Month: February 2014

PIC COURTESY PAUL H.

HOUSE OF COMMONS OFCOM RTS DINNER
I started the week at an event at the House of Commons in the Members Dining Room, at the RTS (Royal Television Society) All Party Parliamentary Group Dinner in honour of Dame Colette Bowe, The outgoing chair of Ofcom who was stepping down after five years in the role.

OFCOM are the office for communications in the UK and the Independent regulator and competition authority for all the UK communications industries. They regulate the TV, radio, phone and postal services citizens and consumers use at home and in business, and are the body you contact if you’re not happy with anything you see on UK media channels. Viewers and listeners often complain to OFCOM about programmes they’ve seen or heard on TV and radio, so it’s a huge responsibility for Dame Colette Bowe and her team.

I arrived 30 minutes early to get through the rigorous security check at the main gate, which is akin to airport security for obvious reasons. By the time I’d had my photo taken, removed and replaced my shoes, belt, jacket and coat and made my way through the grand, cold stone hall I was just in time to join the reception drinks where I spotted my fellow RTS Futures committee, Channel 4 head David Abraham, photographer to the stars Paul H, Lord Patten from the BBC Trust, one of the top women in TV- Sophie Turner-Laing, Baroness Floella Benjamin OBE and BBC Scotlands Marcus Ryder.

Dinner was a lot of fun with discussions both serious and frivolous about current TV and big screen content accompanied by a sumptuous feast of roasted lamb, spiced chocolate truffle with caramel corn and traditional after diner coffee. A fascinating discussion between Sir Peter Bazalgette and Dame Colette about her time at OFCOM and thoughts on its future followed dinner.
We all listened intently as Dame Colette revealed that technology has totally changed news content and the things viewers are now more likely to accept on their TV screens, especially after the Woolwich tragedy.

Dame Colette stated ‘’People are more tolerant now on what they’ll accept. We received around 700 complaints about news shows giving this content a platform. Some said it was about child protection and this content should never have been shown, that the Murderers were given a platform. But in our opinion, no broadcaster had overstepped the mark. It was a seminal moment in UK TV history. Is was in the public interest”

Its OFCOMs job to regulate content on TV and Dame Colette was more than realistic about what is possible in todays social media driven society ‘’I feel strongly about kidding parents that someone somewhere can protect your kids from the big bad world online cos they can’t. No regulator can. You have to do what is possible. You can’t take on a job that’s undoable. There are limits to regulatory action’’. Ofcom works with “the art of the possible,” and “there are limits to regulatory action,” Bowe admitted.
When it comes to viewing content illegally online Dame Colette was on the side of the industry who have been losing money to piracy for years ‘’Piracy. I object to the word Piracy. It’s actually stealing’’.

A fascinating chance to hear first hand about the trials and challenges facing our broadcast regulators on a daily basis in 2014. Good luck to the next chair at OFCOM who steps into Dame Colettes shoes. Technology is moving media so fast that who knows what further changes will occur in the next five years. An undoable job? Sounds like it.
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R&B SUPERSTARS AT WEMBLEY ARENA.

Photos credit Bassbuds PR.
(L-R) Steven Beckford, BassBuds Founder & CEO , Clint Ippoma, BassBuds Founder & CEO, Lisa Maffia, Jasmine Dotiwala, Jay Davidson (BBC), Tinchy Stryder.

Next it was the now regular huge old skool showing of R&B Superstars show at Wembley Arena. Acts on the line up included Mint Condition, Kut Klose, Total, En Vogue and Blackstreet2.

TINCHY STRYDER BCAKSTAGE AT R&B SUPERSTARS.

On arrival backstage in the Bassbuds VIP lounge I bumped into Tinchy Stryder who has new music coming very soon. He told me he’s evolved with the times. I think we all know he’s a master chameleon what with going from grimy RinseFM mic spitter to pop chart star whenever he needs to. Look out for his new music. Also backstage was Lisa Maffia who persuaded me to have my nails done in their VIP nail booth where nail technician Roxanne Campbell took amazing care of my fingers- a week later they were still looking groomed to perfection!

