technicians Julian and Melissa like to ply their clients with flutes of champagne. I try to focus on the glossy mags and not the other celebs sitting alongside me which is always tough as I gawp at major household names who are getting their hair extensions freshened up and so forth. Alas I know Julian would ban me from the salon should I name-drop any names so I’ll stop here.
Wednesday night I took my colleagues and boss for cocktails at the Ivy members club in town. Always a great experience as the door, reception and bar staff treat you like a long lost friend on every occasion and the drinks and food are the best in town. Once again I like to observe which celebs are sat near the piano in the piano bar as there are usually a few merry superstars having a singsong with a cocktail in hand. Alas, once again, I’m dying to spill a few Hollywood star names and UK household characters but I know the owner Richard Caring would slap my wrist and ban me so its lips shut. I will say though that seeing a style icon, with a big fashion house fashion designer, a supermodel and a business legend that is a British household name singing along to the tinkling of the piano was something I wont forget in a hurry!

JASMINE AT PARLIAMENT WITH BITE THE BALLOTS INSIDE MAN PETE LESNIAK AND TORY BIGWIG SHAUN BAILEY.
Thursday night all roads led to Parliament for the YOUTH VOTE LONDON pre-rally soiree for taste makers and power players that make decisions for young people in the city of London alongside the MP’s and reporters- we were all reminded as to why its important to attend the YOUTH VOTE LONDON registration rally at Ministry of Sound in Elephant and Castle on April 14th to learn why your vote counts. You’ll be told by major names in the industry. An organization called BITE THE BALLOT hold regular ballots for young people in parliament where they meet and discuss their political issues with the MP’s. This made brilliant viewing-I attended one last week where former youth worker and tory bigwig Shaun Baily and others chaired a debate with young people. The opinions and debate were fascinating to watch. Youth have a lot of passion and these young people are our future. I only wish there had been opportunities like this for me to go to Parliament with my mates as a youngster and speak to politicians and talk about what mattered to us. The opportunities are here for you all now. Use them. www.bitetheballot.co,uk

JASMINE WITH DANIELLE BROWN AT THE V INSPIRED AWARDS.
My favourite things in the last week though were going to the V Inspired awards at the BFI on the South Bank where comedian/radio host Eddie Kadi and presenter Emma Griffiths were hosting the night that celebrates young people that volunteer and give back to their communities by doing great things. Most of these youth have achieved more by the ages of 25 than most of us will in a lifetime. In the pre-show reception I sipped a cocktail and tasted the delicacy’s like steak and wedges nibbles (which were mouth watering!) with my pal Danielle Brown who was sporting a gorgeous gold mini dress, as we watched all the movers and shakers get papped and interviewed before the show started.
The night was kicked off by an opening performance by Angel and Wretch32. Angel was good and I’m sure with a little more confidence on stage where he talks to his audience between tracks will live up to his full potential. However once Wretch32 joined him onstage for their song ‘’Go in, go hard’’ though their duet was electric. The young people that collected their awards from them were pretty chuffed too.
Awards were presented by many including my mate and one time TV presenter Trevor Nelson who was looking sharper than a razor in his black suit, SBTV’s main man Jamal Edwards who read his inspirational speech from his blackberry which I teased him about (a true modern tech man LOL), the Stooshe girls looked loud and colourful and I wondered if their talent would match? I was happy to see it did with their vocals and stage set being very strong and well rehearsed. So well in fact that you’d think they’d been around for years. Their heels were extremely vertiginous and backstage we spotted and giggled as one of the ladies tripped as she attempted to strut in them. Oh I’m a meanie. I expect big things from these ladies-its so good to see the ladies taking over the charts now. (Sidebar- Congrats to Dominique young unique on signing her global Sony deal this past week!). Bigger congrats to the following who blew my mind.
Winner -Best new volunteer: Zoe Burden, from Lowestoft, has been volunteering for Brighter Futures for the past year, taking children in care on day-trips and giving them opportunities to socialize – a cause very close to Zoe’s heart as she is currently living in supported accommodation and has, herself, been in care for the last three years.
• Winner -All round commitment to volunteering: Danika Hamilton, from Hulme, is a passionate and committed volunteer who credits volunteering with changing the course of her own life. Having experienced coping with homelessness and depression, volunteering has given her focus and determination to help others
• Winner-Bringing communities together: Joanna Mayes, from Biggleswade, volunteers for NACRO as a football coach. She has overcome a very traumatic time in her past and feels that volunteering has helped her along her road to recovery
• Winner- Team Activity: The Co-operative StreetGames Young Volunteers programme team in North Tyneside takes on a large group of young people drinking in a local park on Friday nights by setting up street football sessions
• Winner- Outstanding Contribution by a Youth Worker: Barry Clark, from Hatfield, has been working at the Hatfield centre for more than 40 years, providing a variety of volunteering activities for young people depending on their interests
• Winner- Most Outstanding NCS Team: Harrow National Citizen’s Service (NCS) team aims to promote a more cohesive, responsible and engaged society by bringing young people from different backgrounds together to make a difference in their communities.
A very humble Tinchy Stryder closed the show with a very impressive se with his DJ Spyro. It’s easy to forget just how many hit songs this young act has had but the whole audience full of kids and adults were up on their feet singing to track after track. A true sign of an artist that’s about his music as opposed to hype. His onstage performance has come on leaps and bounds too- very impressive. a great night that made me start researching about where I could possibly volunteer- do any of you volunteer anywhere I might be able to join you? Let me know.

