JASMINE WITH BROADCASTING LEGEND SIR TERRY WOGAN!
Many of you know I am the executive editor of a TV and multi media brand called LONDON360. It’s a regular weekly TV show that is on TV on the Community Channel (often segments are also used where appropriate on our corporate partners channels-BBC, ITV, C4, C5 and SKY).
120 young London based reporters between 18-25 make the show from a grass roots level. They speak to Londoners from EVERY walk of life whether a resident, local business owner, MP, councillor, TV star, Music star and more.
The reporters learn to hone their multi media skills and get their feet into doors they wouldn’t usually be able to get in. they make TV, radio for BBC RADIO LONDON’s top show hosted by Eddie Nestor, written weekly print press columns for one of the newspapers in the country-THE VOICE and online 24 hours a day.
Many of the stories covered by the team have led to bigger exposure for Londoners and the success of LONDON360 has now led to a sister show that focus’ on the whole country- predictably called UK360!
Both shows are filmed at the BBC in White City and so far we’ve managed to give a voice to thousands across the country.
Celebrities that have so far been involved in news features include; our ambassadors Alesha Dixon and Noel Clarke, Alicia Keys, BBC host Matt Allwright, Ade Adepitan, George Michael, Chipmunk, Channel 4 News presenter Jon Snow, Nigerian music superstar 2face, Lethal B, Boris Johnson, comedian Kojo, Lisa Maffia, ITV News Presenter Charlene White, Bashy, David Lammy MP, Trevor Nelson, Lord Sebastian Coe, Jay Sean, Celeb chef Marco Pierre White, Akala, Goldie, Rodney P, Sir Steve Redgrave, MC Ty, Glee star Cory Montieth, Levi Roots, Estelle, BAFTA nominee Adam Deacon (vote for him this week-last chance!) and many more.
The most recent UK360 shows are presented by poet laureate Benjamin Zephania and broadcasting legend Terry Wogan.
Both are openly, comfortable opinionated and have very sharp minds. Benjamin has managed to make a career in the written word whilst being dyslexic and Sir Terry is the greatest autocue reader I have ever met-(closely followed by Trevor Nelson LOL!). About his dyslexia Benjamin revealed to London360 reporter Helena Poole ‘’ I’m very dyslexic but I’m also very lucky. I work in the creative arts. I left school at the age of 13 unable to read and write. Its just about reading and writing and that’s an artificial thing to do’’
Then when I learned to read and write I discovered that I was dyslexic.Now I’m a professor at Brunel University. Fortunately, in the creative world you have a lot of understanding people around you. And if I have a problem with words I just invent words and I can get away with it because in my back pocket I have a thing called a Poetic license. But I can understand at school how difficult it can be for some young people struggling with dyslexia.But dyslexic people just look at the world differently. And the most important thing that dyslexic people should know that it is NOT a mark of your intelligence”.

Benjamin could’ve had letters after his name too but famously rejected his OBE from the Queen many years ago. He explained ‘’ It is almost impossible for me to sit here and tell you why I turned down the OBE.At the time I turned it down I wrote a 2000 word article in the Guardian newspaper, and I remember reading the article back and thinking, I could have wrote much more. Basically, I write to connect with people. I don’t write to impress governments, politicians, and Her majesty the Queen and things like that. I write to connect with people. I am Benjamin Zephaniah NO B.E.I don’t want order of the British Empire on my name. I have spent my life fighting against empire. Empire means to my family, slavery, and brutality. Why would I want to celebrate that? Why would I want to put that on to my name?
No, Benjamin Zephaniah NO B.E is me!!’’
We talked to Benjamin about the riots. He was passionate ‘’ Well, it’s too easy to say that people who are uneducated riot.
I was once asked by a very well known TV channel to write a poem about people who riot.
And I thought about it, and I said you know what I’m going to write a poem about people who don’t riot.
(He says Poem)….’’The point is, if you have a job to go to tomorrow and you have a lot to loose why would you be on the street rioting, why would you be doing crime anyway. It’s about hope and if you have nothing to lose then you’ll do anything. Not all people who don’t have a job are uneducated. The media picked up on a couple of people who had jobs that were rioting but there were only a handful of them. Most people were desperate and I’m not saying that taking trainers and stuff like that is making a statement, but there is a political reason why they did that. I know that if I went out and rioted now, or if I stole something from a shop, I will begin to think about what I have to lose. I have my career to lose. What will my fans think of me, what will my parents think of me? What will happen to my students at my university? But if I had nothing to lose, gosh I’m not so sure’’.
Benjamin excitedly remembered me from this column as he stated ‘’I know you-you write that column in THE VOICE with all those stars. I’ve been in the VOICE but usually in the more serious part of the paper. I reassured after this week he would have seen himself in my star area too! LOL.

JASMINE WITH POET LAUREATE BENJAMIN ZEPHANIA.
Terry Wogan was charming too. An absolute sweet heart. He has been in the industry years and experience the media from the ground up but is still the humblest of men. He told me ‘’ I always use extra strong braces on TV as the sound battery packs are so heavy they pull my trousers down’’. He also had my reporter Emily Jane brown in stitches as she interviewed him on anything and everything. When asked would he ever consider going into politics? He retorted ‘’It would be the last thing in the world I would ever want to do would be to go into politics, with the possible exception of Boris Johnson, I haven’t really met a politician that I liked’’.
He’s been on TV with his own chat show whilst I was growing up, has a radio show but is currently best known for hosting the BBC’S Children In Need but here is what he revealed he would and wouldn’t do for charity in our CRAZY FOR CHARITY METER. ‘’
‘’A sponsored walk: I can walk, yeah.
Sponsored fancy dress: No
Sponsored silence: I can be silent, but not for very long.
Would you lay in a bath of cold baked beans for an hour: Absolutely…not.
Would you busk for a day in the London tube station: Wild horses would not drag me to the London underground stations to busk
Would you work in a kissing booth: No, you could catch anything
Full body wax from neck to toe: That is probably my idea of hell
Appear in a reality TV show: I have been offered several hundreds of thousands of pounds, under no circumstances in a million years would I go on a reality TV show, or ever be that close to Ant & Dec.
Naked charity calendar: No it might frighten the horses
Climb Everest: If I had my health and strength, I’d give it a go. But I’d probably die at Call 1’’.
Finally we asked why was it important for him to present UK360? he might be getting on a bit but he certainly knows what’s what as he responded enthusiastically ‘’Well I think UK360, it was new to me and I think it’s a relatively new idea as well. But I think it’s the future. I think everything is going to become more and more accessible. And people should be able to use the television to get their message across. This is a fantastic idea and I really do applaud it. Any time you want me to help, I’ll be delighted’’.
Truly a pair of total legends!

JASMINE WITH WRETCH32
What a wonderfully diverse week! This week I’ve had dinner with a huge group of music industry movers and shakers where we debated what’s going to be big in 2012 as well as all other frivolous industry tittle-tattle. I’ve been running in and out of celeb hair salon 3V in Notting Hill practically daily for a blow to keep my bonce looking shipshape- especially when I had a shoot with the British broadcasting legend that is Terry Wogan.

JASMINE AT HER HAIR SALON 3V WITH CO-OWNER JULIEN AND HER HAIR STYLIST MELISSA.
I’ve spent a day at the Telegraph TV offices discussing new media and had lunch with no 10 Downing Streets head of digital communication-Mr Nick Jones! (My new years resolution is to actively stick with winners in their field!)

My LONDON360 news team have been working on numerous TV news reports this week which included the fall out of the Stephen Lawrence sentencing, interracial/interfaith adoption, the Amy Winehouse foundation, London’s tube buskers, young people and body image, the Palestinian state, love on the tube, female boxers in the Olympics and the regeneration of Tottenham.
Much has been said in the media about this North London borough in the past regarding riots both past and more recently but not many are focusing on the reasons behind the social discord. The LONDON360 reporters hit the ground running as they spread across the Tottenham community to ask residents, local MP’s and local celebrities their thoughts.
We went down to Tottenham’s much loved venue-the Bernie Grant Centre to speak to a local resident called Jermaine Sinclair who you may know better by the name Wretch32.
Wretch has grown up in Tottenham on the Tiverton Estate and has a lot of passion for his community and the late Bernie Grant…. ‘’Bernie Grant being such a legendary figure they thought it was necessary to make a centre and build something, it holds quite a lot of events, it is really for the community, I’ve performed here quite a lot of times, yeah Bernie Grant Centre is definitely the place to be in Tottenham.’’
Tottenham has clearly shaped Wretch as a person. His memories are very vivid-this he uses in his lyrical content…’’Mostly my estate -Tiverton Estate, Growing up in a estate it is like your friends become your family, and your surroundings outside your house almost become your home. My school I went to Northumberland Park, Broadwater Farm we used to go and play football up there, they always used to have a rave in the farm and all dayers always going on over there’’.
Estates can be depressing places for young people to grow up but Wretch who used to listen to a lot of bashment and So Solid Crew in his early days says things have most definitely improved ‘‘in Tiverton they got something called the NDC it is a organization which I think is stands for New Deals in Communities, and they got a 50 million pound bonus to boost up the area, they rejuvenated the flats to make it really new, they improved the youth clubs that were already open. They put basketball stuff up in the cage and they have really tried to make it look like a better place and really executed on the areas that are going to benefit the youths so it is really cool’’.
Wretch was lucky enough to have a fathers influence in his life-unlike many young people today and cites his dad as his main reason for making music ‘’Growing up anything my dad done made me want to do it. So if he was a Plummer I’d be fixing toilets right now I’ll be honest. He kind of was the biggest role model I had, when I saw him in a club and he was on the mic and on the turntables it just set something in my head and it made me really feel like you can be the most quietest person but once you come on the mic you’re the most important person in the room, and just looking at that from a kids perspective really excited me. I went home was messing around on the decks, got in trouble for it!’’.
Wretch is really proud of his area and named other acts that he was proud of that were his peers like Skepta, Chipmunk and Adele but wanted to highlight a new act called ‘’Hard Palm Dun- you know the kids really love him round here he is going to come through and do big things next year. They call him Dun Dee as well. I think he has done great stuff and the kids really love him. I think you have got to listen to who the kids are listening to you know cause the kids are the future, they know what is happening. When the whole area is screaming Dun Dee you know he must be big’’
I think Tottenham is definitely a place where we are really hunger driven we have got a lot to prove all the time so we want to conduct ourselves in a professional way. We want to make better music than all the other artists, we want to be the best’’.
Wretch has seen the journey that his area has made in recent years and has his own thoughts on how to rejuvenate Tottenham …..’’ ask the really young kids what they are into and really try to execute and implement some of their ideas. It is difficult asking someone like me who is 26 because I am still going to have to ask a 15 or 18 year old but if we go straight to the source what they are in to, it is weird because the next generation might be into writing films they might be really inspired by noel Clarke -people like that and think I want to write a film it is about setting up anything we can to really help benefit the kids in the direction they really want to go in’’.
Whilst Wretch’s area homes one of the biggest football teams in the capital, he looked around concerned as he confided in me that he is not a Tottenham hotspur fan…..’’
I’m just going to be honest I am an Arsenal fan! My dad is a Tottenham fan so I’m not quite sure how he allowed this to happen LOL. I think I just remember in my early years playing football in primary school the idol was Ian Wright you know if you had a red top, I remember a mate of mine wrote the number 8 on his back obviously no body had the money to go and get it printed on, so he drew it on. Everything was Ian Wright orientated hence why I support Arsenal. But you know Tottenham are a good club one day they might be as good as us!’’
Most kids look to music stars like Wretch as role models but he understands that the people that make changes are politicians and had a straight message for them ‘’any MP can just look at this place and see a lot of good things have come out of it. It is easy to shine a light on the negative things that are happening, but it is better in the long run if we shine a light on the positive things, and add to them. They really should focus on getting into the schools and talking to the youths and finding out exactly what they need and what they are after and help them with any of their requests’’.
Tottenham is clearly somewhere wretch is zealous about as he states ‘’there is a certain way we lace our trainers here is a certain hair cut we get there is a certain line everything is set and trimmed and designed-Tottenham has everything to do with how I am today’’.
I talked to Wretch about the sadness I felt at many of London’s libraries closing down. most of my childhood has great memories from weekly library trips. Wretch revealed something fascinating…’’ It doesn’t sound like a good thing. I think a library is probably a home for a lot of people.I think in this day and age when you are able to read a book online in your house for free I would see why it is probably not as popular as it used to be. Books are everything, but the funny thing is the first book I ever read other than kids books was Tinie Temphas book and that was the other day. I just made the decision I haven’t read a book I need to read and I read Tinie Temphas book. What was really funny about that is it made me realize that I didn’t feel to read anything before because no book interested me. What did interest me was that Tinie Tempha had a book and I could relate to it. It is about finding out what people are into and if there is enough stuff you are into then you will read it. See I have now gone on to Jay Z ‘s book Decoded it is massive. It made me feel like what UK artists and urban artists are doing is a big thing, because if Tinie made me pick up a book, he has done that to a lot of other people as well that are not book readers’’.