WRETCH32 BACKSTAGE AT R&B SUPERSTARS.

The main arena was buzzing and as usual Mike Anthony, Treble Tee and their Rampage sound system were keeping the crowd on their feet dancing and whooping along to sets, during the gap between each act when the stagehands were resetting equipment and staging. There was a jungle, slow jams, bashment and hip-hop set. The crowd was up for doing the candy dance en masse which is always a breath taking vision to see thousands moving in unison.

TOTAL ATTEMPT THEIR BEST MIMING AS A TWOSOME.

One of my fave bands, TONI, TONE, TONY brought the show to a great midway climax before girl band Total made it crash. I say girl band but there were only two of them there, clearly mostly miming which was a disappointment. En Vogue then came and smashed it with the best performance of the night. Their costumes, vocals and set were a rounded 10/10. They sang and took it back to church, their costumes clearly had some thought put into them and their dance choreography was strong and slick. They brought the house down!
The Blacksteet story is a complicated one but in a nutshell, founding members Teddy Riley and Chauncey Hannibal fell out years ago. Chauncey took Teddy to court to have full rights over the name of the group and won. So now, when Chauncey performs with his line up the band is called Blackstreet. When Teddy performs with his line up they are officially called Blackstreet2. The both of them need to sort it cos I’ve seen both line-ups perform this past few months, and whilst Chaunceys was stronger vocally and with presence, without Teddy it just misses something. Please guys- bury the hatchet- life’s too short!

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BIG MUSIC PROJECT AT O2

(Left to right) Musicians, Plan B, MNEK and Will Kennard from Chase & Status with Dean Joseph, aged 17, from Maidenhead (2nd right) during the launch of The Big Music Project

Hundreds of youth engagement schemes exist across the UK to attempt to help youth gain employment and life skills. a huge proportion of these use the power of music to work. I have been asked to attend, oversee, sit on boards and advise on many of these but I always leave feeling frustrated at their lack of longevity and real progression to actually change lives.
The TV show I exec produce- LONDON360- actually makes real life changes for young people who want to work in media from diverse backgrounds and this week I attended the launch of something that parrellels this in UK music.
The launch of The Big Music Project funded by the Big Lottery Fund- and delivered by Global, The BPI and UK Youth. The launch at the 02 arena in London saw over 150 youth from all across the uk (bussed in to be sworn in as hub ambassadors. These 150 are tasked with mentoring 10 of their peers in their city hubs across the UK in music related activities, talented shows and more.

£4 million Lottery funded cash has gone into this and aims to not just make young people more confident and gain employment skills, but also encourage them into a music career that isn’t the music star or producer. it highlights the other hundreds of jobs that exist in music from rigger, roadie, fire tech, jingle writer and so on. This area will also cover training on marketing, social networking, recording, production, PR, promotion, legal affairs and other elements that will help talented acts rise to the next level.

BIG DOG GEOFF TAYLOR SPEAKS.

Chief Executive of the BPI and The BRIT Awards, Geoff Taylor, enthused: “We’re really excited about the opportunities that The Big Music Project will create for young people who never dared to dream that the music industry would come direct to their doorstep with the skills, contacts, and reach that this initiative offers. We’ll give talented young musicians the chance to compete and perform in front of industry stars and decision-makers. And we’ll offer internships in record companies, provide work experience at the BRIT Awards, and signpost young people towards real training opportunities, so that they may one day find themselves working in one of the many exciting roles in the business. We can’t wait to get out on the road to discover a new generation of emerging talent and music executives. Get involved – it could be your chance to make it big!”