NYAH AT HER SHOWCASE WITH MATE WRETCH32.
Straight after the V Inspired Awards myself and others like Wretch32 raced down to West London nightclub YoYo where Princess Nyah was performing a short set.
It was a great first live performance of the year, where she sang all her new material and it was very well received, the support from the artists in the venue was monumental too. Her frriends that turned out to support her included wretch 32, Adot, Cleo Sol, Target , manga and more which Nyah told me made her ‘’feel really warm! ‘’’
An excited just off-stage Nyah breathlessly gushed “It felt good to be back home at YoYo’s, the vibe here is a performers dream, and the support from my fellow Artists did not go un noticed – #TeamUk!!”
The overall night was great and packed, the crowd seemed to levitate mostly towards Soldier, Artillery and Around the world in my set, and like a true MTV star she was filming a day in the life! Nyah’s good mates with Future the Prince (Drakes DJ) who was DJ’ing on the same bill, which rounded the night of nicely!
Now I’m off to plan my fancy dress party- theme; OLD SKOOL HIPHOP. How classic will this be? My last big party’s saw practically the whole of #teamuk dressed as Motown legends, usher drank loads of Cristal, Lennox Lewis insisted and didn’t get a VIP area, Joe made the ladies gush. Time o go get my Lil Kim / Foxy Brown look together!

JASMINE WITH THE PRESIDENT-BIRTHDAY BOY WRETCH32!
Did you all celebrate your mothers last weekend? I hope so! (But isn’t it always a bit of a nightmare? last minute cards, over-priced flowers and restaurants and traffic? I was very over ambitious in that I spent Friday night at wretch32’s birthday party at a nightclub in Jermyn street in the centre of town, got in at 5am the next morning-had planned a dinner party the Saturday night at mine and then again on Sunday night as well as promised our west London home girl Estelle to be at her new album launch party for ALL OF ME at aura on Sunday night too.
I actually, for the first time ever, begged forgiveness from Saturdays guests as I casually threw out ‘’oh tonight I thought we’d have take out Chinese with a bottle of champagne’’. I saw our guests faces drop as they looked at me horrific that for once I wouldn’t be cooking up a storm, and then dropped the bombshell ‘’we cant drink, one of us is pregnant’’. awkward.com. The Chinese came. It was bad. And expensive KMT. But we did have fun. Moral of the story? If inviting peeps over for dinner-MAKE them dinner! The next night I got my domestic goddess on and made a full roast Dotiwala style with an ethnic twist- herbed up mac & cheese and savoury Yorkshires with a whole chicken stuffed with garlic, chilli and ginger!
Can you imagine what sort of mess I was in on Monday morning? No really-you cant!
I struggled through Monday and then on Tuesday hit City Hall with hundreds of young people for the SPRIT OF LONDON nominations launch party. Ashley Walters performed and spoke inspirationally about the power of young people; SBTV’s main lady Georgia hosted the event in her kooky posh street slanguage style that’s really her brand and no-one else’s lol, spoken word poet Dean Atta performed with passion, as did many other young people- the youth dance troops were on fire, they revealed the awards this year will be held in November at Wembley Arena. Last years sell out venue at the Royal Albert Hall in front of a host of celebs and thousands of youth was amazing so look out for that!