The LONDON360 congratulated him on his last album ‘black and white’ going gold, and were most keen to hear about Wretch’s new album about which he said ‘‘the new album is going to be the next chapter to Black and White. I’m trying to give you my life as it changes my life before Black and White it was like this and I gave it to you up to that point. Now after Black and White it has changed again so I can give you to this point and as long as I keep progressing and I see different things I meet new people I will always have things to talk about. It is a progression from Black and White’’.
Regards any collaborations on his new album wretch revealed ‘’I am a firm believer in making the album first and then pulling in the missing pieces to the jigsaw I think if you were baking a cake you would not start with the cherry and then the icing you would make your cake first. So that is how I look at it my album is my cake I make the cake and then I think ok maybe Tinie Tempah will kill this verse I give him a call and see if he likes that track and we see about that after there isn’t any collaborations at the moment it is all myself’’.
(For the full interview transcripts with WRETCH32 and DAVID LAMMY MP SEE BELOW…….!).

-END

WRETCH32 INTERVIEW TRANSCRIPT-BY JASMINE DOTIWALA

Tell us about this place any memories of this place?

This is one of the most renowned places in Tottenham. Bernie Grant being such a legendary figure they thought it was necessary to make a center and build something you know massive. Basically After he passed away and it holds quite a lot of events it is really for the community I’ve performed here quite a lot of times as well and there is a office which I use, which is a minuet from here just around the corner, so yeah Bernie grant center is definitely the place to be in Tottenham.

Where else in Tottenham did you hang out growing up and what memories do you have of those places?

Mostly my estate Tiverton estate (1.36) and that is up the road. Growing up in a estate it is like your friends become your family, and your surroundings outside your house almost become your home. A lot of time in the estate of course and school I went Northumberland park as well that’s just up the road. Also Broadwater farm we used to go and play football up there and chill out they always used to have a rave in the farm and all dayers always going on over there. Literally anywhere in Tottenham but mainly my estate.

Tell us about the changes you’ve seen happen over the years what it used to be like and how has it changed?

Yeah the changes in Tiverton they got something called the NDC it is a organization which I think is stands for New Deals in Communities, and they got a 50 million pound bonus, don’t know what you call it, to boost up the area in Tiverton they made the flats, they rejuvenated the flats to make it really new, I think they improved the youth clubs that were already open. I think they put basketball stuff up in the cage and they have really tried to make it look like a better place and really executed on the areas that are going to benefit the yutes, like the football pitches the youth clubs so you know it is really cool.

So growing up in the Tiverton area what kind of music were you listening to? What music shaped your life growing up?

Growing up? I used to listen to a lot of Bashment! A lot of my bredrins used to listen to Wu Tang clang and things like proper deep Hip Hop but I was more into listening to Bashment. You know of course when things like So Soild came in to play that was the new frenzy that was the take over, you know heartless crew being from North London as well theses are like before we get into Dizzee and that. Them time we were young but definitely like So Solid and that definitely

You come from a musical family your dad is a dj tell us about the musical effect he had on your music taste growing up?

Growing up anything my dad done made me want to do it. So if he was a Plummer I’d be fixing toilets right now I’ll be honest. He kind of was the biggest role model I had anything he did I wanted to do, when I saw him you know in a club and he was on the mic and on the turntables it just set something in my head and it made me really feel like you can be the most quietest person but once you come on the mic you’re the most important person in the room, and just looking at that from a kids perspective and him being my dad as well it really excited me. I went home was messing around on the decks, got in trouble for it! And really I just started to write lyrics when I got older.

Name check other music artist that have come from music and North London.

Loads of us you know, of course we’ve got the Skeptas the Chipmunks Double s, Marvel, and that I think there is a lot of drive in north London we always want to take it to that next level and there is also so much new artist coming through. There is a new artist called Hard Palm Done you know the kids really love him round here he is going to come through and do big things next year. I think it is definitely a place where we are really hunger driven we have got a lot to prove all the time so we kind of want to conduct ourselves in a professional way. We want to make better music than all the other artist we want to be the best and I think that really shows.

Of course Adele where did she say she was again? I think she was from Landsdown road didn’t she (5:34) that is only up there when I found out Adele was from Tottenham I was surprised I was like woh.

How should Tottenham be rejuvenated?

I think the best way to rejuvenate Tottenham would be to ask the really young kids what they are into and really try to execute and implement some of their ideas. It is difficult asking someone like me who is 26 because I am still going to have to ask a 15 or 18 year old but if we go straight to the source what they are in to, it is weird because the next generation might be into writing films they might be really inspired by noel clark people like that and think I want to write a film that to me I think once we find out exactly what is needed it is about setting up anything we can to really help benefit the kids in the direction they really want to go in.

Are you a fan of the very known football team in Tottenham? What does having a big team in the area do for the area?

So I’m just going to be honest I am a Arsenal fan! It is really random me living in Tottenham my dad is a Tottenham fan as well I’m not quite sure how he allowed this to happen but he was alright with it. I’ll be honest I think I just remember in my early years playing football in primary school the idol was Ian Wright you know if you had a red top, I remember a mate of mine wrote the number 8 on his back obviously no body had the money to go and get it printed on, so he drew it on. Everything was Ian Wright orientated hence why I support Arsenal.

But You know Tottehham they are a good club one day they might be as good as us don’t shoot the messenger just saying. The new improvements they have made to the station makes Tottenham look better as well, they have opened up new shops and created a bit more space by the school and it looks pretty cool. It is a nice stadium as well I’ve been in there a few times to watch American football (laughs)

How do you think having a club like Tottenham has helped with the unity of the area/ community/ borough?

The community will always benefit when there is stuff like football stadiums and music venues, stuff like that, because people are coming from all over the globe, well not the globe but at times yeah, to come to these places it is almost like London having the Olympics. It feels like that every Saturday when all the Tottenham fans are walking about you won’t be able to walk out there but its not like there is any problems everyone is cool they all walk in the same direction they are going to the match. A bit of unity it is nice it is cool.

So you think with the worlds eye on Tottenham when there are football matches and so many artists coming from here you would think that the government really want to put money into it. What message do you have to the MPs?

Just hope that any MP or someone in that Government area of life, will just look at this place and think a lot of good things have come out of it. It is easy to shine a light on the negative things that are happening, but it is better in the long run if we shine a light on the positive things, and add to them. That will really rejuvenate they really should focus on getting into the schools and talking to the youths and finding out exactly what they need and what they are after and help them with any of their requests.

Do you think young people who come from Tottenham are proud to come from here or do you think recent events have stigmatized things slightly?

I think people from Tottenham are proud to be from Tottenham. I think especially the kids they are really proud because they know that they have got a lot to scream and shout about. I think it is more the adults that will feel like “oh gosh” I don’t want to seem like I am a part of this or anything like that. But you know, what they have got to realize is we have all got a part to play and people really like pointing the finger. It was easy to point the finger at me to do stuff but I was like, well my kids are well behaved and stuff and I do that as a parent before a artist.

Anything I can do for my area as an artist or a parent is done. Consider it done I think it is definitely the kids that are really happy. I think the adults just need to realize that we want what’s best and we do want to be doing good stuff and positive things we just need a bit of help sometimes.

How Important is Tottenham been in shaping you and what attributes would you say came from growing up in this area?

I think in terms of who I am as a person it is everything because I think when you grow up in England you are not Jamaican you are English. So when I grew up in Tottenham there is a certain way we lace our trainers there is a certain hair cut we get there is a certain line everything is set and trimmed and designed to your surroundings, so I think if I grew up somewhere else I would be completely different. Tottenham has everything to do with how I am today.

You are really good at championing new people who should we be championing from this area who should we be looking out for?

I definitely think a guy called Caliber he is definitely going to come through he has done F64 SBTV stuff Grime Daily ect there is another guy called Hard Palm Done they call him Dun Dee as well. I think he has done great stuff and the kids really love him. I think you have got to listen to who the kids are listening to you know cause the kids are the future, they know what is happening, so you ask them when ever I come across someone new I ask them. I want to know why they are listening to them, who they are tipping. When the whole area is screaming Dun Dee you know he is a mate of mine too so year look out for him.