4milion’s a lot of money. Peter Ainsworth, Chair of the Big Lottery Fund, told me: “The Big Music Project is all about inspiring young people across the UK to fulfil their potential and achieve their personal goals. It is just one of a number of initiatives the Big Lottery Fund is backing that aim to empower young people to shape their own futures and to play an active role in their communities. This exciting event today is a great way to kick off The Big Music Project and is just the start of its engagement with young people up and down the country through a range of inspiring events, workshops and work experience opportunities.”

The Big Music Project (TBMP) is all about music, young people, and possibilities. This year long project, which kicks off in April, will include a national music competition – The Big Music Project Competition powered by Next BRIT Thing, alongside nationwide careers fairs, community projects through youth clubs and hundreds of work experience and internship opportunities, all fully supported online.

Aiming to build confidence, create real career opportunities, and secure positive outcomes and futures using the power of music, TBMP will harness the attraction of the music industry and its many ancillary careers to empower and engage more than 4.5 million young people aged 14-24 across the UK, using a list of 100 hubs and 1000 local champions identified and selected by UK Youth.

The afternoon included Q&A panels, performances by ridiculously talented classical and pop youngsters about to hit their own fame time, and an exclusive backstage tour of the BRITs set just 2 days ahead of the renowned Awards show. Speakers included artists Plan B, MNEK, Chase & Status, and Capital’s Pandora, music executives, and young people who have secured their first jobs in the music industry who were happy to share their journeys and experiences.

PLAN B TAKES THE MIC.

There was much excitement and screaming (that these young music wannabees will need to stifle in their future careers!), when Plan B stepped onstage to tell them about his charity Each One Teach One Trust, which is a charity founded to improve the lives of young people by providing access to new skills.

“If you don’t have a clear talent, it just seems impossible to make something of yourself in the society that we live in. There just doesn’t appear to be enough places you can go, offering advice and support. “We (EOTO) have decided to support the ‘The Big Music Project’ because it will attempt to do just that. By not only providing information, but creating and highlighting genuine opportunities for all young people interested in music and beyond.”

The aims of the BIG Music Project are to deliver a large scale, year long, media-led youth engagement campaign, reaching over 4,500,000 young people aged 14-24 across the UK, and focused on the opportunities created for them by their passion for and interest in music. It will take a lot of hand holding by mentors to actually achieve this. I’ve seen first hand that the promise of a carrot dangled is often not enough to engage youth who frankly have bigger dramas to survive. but TBMP will create some amazing first opportunities for a strong percentage of Britain youth, to make or produce music, thereby increasing confidence and collaboration skills, and building links across communities and this can only be a good thing in the long run. To nurture and develop young musicians both musically and commercially to provide them with a rounded view of the industry they aspire to work in isn’t something the big music brands have put so much resource into in the past.

Lookout for their four national The Big Music Project events that will attract over 1,000 young people each through major artist performances. These events will promote opportunities to engage with the music industry, sign up to the music competition and explore their work opportunities programme.
There aren’t many doors open to diverse unconnected audiences who want a part of the music industry pie. this looks like too good an opportunity to miss. you know what they say- you’ve got to be in it, to win it!

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http://www.facebook.com/bigmusicUK
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#bigmusic

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ON SKY NEWS WITH THE UBER TALENTED ANCHOR KAY BURLEY.

BRITS / SKY NEWS
Finally I ran off to SKY News to join the wonderful anchor Kay Burley live on air to talk about that evenings Brit Awards. Love being a social commentary pundit but love SKY News even more for being the only broadcaster that calls me for generic news opinions not just when its an ‘’ethnic protest or negative urban music’’ issue. Big up SKY!

JASMINE WITH POETS AND ORGANISERS OF ”POETRY LUV” AT THE TATE -Workshop leader Nego True, club DJ Anthony Douglas, Brixon based spoken word artist Elijah Kerr and Geoege The Poet. Photo courtesy SAI PHOTOGRAPHY

Started the week at the Tate Britain art gallery where poets Dean Atta and George the Poet were performing in the Turner room to a room packed with hundreds of spoken word fans.