JASMINE WITH PR MAVEN VANESSA AMADI AND SUGABABE ORIGINAL LEAD-KEISHA BUCHANAN.
The party of the year so far- and I cant see any others taking his crown for now- was as mentioned above the birthday soiree for the Tottenham champ they call Wretch32. Held at a nice club basement in central London, the venue was full early into the night with loads of ladies who had turned up early to guarantee their two-step gyrating spot.. Wretch’s invitation specified that the theme was ‘’presidents and first ladies’’ so I had slithered into a fitted knee length white Victoria Beckham frock, some classic classy nude Chrissy Lou shoes, a pearl necklace strung around my neck, and my hair piled into a high 1st lady beehive. Well. Imagine my face when I swanned into the party and not one person had respected their host’s request to follow the theme! I did spot a Marilyn Monroe and an Arabian prince and Preeya Kalidas did wear a prim cute black classy 1st lady frock but aside from that there were numerous scantily clad ladies in barely butt skimming dresses. I thought disgustedly ‘’I didn’t think Michelle Obama would ever be rocking these garms!’’ but it was all worth it as many commented on how fly the outfit was. The wonderful thing about the party was that EVERYONE in the #teamuk mould was present to support and have fun. I’ve been to a lot of artists parties in my time but the love and positive energy that wretch and his team brought to that room I wish I could’ve bottled!. Everyone was having a manic party time. it was the usual rammed affair at the door with many waiting outside for a couple of hours to get in. luckily I was scooted in quickly. All the males were dressed to the 9’s in their slick efforts at being presidential. Ladies-I gotta say it, as much as I am #teamlady, you’ll let the side down. Nibbles were passed around. on the 1’s and 2’s was regular celeb party DJ- bringing the hottest street heat to the function-DJ Manny Norte-the name you can trust (look out for him-big things are just about to pop off more commercially for this guy).
The number of acts that turned out to pay respect to north London’s finest-wretch was incredible. Kano looked as handsome as ever and played the cool smiling pres,
I nearly didn’t recognise both G-FRSH and Ghetts in their suits-they looked hot. Also undercover in a new look was Hackneys finest- Ms Leona Lewis who many didn’t recognise with her dark hair, geeky specs and French beret-I thought she looked very sophisticated and was really getting her dance on.
The party was clearly where I was at cos Leona and Jamelia were winding down in front of me with Keisha Buchannan. Jamelia had a real party that night-it was good to see her let go and just enjoy around trusted friends. Keisha looked stunning in her tiny black frock and had a lot of the men’s attention, as did new young hottie Princess Nyah in her mini cutout body con dress. Bashy was stood directly behind me on the sofa dancing and jumping hard in his president suit, no socks and sneakers-he was casual pres.
J2k was swagging hard with his boys; the heartthrob of the grimy world- scorcher was literally fighting the girls off. It’s those cute dimples, baby face and tall manly physique that had the ladies losing control. About to blow big west London hottie and ROC NATION signee Rita Ora was macking a mans sharp cut beige suit and the night was rocking.
Wretch had a pyramid of cupcakes and he himself was rocking a tweed suit with braces and dickie bow tie-so sweet! He was a charming host and greeted all his guests whilst still jamming hard and taking photos with all. a great night full of much love and friendship. Salute wretch on your great graft and movements so far- we all adore your work ethic, charm and talent. Onwards and upwards birthday boy!