Black and white has gone gold tell us about that where were you when you heard did you expect it?

Yeah we got gold I’m happy about that. When I heard I was inside at home and it was weird it took me back to a few conversations that we were having before everything really kicked off, and I’m a big dreamer but I’m really realistic and our initial goal was like anything to do with, with me it was going to be more album driven we should go for like 50 thousand albums, lets look at top 40s, and not necessarily consider top tens, and it is weird because when Tractor came out that whole ethos just changed. And it was like ok that one has gone in there, this wasn’t where we were planning to be but we are here, lets see if we can keep it going.

So it is really weird it’s done better than we expected. The position that has put me in now is just I feel like I might as well go for the world now and I’m literally just going to go for it the new album we are recording is a lot bigger you know we are getting in with bigger producers bigger sounds the same producers as well but we are making everything sound bigger.

Why are you surprised black and white has done so well you have put in your work?

It is one thing wanting something and another thing achieving it I think you can really set your self up to be depressed if you aim for platinum and you only sell 1. So I think it is better to aim for something that is realistic but still something that is pushing you and we thought 50 thousand is a good push lets go for it first time round and when it surpasses it it just goes to show that maybe we were under thinking and this time I’m going to think big and hopefully I’m not left depressed.

Did you have to worry about illegal downloads when it came to releasing music and do you still have to worry about that how do you combat that?

In terms of illegal down loads I look at it like this, any body that is going to download it will do it and anyone who is going to buy it will buy it. I don’t really know how to download alums. Someone’s album could leak and I’ll be there for 4 hours to find it, I don’t even know where to go but if that is the way you are you know exactly where to go and you get the leak the minuet it happens and I think there is no way to stop it unless we stop leaking or we cut off whatever sites they are using I honestly believe that if you are a downloader you are a downloader if you are a buyer you are a buyer. With me I’m just so excited to hear a album when it has leaked I’ll still buy it when it is out but out of excitement I’m like I need to hear this everyone is talking about it.

How do you tread the line between being commercial and credible?

It is definitely a hard line to tread you know the whole credibility thing while being commercial at the same time but I think the thing is with me I have always continued to make the same kind of music so I’d have something vibey like ‘Tractor’ I would put that in the same vain as ‘be cool’ I did before, it has that same sort of vibe. ‘Don’t go’ there was a song on my other cd called ‘all that I need’ and before that nothing last forever it is like I make the same songs I just tell you about the next chapter. Where I’m really honest I am talking about my life I am just talking about what effects me over good instrumentals so I think it is not for me it is ok because people don’t class me as someone who sold out. It just so happens that the songs are being played on all the stations now.

Tell us about the new album and any new exclusives you can give London 360?

The new album is going to be the next chapter to Black and White. I’m trying to give you my life as it changes my life before Black and White was like this and I gave it to you up to that point. Now after Black and White it has changed again so I can give you to this point and as long as I keep progressing and I see different things I meet new people I will always have things to talk about. It is a progression from Black and White.

In terms of progression and collaborations I am a firm believer in making the album first and then pulling in the missing pieces to the jigsaw I think if you were baking a cake you would not start with the cherry and then the icing you would make your cake first. So that is how I look at it my album is my cake I make the cake and then I think ok maybe Tinie Tempah will kill this verse I give him a call and see if he likes that track and we see about that after there isn’t any collaborations at the moment it is all myself.

There is a trend that artist do think too much about collaborations before the body of work

Yes I think it can be a problem being too calculated. You know I have had conversations with people who have calculated their career to a number 1. Like ‘so I’ll put that out it will get top 40 and then that well go there and then I will have my number one’ and I’m like how can you do that maths it is impossible? The main thing people should want is to buy that album because of you and anything else should come as a bonus.

When it comes to a wretch video the one thing that we notice is it is not like the rest how involved are you in your videos?

We are really involved when it comes to the visual thing. I like to pick a person I can trust and I look at it like this when I am writing my song no one will come and tell me change that line add that change that don’t say that. So when I comes to a video director we are going to talk about he concept and discuss it for a while. I am going to let him do his job and he will direct me cause he has his vision. The hardest thing is trusting and finding someone you trust. You know with the last campaign we used the same director three times Tractor Unorthodox and Don’t Go after Tractor I could literally do everything he said and the video would be fine.

It is like having a 9-5 and going to work every day you know what you are going to get. That is the beauty of having the familiarity with someone.

You don’t follow the cliché video honey scantily clad women in a video how much do you think that is to blame for young people with body image videos and how much pressure are young people under when it comes to body image?

I think that when you are young you are impressionable you get familiar with seeing things a certain way and think that is how it should be and I think it is definitely a issue when it is effecting people that are real young and they are being mislead I think adults are adults and they can make their mistakes cause they are old enough to know better and they are old enough to know where your trying to go in life.

How do we fix it?

I think it is difficult to fix because it starts in the home I think firstly parents have got to get hold of it. It is extremely difficult but being a parent I know what I mean I would not expect somebody else to guide my children you know if I was watching a cartoon with my son and I saw something funny in the cartoon I would explain to him and we get that wiped out of his head completely I wouldn’t send a email to the cartoon company unless it was something really ridiculous.

In Terms of airbrushing I don’t have the whole super sexy thing going on in my video I just think what works for me is being really realistic. I never shave my beard I’m just like this and I cut my hair when I think I should and that is just how I am it works for me I am your average neighbor people can relate to me.

Some people are really into fantasy and they need to see that perfect girl and need to think I need a girl like that and you know I suppose if people who do fantasy type videos if we were to banish them it could have a back lash because maybe if people stop fantasizing they might end up depressed I think it can work both ways it is a funny one. But personally it is not me it is not my kind of style.

London the Olympics what are you looking forward to most? Do you think it will benefit the city and residents of London?

Yeah I think I terms of the Olympics I am excited things like this don’t happen in my life time and I’m 26 so I would have to assume it is once in a life time it does happen.

Are you going?

Yeah a million percent I am going to go to the ones that I am really interested in 100 meters 400 meters the women’s 100 meters that is just for the running of course. Yeah I think it is something to bring kids to, go with your family and I think it is interesting.

It is not every day you get to see the height of athletics. In terms of enhancing the country we will be looked at very good, providing everything runs smooth you know?

I think it will benefit us as a country and if you are into property and stuff and you have anything around there it will also benefit you as well it is win win! Of course it will be extremely busy but that is to be expected it will help, businesses will capitalize off it. It is a chance for New talent for team UK and their will be a lot of performances around it so everyone will benefit.

Do you think football breads racism any experiences you can think of?

I don’t think football breeds racism I think racism is just racism if you are a racist you could be a conductor one day somebody plays the wrong key and you might say something you thought in your head. I think it is just a person is a person. I don’t think it comes from a sport. But I think professionals should always try and conduct themselves in a professional manner I don’t really agree with miss conduct in that sense in that way as well.

What about those that say it is just banter?

I don’t think it is banter I think it is a lot more than banter and it shouldn’t happen.

Does it affect you?

I have never really experienced racism like that being called a name or anything in jest, I don’t recall having it like that. The type of racism I have experienced is being in a foreign place and being looked at funny or asking for directions and not feeling wanted in that town. I think it is what it is, but as a country I feel like it is getting a lot better. I feel like it is a generational issue when we are going back there are people who are not use to seeing another certain amount of people I think as time has gone on that has changed. I think from 5 and under with that generation it just shouldn’t happen, it would be ridiculous it wouldn’t make sense because a white kid is growing up with a mix raced brother and it is normal, where as before it was something more like gosh. It is in society in the culture so in generations to come it should be finished.

In light of Stephen Lawrence Do you think race relations have improved?

I think it has had an impact. Stephen Lawrence is a person that we all feel connected with I think we almost feel like we know or knew him and he is definitely iconic, him and his parents. They have gone through such a tragic experience and they have, the right word feels like they have triumphed, but you should not have to go through such a great loss to feel like you have won anything. I wouldn’t say they have won something but I feel like they have made a impact in peoples lives. Which they will never be forgotten as people and I think when you have done something like that you are on that iconic level and they are icons.

Closure of libraries around the capital, what do you make of councils carting half their libraries how important is it for kids to have libraries in their lives?

It doesn’t sound like a good thing. I think a library is probably a home for a lot of people.

I think in this day and age I think when you are able to read a book online in your house for free I would see why it is probably not as popular as it used to be.

Books are everything, but the funny thing is the first book I read other than kids books was Tinie Temphas book and that was the other day. I just made the decision I haven’t read a book I need to read and I read Tinie Temphas book. What was really funny about that is it made me realize that I didn’t feel to read anything before because no book interested me. What did interest me was that Tinie Tempha had a book and I could relate to it. It is about finding out what people are into and if there is enough stuff you are into then you will read it.

See I have now gone on to Jay Z ‘s book decoded it is massive. It made me feel like what UK artists and urban artists are doing is a big thing, because if Tinie made me pick up a book, he has done that to a lot of other people as well that are not book readers.

Do you think it is possible to meet the love of your life on the underground have you ever met any one on the tube and thought woah she is cute?

Um the tube scenario for me, I haven’t been on a tube for a while but I always remember you know when you go to a particular place say I would be going studio five times that week and then you get on at the Monday at that time you might see someone and you might see them the next day and then you might think well if I see her again then im going to say something tomorrow but you never see them again that is the kind of scenario I’m use to in regards to the train. I think it is really cool proposing on the train and underground. It probably takes along time for her to get upstairs and phone someone and announce it no reception and that but I think you can propose to any one anywhere I think the train is a bit random it is very random.

Do you have any pet hates about being on the tube?

Being on the tube what I always used o worry about when you see in a film they get stuck and people have to get out and walk I always have that in my head when I’m on the train for more than half a hour thinking ahh man do I have to get out and walk if it gets stuck but it never gets stuck!

If you had to get on the tube now would you have to use disguises?

Some how I have managed to just get though life not being recognized as much as I probably would be. I think I move really quick head down and im on the phone and you don’t really look at me twice so I get away with a lot of public places and not been recognized. It takes skill though. Woolly hat.

How much has Amy had a impact on music as a whole and what kind of legacy has she left?