JASMINE WITH JAY DAVIDSON (BBC), COOKIE PRYCE (THE ORCHARD MUSIC) , MYVANWY EVANS (PR) AND JODIE DALMEDA (PR).
Photo courtesy SAI PHOTOGRAPHY

Fusing the mediums of spoken word and poetry set against a backdrop of Turner paintings, Late at Tate Britain housed a captivating poetry event last Friday 7th February as part of National Storytelling Week 14th anniversary.

A diverse audience filled The Clore Gallery and overflowed into it’s adjoining halls to witness the “Love Story” themed poetry performances, which included guest appearances from popular London poets Dean Atta and George The Poet.

JASMINE WITH POET DEAN ATTA AT THE TATE POST SHOW.

Hosted by Poetry Luv, an emerging London poetry night, the event showcased the work of young performers and writers from Lambeth who had attended workshops inside their local library in Clapham as part of the Tell Tales project. Brixon based spoken word artist Elijah Kerr and club DJ Anthony Douglas created Poetry Luv in 2013, to help nurture and showcase young street poets and spoken word artists.

Elijah Kerr is an intriguing story in himself. He is also known as Jaja Soze is a rapper, spoken word artist and former gang leader of South London’s PDC (Peel Dem Crew) who since leaving prison in 2005 has turned the PDC away from crime and reinvented it as a record label from it’s studios in Overton Road in Brixton. Jaja helps young people in the community of Angle Town, Brixton. His projects are largely funded by the Heritage Trust and Arts Council through his company Indigo Youth. Jaja has a new spoken word album due for release in May so you’d think he’d be spending all his free time promoting that, but instead he was spear heading Poetry Luv.

Jaja revealed to me how this former gang leader was inspired to set up Poetry Luv.

‘’I started feeling uninspired by the music industry, and felt that poetry was a powerful tool to help inspire and educate our young people whilst still portraying our art form, so I hooked up with my school mate DJ Mr Play and Poetry Luv was born. We now have a huge following’’.

With Dean Atta and George the Poets popularity and signing to record labels there seems to be a shift back towards poetry being cool for young people again. Jaja states ‘’With artist like myself and George the poet the young people feel a connection as we speak their language whilst articulating it, so others can also understand we mix street culture with education, that’s why it’s becoming so popular. This art form will defo become huge and because it’s becoming popular young kids are starting to write, read and go to library’s to research’’.

Jaja explained how exactly since leaving prison in 2005, he’s turned his old PDC gang away from crime and reinvented it as a record label from its studios in Overton Road in Brixton.

‘’Turning our crew into a record label was a major challenge but we got through it. Now PDC artists like DVS are popping up in the no1 Hip-hop charts and my face is in the local paper for positive stuff. We now sign up-and-coming artists and run workshops in partnership with Lottery Heritage and Youth Music and I will continue to break barriers in order to inspire’’.

Jaja’s final word was of course about his own album out very soon. ‘’All I can say is it’s very powerful hence the title Power, and I hope it inspires and makes a young generation move forward and progress’’.

DEAN ATTA PERFORMS TO THE POETRY LUV CROWD.

GEORGE THE POET PERFORMS AT POETRY LUV AT THE TATE.

Workshop leaders Nego True and Sophia Thakur introduced all acts to the packed Turner Room at Tate Britain. Dean Atta said: “Getting the chance to work with young people who might not have had the chance to ever tell their stories is a real gift and I really enjoyed performing alongside them”

COMICS UNCHAINED AT HACKNEY EMPIRE

JASMINE WITH BOXING LEGEND LENNOX LEWIS AT HACKNEY EMPIRE FOR COMICS UNCHAINED.

Two nights later I attended yet another GeeStor (Robbie Gee and Eddie Nestor) production at Hackney Empire where comedians Slim, Richard Blackwood, A Dot comedian, Glenda Jackson and Axel were performing to a packed sold out audience.

JASMINE WITH COMICS UNCHAINED HOST EDDIE KADI AND GEESTOR TOP LADY IN CHARGE-SARAH MOORE.

The night was hosted by the fast witted Eddie Kadi and had boxing legend Lennox Lewis attending to the delight of the crowd. One of the highlights was the velvet voiced singer Jermain Jackman singing for the crowd!

JASMINE WITH COMEDIAN SLIM AND SINGER JERMAINE JACKMAN.

#DIGIDEBATE AT ITV.

THE WHOLE DIGIDEBATE PANEL AT ITV.

Next ITV hosted a debate for young people and broadcast leaders titled ‘’ SOCIAL MEDIA is responsible for messing up a lot of peoples lives. In the past 12 months we’ve seen pop stars sex tapes and regular couples getting busy on public staircases. What is your take on social media-is it a platform for good or evil?’’

JASMINE WITH #DIGIDEBATE CHAIR CHARLENE WHITE AND ATTENDEE ACTOR ADAM DEACON.

Chaired by ITV News anchor Charlene White, panellists included young new sitcom producer Samuel Benta, head of digital at new TV channel London Live- Anna Cronin and SBTV co founder Liam Toothill. BAFTA winning actor Adam Deacon quizzed the panel from the front row of the audience.

CHARLENE WHITE WELCOMES THE #DIGIDEBATE AUDIENCE.

ADAM DEACON SPEAKS ON HIS SOCIAL MEDIA EXPERIENCES BOTH GOOD AND BAD AT THE #DIGIDEBATE.

Anyone and everyone has an opinion on social media nowadays. RICHARD Blackwood told me‘’ I think it’s a Blessing and a curse cause if used right you can turn yourself into a star from your own home but the flip side is everything and everyone is accessible and that is never a good thing!! SLIM added ‘’ Social networking is a bit like Hovis 50 50, it’s made it easier to cheat but easier to get caught. Overall it’s a good platform most embarrassing videos are put up by people’s good friends so I guess it shows you who your friends really are!’’ EDDIE Kadi jumped in ‘’ Social Media if used properly can be extremely beneficial to a business or personality. Though that person has to be able to use their brain. Train your dog well. So it doesn’t end up biting you or leaving waste all over the house.’’

MUSIC ACT DELILAH TALKS ABOUT HER EXPERIENCE WITH SOCIAL MEDIA FROM THE PANEL.

TV magic star Dynamo revealed ‘‘without social media it would’ve been very difficult for me to get out and get my magic out to the public. It was the first option I had because obviously TV companies weren’t really taking notice of a really young kid from Bradford back then and I didn’t really have the resources to make a big massive TV show like I do now but I had a camcorder and a laptop and I had the internet and YouTube and I just put videos on there and they started getting a hundred views if I was lucky and it grew to get millions of views with the help of Twitter and Facebook. So without social media then there is no magic’’.

Dynamo cautioned

‘’I think the scariest thing about social media is the fact that nobody has any privacy any more. Every single day there’s some sort of scandal that comes out online and I guess it’s bad for the news as well because the news breaks first on Twitter. So it’s hard to keep secrets but I guess that’s not necessarily a bad thing because sometimes there’s too many secrets kept from us by higher people. If that makes any sense? (wink) ‘’

Olympic athlete Jeanette Kwakye reiterated the pros and cons ‘’I think with social media it’s about getting your campaign out there, putting yourself out there whatever the cause may be. I would like to think that it’s a platform for anybody who’s got talent to showcase it and getting an honest opinion from everyone who’s out there and you know I think people have got jobs from putting their talent out there and I think that for me personally, it’s a good thing and it can only be a good thing. I’m a big social media user, I probably could live without social media but I’d find it quite challenging, but I do love it, I get to connect with a lot of my fans and kept in touch with a lot of friends and family who I haven’t seen in a long time.To be honest I’m actually quite aware of my social footprint, I do think before I post, occasionally I might have a bit of a rant but it’s never to the extent that I could probably go to but always to a level that I think is appropriate and I’m very aware and quite conscious of the people that follow me, especially on my twitter account and I wouldn’t want to get in any kind of trouble. I think the future of social media is it can only get bigger, it can only get better, there’s going to be more ways to interact and I think that we’ll close down on that 6 degrees. You know the 6 degrees of separation that we have? I think we’ll close down on that eventually. Down to 2 or 3 maybe and I think that by being connected as a whole universe is going to be something quite special. I think I am a little bit of a feminist. I’m a big believer in girl power, empowering especially young girls it’s very very important and I’ve been very lucky in my career to come across some amazing women so I think that being part of that kind of thing as well for me is quite special and I’d like to champion that at all times’’.