Amy is a name that is embedded in the world for a long time. I think the beauty of her is that everything is wrong but in being so wrong it is so right and I think what that does for people in generally is strong motivation I think on top of having one of the best voices ever heard and being able to sing effortlessly the beauty in her other than her vocals is almost that story of being anything you want to be as long as you are talented and she definitely is that type of figure. She is the type of person when you are thinking I can’t do this she is the type of person who makes you think yes you can. Without her trying to be that figure she just is herself she is definitely iconic in that sense one of the best voices this country has ever heard her as a character and talent and a person is legendary on all fronts. Being ever so un normal but normal and being so wrong and so right and she was a north Londoner.

What are your thoughts on inter racial adoption?

I think inter racial adoption should be allowed I think as long as to be able to adopt they check you out as a person as long as you are capable of being a parent to somebody who doesn’t have a parent then I think that is perfectly fine. If I was every in a situation where I would have to decide about a child of mine or a child I knew to be adopted I wouldn’t effect me what colour they were as long as the home was going to be loving and looked after and they were going to be a parent it would not effect me.
I am sure that in life as a person you would check out about your back ground any way and that would be down to the parents which I am sure they would do I don’t see the problem with it.

-END

DAVID LAMMY MP INTERVIEW TRANSCRIPT-IV BY L360 REPORTER TOM WHITER
TW What are your memories of growing up in Tottenham, as one of the only MPs to grow up in the area they now represent?
DL My memories growing up in Tottenham in the 1970s/1980s are mixed in the sense that I came from a typical West Indian family it wasn’t always easy, my parents didn’t always get on, it was a tough time socially in London in terms of relationships with the police and sometimes the ability to do well at school, but Tottenham has always been a happy place, it’s actually a very residential place; rows and rows of terraced housing with people from all over the world living side by side actually relative to other London boroughs we haven’t got as many estates so very much a neighbourhood where people get on and I remember a lot of time outside in the parks playing football so positive generally but pressures lying behind in family life and that would be the same today, for a lot of people it’s not easy because income isn’t easy and there are pressures in family life.
TW What changes in Tottenham have you seen since then?
DL I think there have been some changes, I think the schools have got hugely better, we take for granted now that people ARE going to university and are succeeding that wasn’t happening before and I think the schools and the hospital have been rebuilt. But there are still huge pressures and the big challenge of big infrastructural regeneration in the area hasn’t happened although neighbourhood renewal has taken place in different wards.
I think the public sector has got a lot better but there’s a lot more to do.
TW How much of the changes are to do with the legacy of Bernie Grant?
DL I think that Bernie’s legacy was a legacy of defiance and fighting against what was a Conservative government, but of course he died in 2000, only 3 years into the New Labour Government. I think he would have loved to have seen some of the things beginning to flower in the constituency but be concerned with many of the things yet to happen.
TW What kind of regeneration have you overseen when you took over from Bernie Grant in 2000?
DL My principal aim when I came in in 2000 under a Labour government was to see the schools improve. At that stage I’m afraid the schools were on 15% of kids getting 5 good A-C GCSEs and we have seen a transformation; now around 60% of them getting 5 good A-C GCSEs, often with English and Maths, and the schools have been renewed.
The hospital has been rebuilt, the public services that people in this area need to rely on are there, we also have a new deals for communities area in the Seven Sisters ward, so we’ve seen big changes, particularly to our housing estates, where kitchens, bathrooms, the conditions people were living in were seriously grim here in Tottenham and again we’ve seen some of that renewed. So I think that that would be the principal advance over this last period, primarily in the public sector and also employment. Unemployment was huge in the 1980s and 90s, it came down in the last ten years, of course it has gone back up again, not quite to the levels of the 1980s, but it’s definitely going in the wrong direction.
TW So the Mayor of London’s regeneration taskforce has put £100 million aside to help areas affected by the riots, you’ve said a lot more money is needed, why?
DL Well my bottom line, is that Tottenham is in need of huge regeneration, that was the case before the riots and that’s why I fought so hard to make sure Tottenham Hotspur football club did not leave the area, I believed that was unacceptable for them to go to Stratford and I was one of the lone voices saying that they should not go to Stratford and we won that battle. It’s interesting that in Tottenham and Croydon, the two areas that were asking for an enterprise zone from the Mayor, were the two areas that saw most devastation during the riots. So I want to see about a billion pounds worth of investment in my constituency, the mayor has set aside 30 million, that is not going to hit the mark for the people of Tottenham, Tottenham deserves the same kind of regeneration that we’ve seen in the Olympic zone, it is as depressed, it is as deprived, it is time now, not just the mayor, got serious about the regeneration we need. Of course all that money can’t just come from the public sector, but we will need about a billion pounds worth of investment.
TW Where have you got this figure of a billion ponds from, studies in your area?
DL If you look at the sort of regeneration we’ve seen in Salford, with half the BBC moving to Salford, if you’ve seen the Gateshead development in the North East of the Country and then again if you look at the Olympic zone and the huge investment in Tower Hamlets, in Newham, in Waltham Forest, in Hackney and in Redbridge, I think you have to recognise in the constituency of Tottenham, with the highest unemployment, with the highest amount of people on benefits, with a tremendous amount of need and a very young population, we need the sort of financial investment that amounts to a billion.
We need jobs, there are not sufficient jobs within the constituency, and it is not enough to expect people to travel into the centre of town for those jobs, we need to be driving jobs here and I think that needs a commitment from the government, a think we need a big government department, a passport office, a student loans company, proper employment from my constituents.
TW You’ve mentioned a few things there you’d like to see and the schools and hospitals that have improved, what infrastructure would you build with a billion pounds?
DL I would start with saying that I think that the Seven Sisters/Victoria line should be extended up through Tottenham, through Northumberland Park into Enfield, connecting people quicker into jobs and infrastructure. I think the link between Tottenham Hale and Stansted which takes an hour is too long and should be quicker and I’m concerned that the government is happy to spend billions on the link between London and Birmingham but it still takes an hour to Stansted because my constituents need those jobs in that airport and they need to get to them quicker and I am pleased that Spurs are staying and that they are going to regenerate their stadium but much needs to happen around that area, as I said I want to see a government department there, I want to see private investment there and if we look at what’s happening in London, look at the Olympic Zone, look at that huge, new Westfield Centre that’s opening up in Stratford, that’s the kind of regeneration we need to see in Tottenham.
TW You mentioned TH, that would be big private investment, do you agree with their assertion that the stadium development will bring more jobs?
DL I think that the plans Tottenham have are good and ambitious they need support to deliver those plans I’m clear that a football stadium on its own is not sufficient, there aren’t enough jobs attached to a football stadium. A lot of regeneration these days seems to be driven by housing, and I don’t think that’s the need here in Tottenham, I think there are density issues already actually in the constituency. What we need are big drivers of employment and that must involve the government, it must involve the private sector, I’d like to see some companies put their HQ here in Tottenham. I’m not convinced at all under the previous government that we should have been driving jobs to different parts of the country, when suburban London is in tremendous need. So as the local MP I’m pretty fierce and actually pretty angry that some of the need that is demonstrated in my constituency is nor being borne out with the levels of investment that are driven, let us remember that the Northumberland Park ward, the ward that surrounds the football club, we have the highest levels of deprivation and the highest levels of unemployment in the country and yet my constituents can look in the papers, can look on television and see footballers getting some of the biggest salaries, there’s a real inequity here and we need to sort it.
TW We’ve spoken to private companies, like Workspace who are on the better buildings for London committee, their CEO is on the regeneration taskforce and they’ve said to us they need some kind of incentive to come to areas like Tottenham, what incentives would you be willing to offer them?
DL Well incentives are the Mayor’s gift, not mine,

(TW, interrupting, “Well what would you say the mayor should be offering?”)