JASMINE WITH CHARLENE WHITE, JACK PETCHEY (WHO FUNDS HUNDREDS OF YOUNG EAST END YOUTH PROJECTS) AND ADAM DEACON.

Chart star Wretch 32 had a balanced opinion

‘’I think social media has changed the world for the better and tiny bit for the worse. The reason I say for the better, I’ve got a little brother who lives in Canada and now we’re buttons away. For the worse because you never know who is on the other end of the buttons, so it can be used well and misused at the same time. Being an artist it’s helped me a lot, obviously going from myspace to twitter to youtube etc. I definitely think it has done more good than bad, but with things as big as the internet and social media there’s always a flip side to it’’.

Pop star Conor Maynard recalled his best social media moment ‘’I think probably the most memorable moment for me was when my fans decided to name themselves, they called themselves the maniacs after Maynard (laughs) but it was the maniacs they went with and that was probably the most memorable and it’s stuck ever since. So that was a big moment for me’’.

TV and film star Ashley Walters lamented the time it takes him away from his loved ones

‘’for me in a family sense it means that we spend less time with our children and they talk to us less about things because they’re on BBM, Whatsapp, instagram, twitter or any of the other social networking sites so far us it’s changed in that way. When it comes to business I think over the last few years I’ve been able to reach parts of the world that I’d never been able to reach before, so it’s progressed my career and our business and stuff like that as well. So having that kind of global reach is an amazing thing. I remember the days where I had to use a phone box to call my mates so I grew up in that era and I think a lot of the kids today like I said our kids they’ve always grown up with computers and whatever so for them they’re a dab hand at it but for us we’ve had to transit with that change, but it’s been a great thing’’.

Hollywood star Idris Elba implored

‘‘the problem I have with social media is that people forget to talk to people in real life. It’s fine talking on twitter or on a text or on instagram but human contact is the best way to communicate your ideas and that’s what I have a problem with. Ultimately I’m a big fan of social media but I do think that people need to talk to each other more. My worst experience of social media is having really defamatory pictures of me put online and people who’ve never even knew I was in social media believing it’s the truth. It’s just awful. I’ve seen this pictures or stories of me on social media and I’m like these are so far from the truth and yet you’re getting people commenting like it’s the truth, so there’s the good and the bad, and the bad is like the devil’’.

After that it was favour for a favour time as ITV News anchor Charlene White asked me to come and sit on a media panel at the University of the arts titled ‘’Charlene and friends’’ for a chat about what we do, how we got to where we are, and advice we’d give to budding journalists. Charlene said we were ‘’a group of my favourite features and entertainment journalists across UK newspaper, TV, magazine and radio’’. Alongside me on the panel were Guardian journalist Simon Hattenstone who once got stoned with Snoop to get a great interview, BBC Radio 1 Newsbeat entertainment presenter/reporter Nesta McGregor who shared his red-carpet bloopers, and Closer Magazine journalist Joanna Abeyie who explained her journey to the top. Like us all who started from the bottom now we’re here, you too could join us.
Keep reading next week for a great opportunity to be a new London vlogstar!

The Beatles sang Can’t buy me love but apparently in 2014, you can. Can you recall a time without discounted daily e-mails from groupon and the like pinging into your e-mail box? Never before have I taken advantage of so many massages, facials and afternoon teas for a tenner. I’m not the only one jumping on board the special deal bandwagon either. BOGOF is not just for grocery trips.

Valentines day is creeping up upon us and Deal Zippy – the UK’s first daily deals search engine, aggregating deals from more than 30 of the biggest deal sites, analysed all Valentine’s Day deals purchased on group-buying sites including Wowcher, KGB Deals, Living Social, Mighty Deals and Groupon between January 1st and February 10th. The findings are staggering! We are a nation of discount loving purchasers even on and especially on Valentines Day.

With the most romantic day of the year approaching, what are people buying for their most cherished ones? Forget flowers and chocolates, lovebirds across the UK are buying heavily discounted jewelry and bargain lingerie. More than 19,000 romantic gents have decided to spoil their leading ladies with a £15 personalised, triple ring necklace with a whopping 79% off, while almost 1,979 will be presenting their wives or girlfriends with £14 Swarovski crystal heart necklaces on February 14 – saving 80%. Similarly, 4,249 men could be handing over the same exact box of lingerie to their unknowing female partners, hoping that £19 turns out to be money well spent. Almost 51,000 Brits have snapped up bargains for their partners.

Meanwhile, a staggering 34,971 Brits have entered a competition run by Groupon to win a Mariachi band to serenade/humiliate their Valentines. Love knows no bounds.

P Diddy told us its all about the Benjamin’s and an analysis of the average saving made on each deal this year revealed a huge £51 saved on every Valentines Day-related deal purchased. In statistical form, that’s 50,947 deals bought x £51 average saving = £2,598,297 saved this Valentines! With the average cost of a Valentine’s Day gift being less than £13 on deal sites why would anyone go for the fifty quid Interflora option?

I have to confess to be a little skeptical about the true costs of these gifts before discounted. I mean can the Sterling silver personalised triple ring necklace with free delivery being offered at £14.99 really have been £70 pre discount? Or is it clever wording that suggests its ‘’valued’’ at £70 before over 19,000 purchases hit ‘’BUY’’ on their computers?

Provng that the way to a mans heart may truly be through his stomach, nearly 3000 romantic souls have paid £17 for an All you can eat three-course buffet at the Hilton London Docklands Inc. ferry transfer from Canary Wharf Pier to The Hilton Pier.

Jason Grima, co-founder of deals search engine, Dealzippy.co.uk, comments:

“In the lead up to February 14, shoppers are bombarded with choice, so a great way for brands to differentiate themselves is on perceived value. A saving of up to 80% off is a no-brainer, even if it’s not particularly romantic to go for a bargain gift. But I’m sure most people would rather their other halves didn’t pay through the nose for something they bought last minute on the high street.”

So there you have it- in 2014, love means never having to pay 100%. Quickly subscribe to Deal Zippy where you can bombard your loved ones with 10 gifts for the price of one this year and recite ‘’ How do I love thee? Let me count the ways….’’

Frank Sinatra once said ‘’a simple I LOVE YOU means more than money’’, Kanye doesn’t want a Gold digger and J Lo told us her ‘’Love don’t cost a thing’’. Sites like Deal Zippy now make that a reality!

The Beatles sang Can’t buy me love but apparently in 2014, you can.

Can you recall a time without discounted daily e-mails from groupon and the like pinging into your e-mail box? Never before have I taken advantage of so many massages, facials and afternoon teas for a tenner. I’m not the only one jumping on board the special deal bandwagon either. BOGOF is not just for grocery trips.

Valentines day is creeping up upon us and Deal Zippy – the UK’s first daily deals search engine, aggregating deals from more than 30 of the biggest deal sites, analysed all Valentine’s Day deals purchased on group-buying sites including Wowcher, KGB Deals, Living Social, Mighty Deals and Groupon between January 1st and February 10th. The findings are staggering! We are a nation of discount loving purchasers even on and especially on Valentines Day.