Well I think Boris should have put in place an enterprise zone in my constituency, that’s what I was asking for last year, we didn’t get one. He gave one, funnily enough, to the Olympic area, who already had regeneration going on, so I think that was a mistake. I think you need to attract private investment to areas like Tottenham, I think you need to look very carefully at business rates, capital allowances, you need to make sure you drive businesses to be attracted to the area, staying in the area, and choosing the area over other areas in London. It’s not clear to me the incentives are in place to make sure this happens. I think I would agree with Daniel Levy, the chairman of the football club; we need to see more in that area if we are to attract people to Tottenham over other areas of London.
I am worried that the East is getting a lot, the West was always slightly wealthier, Heathrow and that area, it’s not clear to me what is happening in the North East and in a sense I stand up here for Tottenham, Edmonton and this area of town that needs to see real drivers in regeneration.
TW You’ve also said you’d like to see business with a sense of accountability and that they should look after their employees as well, are you worried businesses that come to the area might be scared that you’ll be pressing on Boris to make them do a lot of things they don’t want to do and drive them away?
DL Look, business is hugely important if you want to drive and area, Tottenham historically has not had enough big business, it’s had small businesses, obviously people have had businesses here all the time, many ethnic minority groups start their own businesses. It’s important we don’t drown these businesses with red tape and regulation, but equally if we’re talking about big business, if we’re building a hospital, we’re building a stadium I think it is right that we say for example that they should take apprentices, and local apprentices, now some big business might take that as regulation, I don’t think that’s regulation, that’s just fair, it’s employment and I think it’s very necessary and it’s my job to say so, robustly.
TW Are you engaging with the youth population and asking what they’d like?
DL Well of course I’m engaged with the youth, this morning I was at the youth centre with the St Anne’s church community, who are doing a lot of work on our estates principally and I think it is important that any regeneration takes in and the views of local residents and local people. But I also say this, it is important that the vision for this community is ambitious and it can be the case in deprived communities that your average 15/16yr old doesn’t know what is possible because they haven’t seen what is possible. I remember that very well because I grew up here and so my challeng as the local mp is to challenge the mayor PM and private invesetors who might come into the area, to be ambitious about this community and to stand up for it. My constituency hasn’t even got a cinema, it hasn’t got a bookshop, there are too many betting shops on our high road because our planning regulations think its ok for every betting shop that wants to, to set up on Tottenham High Road. It’s also about ambition for this community and to challenge those in power to deliver. As an MP in the opposition, I don’t have the purse strings, I haven’t got the money to deliver those things, but what I can do, often pretty vociferously for what I think are the best interests of my constituents.
TW Talking about ambition, shouldn’t we be celebrating the musical success stories from Tottenham, only you’ve said fathers and a sense of community can shield people from, amongst other things, rap culture. It’s conflicting isn’t it, that yes, we should be ambitious, but no we can’t have rap culture?
DL Well, one, let’s not stereotype rap culture. A lot of rap music is great, I listen to a lot of it and it’s fantastic, but equally a lot of it isn’t great. It’s fine if you’re white and middle class and you listen to rap music but you’ve got a lot of other things going on in your life.
If you’re stuck on the 15th floor of a tower block in my constituency and you’re getting the same type of message which is negative about authority, which is alienating and angry, that’s not going to do anything for you.
It’s my job to challenge men who do not want to be responsible for their children. I say that coming from a background where I know what that feel’s like. We cannot have communities where 65% of fathers are not engaged and therefore you have no male role models.
What happens is you get a postcode lottery, people finding their masculinity in peer groups, you get gangs and knife crime. That is a reality for people growing up in my constituency and it’s important I speak out against it in the strongest terms.
That isn’t about dissing rap stars, great we’ve had a few rap stars, but that is not serious regeneration in a community, not all of us can be a rap star. Actually there’s a challenge to those rap stars that exist, and footballers, to put their money where their mouth is financially and give something back to the community.”
TW Do you think parts of Tottenham are stigmatised, like generalising rap music, or, as you referenced in your speech to Dunhill primary on Tuesday, Michael Gove painting a cruel caricature of the borough in an attempt to foist academy statues on a school that doesn’t want it?
DL I think that it is always easy to stigmatise areas that you don’t’ understand. I think that we have a long history, in fact the whole concept of the inner city is a stigma is of itself; I have to say there should be no inner city, just one city. Inner city is often code for something that is separate and different. So I think it is appropriate to challenge political leaders who’ve been to expensive public schools – Michael Gove has never been to a school in Tottenham ever – to demonstrate they understand the situation of parents and teachers in this community and that the business of being in politics is travelling alongside and empathising with and serving people. I’m afraid I see a lot of talking to people and not a lot of getting alongside people and understanding where they’re coming from in relation to our national politicians.
TW Do you think that’s a prime example of the ‘hyper-individualistic age’ you talk about in your book?
DL I’m very concerned that we live in times of gross materialism and consumerism, of big businesses paying CEOs 500 times more than the cashier on the shop floor. Most of my constituents don’t have a living wage, if you are a cleaner, you are also a dinner lady, if you are a security guard, you are also a minicab driver, if you have to work those long hours, how much time have you got to look after your kids to take time with your family? Not very much at all. So our economy is not functioning properly when people have to work these hours and do those kinds of jobs in order to succeed.
These are also tough times for young people, from whatever background, to find proper employment, but for many of my constituents, it’s even harder. They’re facing discrimination in the employment market, and they haven’t got into Oxford or Cambridge. These are real issues, that’s why I continue to return to this issues on behalf of my constituents, because there is a real issues in terms of cutting EMAs, charging £9,000 for university, significant cuts to youth services, these decisions have consequences. These people in power, in government have to stand by the priorities they’ve determined and obviously I would like to see funds spent to deliver for that young people and I worry the decision to spend money elsewhere in areas I think are less important are not good.
TW Hypothetically, with that billion pounds to regenerate Tottenham, how long do you think it would be for the social chage to happen?
DL I think you can get pride back very quickly and actually in areas like Tottenham, people are getting on with it, they’re doing stuff everyday, they are a resilient bunch. So small injections of money can make a difference: in schools by putting extra teachers in the classroom for not that much money, £500,000 would be enough in our schools. You can build passion and resilience, people can start up their own businesses with a small amount of seed money; we’re a very mercantile community here, we’re quite good at being entrepreneurial , all we need is a little bit of money to get going and a little bit of leaning on the banks to lend money so that people can get going. So small things can make a difference pretty quickly.
In terms of real transformation it will take decades. If you look at East London and you look back to before Canary Wharf, which I remember, and then you think of the Olympics building on Canary Wharf, that’s about 3 decades of investment and change in that area and that’s what we need here and that’s what we’ve got to aim towards in North London.
TW So what does a regenerated Tottenham look like?
DL The regenerated Tottenhamis a mixed community, diverse, but mixed income as well. If you think about areas that were similar to Tottenham just a few years ago, think of Stoke Newington, think of Notting Hill where the initial riots were 30 years ago, think of Brixton, these communities now are mixed communities, high incomes and low, side by side and they remain diverse communities as you would expect, so I want to see more of a mixed community, more mixed neighbourhood. It helps our schools succeed. It helps people come back to an area and not feel like they want to leave and area and not return. It helps create the vibrant atmosphere we need in London. Tottenham is the last area where every ward is on the index of deprivation and that what makes it different to parts of Lambeth, parts of Hackney where actually what you get is cheek by jowl rich and poor.
TW I forgot: Do you think your proposed extension to the Victoria Line is more important than the Northern Line extension through Nine Elms to Battersea?
DL I’m very concerned actually, it’s funny isn’t it that the American Embassy moved to Battersea and they get a new tube station when actually we need to connect Tottenham through Edmonton through to Enfield, make it easier for people to get into town for jobs, we get nothing. That seems to me to be brutally unfair when Ken was mayor, he was committed to North East London, I havent seen that with Boris.

-END

(ANY MEDIA THAT WANT TO USE CONTENT FROM HERE FEEL FREE-AS LONG AS YOU CREDIT!!)

JASMINE AND MARIAH.
Christmas wouldn’t be the same if I didn’t spend it with my Christmas family, Mr and Mrs Cannon (Mariah and Nick) and their extended family annually in Aspen. This year was as wonderful as past years where we attend Midnight Mass, ride horse sleighs through the snow, take the dogs (JJ, Cha Cha Jill E Beans and crew) for their snowy walks, go to the top of mountains and watch as skiers and snowboarders do their thing, visit Joan Boyce’s diamond store, eat Mariah’s delicious home cooked treats and decorate the Christmas tree!

JASMINE AS EVER-ON TOP OF THE WORLD!

JILL E BEANS TAKES JASMINE ON A SNOWY MOUNTAIN WALK!
As if those treats weren’t enough, this year we were joined by 2 new additions that had been in mummy’s tummy last Christmas- the Cannon baby twins otherwise known as Ms Monroe and Moroccan Scott aka #dembabies!. Many fun hours playing, feeding and cuddling were had by us all! -What an amazing way to kick off 2012-being Auntie Jasmine to 2 little gorgeous bundles of fun! Give me another couple of years and I will have them putting on English accents and playing dress up!! sadly nick then came down with a kidney problem and was hospitalised-get well soon brother! London wants to see you out here soon with your Mrs when you come to do your comedy specials!

JASMINE WITH HER MATE TREVOR!
Then we flew home on New Years Eve, got practically straight off the jet, had a mini panic as BRITISH AIRWAYS informed us our luggage was still in transit via LOS ANGELES and slid into our emergency plan B frocks and glad rags for my mate TREVOR NELSONS NEW YEARS EVE PARTY which he held at the Camden centre. When Trevor throws a party you can be rest assured the crowd, ambience and music will be on point. The venue was heaving inside and out on our arrival merely minutes before midnight. Trevor’s right hand business lady for the night- Rachel- thrust glasses of champers in our hands and shoved us into VIP where our tables awaited us. Scarily-drinks were free all night and by the time we arrived many peeps were more than a little merry. Ladies were en masse doing the candy dance (otherwise known to the 80’s generation as the electric slide), stepping on each others toes with their vertiginous heels, we jumped onstage with Trev to clink and congratulate him on such a festive night, men were running around trying to persuade the sexy ladies to slow dance-oh we had fun! In fact in one night-I-who never drink more than 1 glass of alcohol per night, put away a glass of wine, 3 glasses of champers, a rum shot, a double baileys and wasn’t sick or drunk! Admittedly I felt too wobbly to drive home and so crashed at my mates flat right across the road from the venue and did the very un-classy walk of shame out of the hotel block of flats the next morning in the previous nights heels and frock-shame!

A big sigh of relief as Stephen Lawrence’s murderers were sentenced to prison. They should have got at least 18 years for the amount of time they avoided jail though. A sense of justice for the parents of Stephen but lets not confuse the atrocity with knife crime-this was not about knife crime-it was pure racist hate. Is our society any different now than centuries ago? Whilst we of colour prove our talent in many worlds including law, music, Medicine and sport have we really won any mutual respect from our Caucasian Brits? Was tram lady representative of more of the UK population than we would like to admit to? Is it easier for racists now more than ever as black people are killing each other in such vast numbers that the BNP and EDL can sit back and let us do their jobs for them? All worth pondering as we begin this new year with positive intentions!

Now I’m off to do some interviews for the TV shows LONDON360 and UK360 with Sir Terry Wogan, the Right honourable David Lammy and BAFTA winner Noel Clarke (who is off to Hollywood next week to film his new role in Star Trek 2! . I need me some letters before or after my name-I can see it now Lady Dotiwala, or Jasmine Dotiwala MBE. Sort it out someone!
I’m also off to plan my impending birthday party-its my birthday week this week- I’m wondering how I can make my next 12 months even more fabulous and self fulfilling than my last year. It’s a tough job-but only I can do it!

JASMINE WITH BASHY, ADIDAS HEAD CELEB HONCHO PAOLA LUCKTUNG AND ADAM DEACON!
Happy New Year readers! And yes! Whilst many of us are complaining about our lot in life there are many that didn’t wake to see 2012 start so lets be thankful for our lot in life. It surely could be worse! And once upon a time it was!
If you’re under 30 you wont remember how it used to be. But the UK urban entertainment scene wasn’t always this unified and connected. We’ve comer a long way. Back in the day I recall rival music awards hating and sabotaging each other, UK radio DJ’s and play-listers refusing to play British urban acts, film companies not taking UK urban actors or film makers seriously and artists themselves seeing themselves as an island not to be mixing with each other.
To use a cliché, ‘back in the day’ acts would ridicule each other, record label exec’s would snigger at the concept of British youth making it in our charts and this countries youth had pretty much accepted that their worlds were going to be musically reflected by American urban music.
Just this Christmas season gone I realised that we as a community have progressed in certain areas in leaps and bounds.
One blisteringly cold Sunday night just before Christmas whilst juggling emotional visits to my hospitalised dad and writing Christmas cards on my sofa I thought I’d try and balance my life out with a bit of fabulosity and so popped to the Adidas Christmas party at UNDER THE BRIDGE in Fulham where all the sports brands most valued celebrity clients were in attendance. Earlier that day a huge basketball event called Adislam had taken place in Brentwood, Essex (it seems like these days the only way is Essex!), and a host of celebs and music stars that had taken part were having a well deserved party drink to finish their day. The invitation said ‘’festive’’ so not having planning any outfit I threw on my favourite white satin Adidas tracky top with long fringing on the arms and matched it with black jodhpurs and black knee length fringed boots and to top it off plonked a huge fluffy pair of black ear muffs on my pony tailed head. (This is me on an understated night! LOL).
The party was a lovely evening as the stage was in full festiveness with a silver Christmas tree and the legendary giant Adidas shoe DJ booth and in the house were….deep breath before I kick off-this list is long…Wretch32 (who’s neck was aching him after nodding his head too much onstage whilst performing but he was still the charming handsome young man that he always has been pre-fame), Bashy (who looked festive as if he’d really made the effort to look fly-good ole bish bash bosh!), So Solids Megaman (who I don’t see out often but when I do the party is around him with him jumping up and down hard all night especially to the old skool jungle beats!), Chipmunk (who had an extra busy night as he joined Sneakbo onstage at the 02 arena earlier in the night) , G Fresh, Baby Blue (who looked as cute as ever-I must see her perform soon!) , Adam Deacon (who always acts in the humblest manner and seems embarrassed by the attention by his fans-but I know he loves it really!) , Scorcher (the ladies heart throb LOL!) , designer Wale Adeyemi (who always joins me in our dance routine to Jay and Kanye’s n****** in Paris), DJ Dodge who had flown back home from his L.A pad to see how the UK does!), industry head Ugo, MC Ty (who I had to convince/drag into the festive photo booth for silly pics!), DJ Swerve (who was still ecstatic and loved up with his newly born baby girl), girl group Rogue and their manager JP, one half of 1Xtra’s radio duo Vis, vocalist and soon to be star Josh Kumra, , former 1Xtra playlist head/now The Hub entertainment CEO Austin Daboh with his clients the ever vivacious blonde Mac Twins, hip hops photographer to the stars Paul H, and of course DJ Manny Norte who had everyone running to the dance floor with his as ever hyper than hype set! I looked around and thought’ there’s something missing?’’. Then it became clear ,there were no groupies in the room-impressive-cos it would’ve been groupie heaven!)
MUSIC mystro Richie P had brought along a very dangerous rum cake which we all devoured and forced Ashley Walters and Megaman to get stuck into too!

JASMINE AND THE RUM CAKE MASSIVE- JP, NADIA, RICHIE P, MEGA AND PAOLA!

JASMINE AND ASHLEY WALTERS GET MERRY ON THE RUM CAKE!
The Adidas head honcho celeb ladies Paola, Aisha and Akua were skanking hard on the dance floor and as I looked around the room I couldn’t help think what a great sense of positivity and unity there was in the room between everyone. If we can bottle this and gift it to all 2012 then there’s no holding us back! #TEAMUK are destined to be even bigger this year! Lets go!

JASMINE WITH KOJO!
Its that time of year! Full of Christmas cheer and numerous Christmas parties to attend. this past 6 days alone I have had 3 work parties, dinners and cocktails, attended the very fabulous posh peoples puffa jacket party for designer Mon Clare at their Christmas cocktails evening, shook my booty at the Adidas EIM end of year bash at under the bridge at Stamford bridge, congratulated the Spirit of London ambassadors at the SOLA Christmas ball at the Mayfair Hotel,
So last week Mariah flew into town to attend Prince Azim’s NOBLE GIFT GALA ball at the Dorchester Hotel in Park Lane. The Noble Gift Gala is an event that pays ‘tribute to those who help support and foster awareness for children and the empowerment of women around the world.’ Mariah was the guest of honour at the event and received the 2011 Noble Gift Humanitarian Award for her efforts in helping disadvantaged children. Mariah has generously donated her time and energy to a range of philanthropic causes near to her heart, including Save the Music and The Make-A-Wish Foundation. A tremendous supporter of children’s charities, both domestic and international, Mariah, in partnership with the Fresh Air Fund founded Camp Mariah, a retreat for inner city children to explore career development. So you can see that Mariah’s impact transcends the music industry to leave an indelible imprint upon the world at large.
On the Saturday morning Upon her arrival, MC was welcomed by a huge crowd of her fans outside the Dorchester who congratulated her on her new baby twins otherwise known as “dembabies” and sang her original Christmas tunes “All I Want For Christmas Is You,” “Oh Santa,” and “When Christmas Comes”. MC spoke to the fans, signed autographs and even took pictures with the fan gifts later posted on her twitter. We hung out in her suite all afternoon and then made our way down to the red carpet where my favourite desperate housewife- Eva Longoria looked sweet in a long flowing purple gown and she bought along her boyfriend of 10 months, Eduardo Cruz, brother of Penelope Cruz. I also spotted legendary model Jerry Hall on our table who wore a knee length black dress and opted for flat shoes as she arrived with her husband Warwick Hemsley. Wealthy lady about town and new reality TV star Tamara Ecclestone arrived in an attention grabbing black sequined dress but none outshone our girl Mariah who was the guest of honour at the event and received the 2011 Noble Gift Humanitarian Award for her efforts in helping disadvantaged children. The event was held at the Dorchester Hotel and honoured Mariah Carey for her charity work. Proceeds went to Eva’s charity-The Eva Longoria Fund and there were plenty of celebrities on hand to donate. We were treated to musical performances by Leona Lewis, Dionne Bromfield and a wonderful band and Mariah made a very heartfelt touching speech when awarded her award by Prince Azim. A great night!

Finally I caught up with my old MTV BASE talent and friend Kojo who has been plonking his fingers in many pies in a way that makes me stay proud of him. As well as hosting comedy nights across the country and performing onstage weekly Kojo is also now the main breakfast show presenter on ChoiceFM radio and his star looks to expand even more next year! Kojo popped into the BBC staff canteen for a catch-up. He explained to me that after his very successful stint at MTV BASE (he was even nominated for a CDN Award for Kojo’s comedy funhouse!), he had gone to America to learn and grow as a person and comic. He won a place in the American stand up show “last comic standing” and so got a visa so thought he could use the visa to stay and work with one of his mentors –hip hop godfather Russell Simmons. he explained to me that he ‘’wanted to learn how to really do well because at one stage I really lost my hunger’’. He continued ‘’I had done MTV Base, Fresh Prince of Hackney and many more and was giving to many others but felt slightly lost so went to get his hunger back in the USA’’.
‘’I did that for a year’’ he explained ‘’I wanted to just go away and live. Richard prior wrote about what he lived, his real experiences. It took me a lot of courage to pack and move. It was character building. I knocked on a lot of doors and everyone was too busy. In New York I had no time to worry about others. All of us were on our own grind and hustle. It was about how to survive’’. But proving he still does have the Hackney boy in him Kojo hustled and got himself onto New York radio stations like Hot 97 with DJ cypher sounds.
After a year Kojo was ready to return home. He told me felt like he had enough experiences to talk about. Kojo gushed ‘’People think the USA is great etc but I really missed the UK’’.
Kojo had decided that his Game plan on his UK return was to do mainstream shows. He took no bookings for a year except his corks wine bar regular Sunday comedy cub and jongleurs comedy club to pay the bills. ‘’I was Looking at other big British comics like Michael McIntyre etc so I spent 2 years doing mainstream festivals like the Edinburgh festival so people could see I was credible. My experience with the BBC and MTV Base all adds to my stand up. Hanging with Russell in New York and accompanying him on yoga classes and business-this all opened my eyes’’.
Kojo admitted that he really wanted to write a film with producer Damien jones who produced Kidulthood /Adulthood. He learnt that writing was a good talent to have credits for so he wrote a film and a cartoon series. He wrote numerous scripts and 2 are about to go into production. One is a film called “The Weekend”. Another is a cartoon animation titled “The Hoodz” about a black family who win the lottery and think all their troubles have gone. But they’ve just begun. Kojo’s film is in production from march and expected to be out in October.
Keeping the whole scene unified is important to keep pushing more new talent out into the nation and one man helping do that is my friend and film director/actor Noel Clarke who has put Kojo in his new movie titled ‘’The Knot’’ which is out on valentines day 2012. In THE KNOT Kojo plays a delivery guy in a strong role in 5 scenes!
As many of you already know, ChoiceFM approached Kojo to become the breakfast show presenter earlier this year in March too. Kojo said he felt like this was a natural transition and progression. Kojo stated ‘’ I wanted to have a voice’’. Next he brought in his co host- DJ Max, as he wanted a female co-host with experience. Now he is talking to a very diverse audience-he has his comedy fans as well as a captive daily morning radio audience. When asked who his favourite radio host was from ChoiceFM’s history Kojo immediately stated old favourite Geoff Shuman due to his daily morning prank calls. ‘’I always respected Geoff’s co-host DJ martin jay too who was there 14 years, Martin gave me a lot of good advice and supported me when I took over from him’’.
Next Kojo is putting on another one-man live show called ‘‘live n kicking’’. This was inspired he says as ‘’I’ve spent 11 years doing things on MTV and online and there just aren’t enough big opportunities for us to do our own thing-so I’m doing my own thing again. Now its time for me to get something on the public’s shelves. People buy DVD’s. And I want to be on shelves with Michael McIntyre and other mainstream comics. Live and kicking will take me in a different direction and we are filming it for DVD release. . I’m much more mature now than I ever was. In the show I will be talking about my thoughts on the riots and why they happened. And Obama. Will we ever have a black prime minister? And why David Lammy isn’t it. I have invited David Lammy but have no idea if he’ll turn up. I’ll be talking about my own experiences of being in foster care and many other things that the ethnic communities are afraid to talk about. I’ll have a section on Relationships. I’m in a relationship now. (And yes my lady will be in the house!)’’
Live n kicking IS all about the stories. It’s about Kojo’s progression. No doubt all his mates from the press, celebs, footballers and more will be in the audience. Lets continue to catapult our ethnic young talent up and all make this night a huge success! Will you be in the house? I will!
To get on board the next stop in Kojo’s rise to fame check www.OFFICIALkojo.com for tickets-see you there!

CDN AWARD NOMINEE FILM MAKER YEMI BAMIRO WITH JASMINE AND MUSIC ARTIST AKALA
The great and the good from the TV world all upped sticks and made their way to Manchester this past week for the annual CDN TV (CREATIVE DIVERSITY AWARDS) AWARDS.
I found myself on a train with one of my MEDIA TRUST DIRECTORS as well as SKY TV’S bigwig lady (managing director-entertainment and news) Sophie Turner Lang speeding to the BBC’s new northern home in Manchester called media city. Media city is a massive small town like development built in Salford on the quays so very pretty location-even though the wet rain and torrential winds didn’t greet us with warmth.

On arrival at the event we were greeted by trays of wine and champagne and a canapé reception where I caught up with music artist Akala-who was presenting an award and also nominated for 2 awards, ITN news reader Charlene White, former radio 1 producer for Trevor Nelson/ current BBC radio producer-Devon Daley, TV producer Yemi Bamiro-nominated for his TV show on channel 4-life of rhyme starring Akala and many more.
Former channel 4 head of diversity and mayoral candidate Oona King was dressed more casually than ever in lilac pants and shirt, the BBC big wig Pat Younge was looking well, coronation streets Shobna Gulati (Sunitta) looking very foxy in a tight pencil skirt and sequinned top that showed off her full cleavage with killer designer heels and a long flowing high ponytail, a few Hollyoaks presenters, and other TV power players.
Tameka Epsom from Eastenders hosted the night with Cherlee Houston. Both had a few autocue problems. The script that was written was quite wordy and long winded-not the best set up for a comedienne actress but she did her best.
Director of the BBC Mark Thompson did a great intro where he mentioned that BBC’s 3 new main aims include wanting to represent young people better and more fairly. From there it was award after award. Jimmy Akingbola and Ellen Thomas onstage-presented Best Drama Award- winner to the BBC show Luther which stars my friend and yours-the delectable Idris Elba. Chief Exec from Channel 4 David Abraham presented TV company of the year (for diversity behind and in front of screen) to Endemol who make reality shows like Big Brother and Survivor! Coronation Street’s Shobna Gulati presented best comedy and entertainment programme award to Phoneshop! The Diversity Innovation Award went to Battlefront! Best News Award went to the BBC Journalism Trainee Scheme.
Best Factual Programme winner was the amazing series Panorama-undercover care-the abuse exposed. All in all a great night that really showed diversity is in a good place with more of a focus on it than ever before. An amazing man called Clive Jones CBE who founded the CDN spoke at the end when he was awarded the Fellowship Award and said that when he was heading up many mainstream broadcasters like ITV back in the day he was astonished that with the UK’s diverse population that they weren’t represented fairly or equally on TV. He had his team add a black actor to coronation St years ago and sat back in his chair to watch the great moment and then held his head in his hands as he noted the black actor was portraying a thief that had broken into Emily Bishops store!. Clive added facts that made the audience sit up and note that if you have an African or Asian surname you will have to send at least 20 more CV’s out to jobs to even be considered for an interview. That Chinese boys perform better than Caucasian boys but still get paid 20% less, by 2051 the black and ethnic minority population in the UK will be 20million-so 30% of the TV audience will be ethnic-isn’t it time to start investing in our diverse cultures now? food for thought for all media makers.

JASMINE WITH INTERNATIONAL STYLIST TO THE STARS-KAREN BINNS AND INTERNATIONAL MUSIC STAR-ESTELLE!
I ended the week by having dinner with Estelle who was back in her hometown of London on some promotion before heading out to Asia for some promotion. I took her and a few friends to the IVY CLUB- next door to the infamous IVY RESTAURANT but even more exclusive as it’s not for the public but members only. We had a great evening reminiscing and catching up over Bellini’s.
Ending on a great note- YOUNG PEOPLES QUESTION TIME has been given the green light for BBC3-so finally our youth will have their thoughts, hopes, frustrations and voices heard. The greater population will be able to see just what the young are going through and hopefully a greater connection between society will bring forth a lil more harmony- whoop whoop!

JASMINE WITH MICHELLE WILLIAMS!
This week I’ve been up to Manchester to the BBC’s new media city and back for the CDN CREATIVE DIVERSITY AWARDS, West London’s finest superstar Estelle popped back home for a few days to talk about her forth coming new music, attended 4 early business Christmas parties, 2 dinner parties and launched one new TV show-UK 360! PHEW! IM TIRED JUST READING THAT!

In a week that’s seen Chipmunk celebrate his 21st birthday, Game, Miguel and Jill Scott pop through our capital city for shows I made time for only velvet toned singer with the sveltest figure ever from Destiny’s Child-the diva that is Michele Williams invited me to a very special, opulent night to watch her perform her Single ‘’On the run’’ at The gallery at the Westbury Hotel in Central London. As we arrived the paparazzi were already there awaiting that ‘’stepped out of the car’’ shot and the queue was lined up with guests going all around the block. On entry we were offered unlimited silver trays of prosecco and tiny canapés that were delicious! at the drinks reception where I spotted former eternal singer Vernie, Multi-award winning Casting Directors for commercials, film, TV, dance, music videos, world tours and more-Mark Summers, Shakazulu restaurant owner and man about town roger Payne, MOBO head Kanya King, music PR maven Fiona Ramsay and many other movers and shakers from the more glitterati scene.
I had a lovely catch up with ex eternal singer Vernie who still looks as classy and sophisticated as she ever did and is living her life like it’s gorgeous!

JASMINE WITH EX ETERNAL MEMBER VERNIE AND MUSICAL DIRECTOR JOSEPH ROSS.
Someone also mentioned to me that whilst we were hob nobbing with Michelle Williams, the original line up of girl group Sugababes were in the studio that very night (Mutya, Keisha and Siobhan) and that they were coming back with a vengeance. Well done to them all I say-that was the bestline up and how ironic what with the latest line up already having broken up and been dropped by their current label!
Next a camera crew from SKY LIVING came over to ask if we would mind commenting on a young lady they were making a lookalike programme on. They pointed across to a young lady that they said was a Beyonce lookalike and asked us to comment on her. Well it was awkward. The lady was beautiful in her own way but by no means resembled Bey. In fact I felt bad for her cos it felt like the TV people might be for TV purposes making her look a bit of a fool. the lady was tall, wearing a very un Beyonce style pair of shoes, wrongly matched to skin colour flesh coloured tights, a cheap gold sequinned tunic that barely covered her bum, and had huge bouffant styled black hair! Bey would never have hair darker than honey, her waist would betightly cinched in with a corset and this lady was not in any way a lookalike. She was clearly very nervous and felt out of place. I felt bad for her. The Beyonce I know and love would be smiling 100% of the time in public through her teeth even whilst talking and be extremely confident and work the room. Oh dear. I can’t wait to see the finished show.
Anyhoo-I digress-0the main reason everyone was actually there was to see a REAL destiny’s child. Once we had all finished gossiping we were led to the basement area into a beautifully extravagant room with paintings and plushness where Michelle performed her song alongside 2 female dancers and totally rocked the place with her sassy vocals.
At the end of the night we were all sent home singing the single as we left and handed a beautifully bespoken cupcake made by ‘’cute as a cupcake’’ with an image of Michelle on top. So we literally ate Michelle Williams!

ME. TRYING TO FIGURE OUT HOW TO SLIP THE ‘MONA LISA’ INTO MY POCKET DISCREETLY.
Bonjour readers! I’ve just returned from a short break in Paris where I experienced 4 very extravagant days and nights which included showing a Paris virgin (someone who’s never visited Paris-not a sexually inexperienced Parisian!), the sights of the city!
The Eurostar tipped us out at the infamous gare du nord train station and a taxi scooped us up and delivered us to our hotel based in the trocadero district in the 8th arrondissment just off the world famous champs elysee. We spent days exploring the Louvre where my friend pondered how difficult it would be to steal the Mona Lisa painting, taking silly photos in front of the Eiffel tower in strange perspectives that make it look like we are touching the tip of the tower, and walking into every designer store along the bling covered rue saint-honour exciting the assistants by insinuating we were buying up the store, especially when we walked into D&G with American music star Florida!!
We had 3 extremely expensive dinners at opulent establishments, the Buddha bar (extremely stush, great setting under a giant Buddha-but awful food and service), KONG restaurant (designer / architect Philippe starks place-stunning ariel views, sexy venue and people and amazing food!), and finally my favourite-L’Cantine- (a very sexy restaurant with a live dj playing classic soul and r&b as diners dined in a beautifully decorated modern dimly lit sexy venue). Things I pondered whilst out there; is it a requirement by law that every French citizen wear a mon clare puffa jacket? Has anyone tested whether raw minced meat eaten as a French delicacy can cause food poisoning? Is wine a mandatory accompaniment with absolutely EVERY meal? Do French kids have style genes from birth that mean they look as if they were styled by a vogue editor? Why are Japanese tourists so obsessed with Louis Vuitton clothing-the stores looked like a rave was in full swing with 24-7 queues outside? Are most French people rude to the English or is it just that they refuse to try and communicate with us in English? Can we teach British cafes how to make real hot chocolate the way the French do with real cocoa? Do the Paris tourist board realise what a faux pas it is that they demolished the café outside the Louvre that Carrie Bradshaw visited in sex and the city? Did you know that Frances president Sarkozy has real big pimping merit- no one is allowed to toot or beep their car horns at any time outside his residential palace in case they wake him-now that’s gangsta! Hilariously French taxi drivers explained to us that the British, American and Japanese embassies were so stingy they didn’t want to pay towards the rue saint honour Christmas lights all the way down the street outside their buildings hence the beautifully lit street is all unified in twinkling decorations until you arrive outside these 3 buildings where its just dead as if Christmas forgot it! Idiots guide to Paris tourist tip; flag down your own taxis as the concierge requesting it for you incurs a 15-euro surcharge before you’ve even stepped into the car!

SWAY, ADAM DEACON AND BASHY WITH US AT CITY HALL!
Before that though London was a buzz with the London 360 event at city hall where we began with a drinks reception before escorting everyone into the main city hall amphitheatre chamber for a talk and screening of the highlights for series 1.
TREVOR NELSON, ADAM DEACON, EDDIE NESTOR AT LONDON360!
Supporters like Alesha Dixon, Trevor Nelson, Eddie Nestor and I spoke in the Mayor’s chamber in front of an audience of 300 of London’s movers and shakers. The event was to celebrate London 360 series 1 and its impact on the residents and stories about London’s communities.

LONDON360 SERIES 1 AND 2 REPORTERS WITH ME!
Reporters from series 1 and 2 talked about their experiences. Trevor emphasised his love of London and why a show like this is necessary. Organisers from a variety of organisations like Orin Lewis from the ACLT explained how involvement in getting his story out there had helped his profile and Eddie Nestor spoke about the career progression for our reporters from TV to radio and beyond.

ACLT’S ORIN LEWIS WITH ME AND MY L360 REPORTER FUNMI OLUTOYE.
Many of our reporters have gone onto a wide variety of jobs within the media like Sky News, ITN, the Jeremy Kyle show, Tiger Aspect production company, SBTV and Shine TV. Many of London’s most influential press and bloggers (Grimedaily, the Mactwins/Hub entertainment, 3AM girls-The Mirror, THE VOICE, OHTV and more) scrambled around at the end to grab press interviews with acts like Sway, Bashy, Princess Nyah and the big wigs that run London from City Bridge. If you know any youngsters between 18-25 years old that want a start on their media career ladder get in touch with me at hiphop.com! We are London-. People. Powered. Change!.

JASMINE AT THE ES 1000 CELEBRATION NIGHT!
The very posh Evening standard 1000 most influential gathering party at Covent Garden transport museum was a who’s who of London. The transport museum is a fascinating space that every Londoner should check out-its history of the capitals transport with real old skool buses and trains on display and a real gem in the centre of town. On arrival on the drizzly wet night, the red carpet was surrounded with heaving paparazzi and just inside A lister after A lister were having theirpics taken up against the evening standards branding board. Once we had navigated the museum and led to the main central stage space I spotted Jemima Khan, Boris Johnson, Ken Livingstone, Dragons Den panellists,
A very fancy food menu and champagne were distributed the whole night. There was atower of cupcakes and the room was like a James Bond party and the over powering scent of money and power were not to be sniffed at. Boris Johnson kept a wide berth from his old nemesis Ken Livingston, The former Mayor posed alongside Lib-Dem rival Brian Paddick. “Where’s Boris?” asked Mr Livingstone. “We want Boris to make it a threesome. We want a threesome with Boris.” cringe.com. Vivienne Westwood and Kids Company charity founder Camila Batmanghelidjh had an unspoken outfit competition to see who could be more eccentric. Pop star Holly Valance and her billionaire boy friend Nick Candy made a striking couple. My mates tried not to ogle male model David Gandy too hard. Brian Paddick, Jemima Khan, Riz Lateef, Kathy Lette, Henry Holland. BA head Willie Walsh Ian Duncan Smith and Toby Young were all chatting and laughing hard. It was good company to be in!

Next Tinie Tempah and his manager Dumi invited me to come and watch his gig at Wembley. The whole arena was packed out and I sat in wonder observing the crowd and how far we’d come since the days when a UK urban act couldn’t even get a gig at the jazz café let alone a few nights at Wembley to a sold out crowd!. The support were a class with Tinie’s mate Labrinth warming up alongside DJ Zane Lowe and DJ Nero who turned the whole rave pre-Tinie into a hot sweaty rave. a real jump up and down, to every beat including the one in your head , mosh pit of madness!. By the time Tinie came onstage they were amped up to hysteria and the show was magic! Fantastic visuals and graphics that were mesmerising alongside a simple but structured framed stage set that lit up in a variety of guises throughout kept us engaged. Tinie performed hit after hit alone and with his buddy Kelly Rowland and left the crowd overly hype and content as they left at the end of the night.

Like many parts of the country West London has its own gang and youth issues and the drama between Kilburn and Mozart Estates in that part of the city has been well documented. Not all the youth in these areas are into negative pastimes though and as proof there was a massive turn out at Ladbroke Groves Tabernacle Centre for The Avenues Show where all the young people from the club performed a variety of song, dance and spoken word sets for a very happy audience. The talent was of a brilliant standard and I was more than impressed! The youngsters raised £3000 in ticket sales and hopefully that money will go back into funding their club and regenerating their area!

Next I attended the JAMAICA HIGH COMMISSION’S CELEBRATION OF KINGSTON at the Jamaica High Commission in Kensington where there were presentations from key travel and tourism officials on howKingston will be supported on a world stage into 2012 for the Olympics in London. I know from my inside contacts that a certain part of London is going to be transformed into a mini Jamaica city where no doubt there will be much excitement!

Alesha Dixon invited me to come and see her on set as she made her charity video for this years poppy appeal event in Central London. She was paying homage to Dame Vera Lynn with a modern more up-tempoversion of the war classic ‘’We’ll meet again’’. She looking drop dead gorgeous in a floor length slinky ball gown and dramatic make up. She also wished the LONDON360 TV show luck with our City Hall event (more on that event next week) that celebrated series 1 with the mayor, youth, reporters, press, celebs and more. Alesha spoke at the event and said ‘’ as soon as I heard London 360 involved London’s young people uncovering grass roots news stories, I wanted to get on board and support it. I’m part of a generation of Londoner’s that believes in positive stories about our capital and its communities.it can be difficult for young people in today’s climate and it is important to encourage and support them through mentoring, training and real industry experiences like those offered by media trust. It’s vital for young people and local communities to have a voice in mainstream media, to talk about the things that matter to them and showcase the great work they are doing in their communities. Earlier this year London 360 highlighted an issue i feel passionate about, female genital mutilation. It’s really important to raise the profile of issues like this and encourage debate in the wider community. Thanks to London 360 this feature aired on TV and online, as well as subsequently being picked up by BBC Radio London and in a national newspaper. It’s amazing that the young reporters have captured so many untold stories about our city over the past few months! London 360 has enormous potential and will continue to affect the capital with positive change’’. Then I had some good news for Alesha. Because of the success of LONDON360 the TV show is now being extended across the country so UK360 begins at the end of this month. As if that wasn’t enough a YOUNG PEOPLES QUESTION TIME is being planned for our screens next year too! All change for a positive impact between adults, youth and society!
Next Boris Johnson called us and said ‘’’this is a great celebration of talent, and shows how gifted and creative young Londoners from across the capital are. It is important for young people to have a chance to get together and debate, as well as hear from experienced professionals in the media industry as they start their own careers. I’m pleased to endorse the Media Trust’s work and wish them well’’.
With Alesha and every other major celeb nowadays paying serious attention to giving back and charitable issues to help society we are all #WINNING!

Its easy to become complacent about fabulous events in London town as there are so many every week, but once in a while one comes up that still excites everyone and has the whole city buzzing. One such event was the film premier for ‘’MICHAEL JACKSON- THE LIFE OF AN ICON’’ (a David Gest production) that was held at the Empire, Leicester Square. As you can imagine it was pandemonium in the square with security, fans and tourists all bustling through. The red carpet was heaving with celebs but we all persevered through the rain and finally found our seats. I had kindly been given a set of 10 tickets for the film premier and the dinner afterwards (worth £15,000!) at the Connaught rooms and invited amongst my guests music manager Richard Pascoe, graphics design guru Troy Davies (Interscope), the D&G celeb team ladies Ruth and Chandni, former Honeyz lead singer Celena and her man, celeb facialist Nuz Shugaa and PR maven Jodie Dalmeda. Sitting next to us was magician Dynamo and just behind us MOBO’s Kanya King and BBC reporter Brenda Emmanus.
Michael’s sister Remi and brother Tito Jackson along with one of Michael’s closest long-time friends David Gest did the film intro onstage and Michael’s abuse-trail lawyers including Susan Yu (who proved MJ innocent in court) were also onstage all talking about Michael and their favourite memories and anecdotes about him which was lovely as it reminded you of how human he was. . David Gest interviewed the Jackson family members about the innocence of Michael Jackson. Lawyer Susan stated ‘’There was no doubt that Michael was innocent when we 1st met him”. She added ‘’Martin Bashir was a disaster and refused to answer q’s”.
They told us that in the recording studio “Michael would jump onto the studio desk and dance and scream his songs until the speakers blew up. That’s how he knew he had a hit”. Tito revealed “Michael had 7 Bentleys and offered me one, I said Michael I cant take your Bentley-Michael said sure you can and so I took the one that had been signed by numerous stars like Beyonce…and.(he hesitated)…Liza Minelli..LOL’’. David Gest and the audience laughed as Tito paused before mentioning David’s ex wife Liza! The MJ film is fascinating. What a man. What a life. How hounded he was by vultures. It also included many amazing anecdotes from his friends and family over the years. A totally powerful and mesmerising film. Michaels mum Katherine said ‘’it’s a truly remarkable film that captures the true character, wit and sensitivity of my son. Producer David Gest takes you on an emotional rollercoaster that will bring people to tears as well as really understand who the man behind the music was and is’’.
Straight after the film the entire cinema load of tuxedo clad men and ball gown draped ladies trotted up the road to Covent Gardens Connaught Rooms for the star-studded gala reception, where the paparazzi were out in full force snapping away.
Outside I caught up with Capital Radios entertainment reporter Kevin Hughes before a pap asked me to pose alongside Tito and Dynamo. Anytime this happens I cringe inside wondering if they’ve mistaken me for someone else and how peeved they’ll be when they realise they have a nobody in their press photo LOL. David Gest and his friend –man about town-Imad Handi -greeted and caught up with us at the entrance of the ballroom and guided us to our table where we were treated to a slap up 3 course meal where much fun and jokes were had before a few of the Motown legends attending sang for us until the early hours as we slow danced. We had performances by legends like Martha Reeves, Peabo Bryson, Deniece Williams and more!
Dancing up a storm after dinner to the live performers was Kanya, Brenda, Ricky and Bianca from Eastenders, Celena Honeyz, actress Preeya Kalidas, stylist Richard Shoyemi and more. What a surreal night at the ‘Michael Jackson; life of an icon’ premier and dinner.

Next I went to church with Akala and Bashy. It was St Peters Church in Notting Hill where First Direct bank were holding a ‘’dialogue’’ festival in the church where fascinating acts like Pérez Hilton, Tim key, will self and many more were performing sets across a week. Akala’s Hip Hop Shakespeare Company were part of the line up one night so we went to check them out. Pre-show Akala invited us backstage to the dressing room where he was chilling out before he hit the stage by kicking around a football with a young fan. There were an abundance of red velvet cupcakes, which he asked us to help ourselves to. Stunningly I declined after seeing a photo of myself last week next to a ridiculously skinny person that made me look like a ridiculous obese person! The church venue had been transformed into a theatre setting and it felt right. It felt community like and important and the positive vibe testified to that fact. Akala introduced his band and vocalists who were of a very high standard especially a female rapper and singer, he explained to the audience that there were many stereotypes about hip-hop and that acknowledged poets and writers like Shakespeare weren’t far from a rappers skill set. He did this by quoting lines from rappers like Eminem, Jay Z, Wu Tang’s Inspectah Deck and Shakespeare and asking the audience to guess which line belonged to a rapper or Shakespeare. I was particularly impressed with an MC called Rowan ‘’Disraeli’’ Sawday who was very dynamic and animated and in my humble opinion has the potential to be huge. And then finally Akala introduced his friend and artist Bashy. Between them all they were by far the strongest act onstage that night. I paused to wonder at the juxtaposition of religion and music as I noted the branded logo being projected onto the churches beautifully painted frieze ceiling but then my mate told me not to worry as God would co-sign community events in his house as they were inclusive, made the church money and he has a sense of humour and needs to laugh and sing too!.