With the most romantic day of the year approaching, what are people buying for their most cherished ones? Forget flowers and chocolates, lovebirds across the UK are buying heavily discounted jewelry and bargain lingerie.

More than 19,000 romantic gents have decided to spoil their leading ladies with a £15 personalised, triple ring necklace with a whopping 79% off, while almost 1,979 will be presenting their wives or girlfriends with £14 Swarovski crystal heart necklaces on February 14 – saving 80%. Similarly, 4,249 men could be handing over the same exact box of lingerie to their unknowing female partners, hoping that £19 turns out to be money well spent. Almost 51,000 Brits have snapped up bargains for their partners.

Meanwhile, a staggering 34,971 Brits have entered a competition run by Groupon to win a Mariachi band to serenade/humiliate their Valentines. Love knows no bounds.

P Diddy told us its all about the Benjamin’s and an analysis of the average saving made on each deal this year revealed a huge £51 saved on every Valentines Day-related deal purchased. In statistical form, that’s 50,947 deals bought x £51 average saving = £2,598,297 saved this Valentines! With the average cost of a Valentine’s Day gift being less than £13 on deal sites why would anyone go for the fifty quid Interflora option?

I have to confess to be a little skeptical about the true costs of these gifts before discounted. I mean can the Sterling silver personalised triple ring necklace with free delivery being offered at £14.99 really have been £70 pre discount? Or is it clever wording that suggests its ‘’valued’’ at £70 before over 19,000 purchases hit ‘’BUY’’ on their computers? provng that the way to a mans heart may truly be through his stomach, nearly 3000 romantic souls have paid £17 for an All you can eat three-course buffet at the Hilton London Docklands Inc. ferry transfer from Canary Wharf Pier to The Hilton Pier.

Jason Grima, co-founder of deals search engine, Dealzippy.co.uk, comments:

“In the lead up to February 14, shoppers are bombarded with choice, so a great way for brands to differentiate themselves is on perceived value. A saving of up to 80% off is a no-brainer, even if it’s not particularly romantic to go for a bargain gift. But I’m sure most people would rather their other halves didn’t pay through the nose for something they bought last minute on the high street.”

So there you have it- in 2014, love means never having to pay 100%. Quickly subscribe to Deal Zippy where you can bombard your loved ones with 10 gifts for the price of one this year and recite ‘’ How do I love thee? Let me count the ways….’’

Frank Sinatra once said ‘’a simple I LOVE YOU means more than money’’, Kanye doesn’t want a Gold digger and J Lo told us her ‘’Love don’t cost a thing’’. Sites like Deal Zippy now make that a reality!

JOAN COLLINS OBE- AT 80!

When you think of the original diva, one lady came before Mariah, Cher, Céline, Dionne, Whitney, Janet, Madonna, Diana and the rest. Her name is Joan Collins and she is a living legend.
This week I was invited to spend the evening with her, at the opening night of her internationally acclaimed one woman show, (which included old-school gossip, shameless name-dropping and celebrity score-settling) that delighted the audience. One Night With Joan, directed by her current (fifth) husband PERCY GIBSON and production design by OLIVER SONES, is a once in a lifetime chance of hearing about an era of Hollywood from a witty, glamazonian divas lips right here in London town.

This is the second outing for this show so the script is well rehearsed, now renamed, as in early 2006, Joan toured the United Kingdom in An Evening With Joan Collins, a one-woman show in which she detailed the highs and lows of her career and life, directed once again by her husband Percy Gibson.

At the intimate Leicester Square Theatre Joan guided us through the story of her life, accompanied by precious old film footage, photos and shared stories and secrets of her celebrated life and career, as one of the world’s most glamorous and intriguing personalities.

Her opening night in London doubled up alongside the annual Chinese New Year celebrations so outside the theatre were millions parading and cheering whilst onstage at the age of 80; Joan was resplendent in her two diva looks. First in sequined flared pants with slashed expensive sweater and loads of neck bling, which showed her slim feminine figure off beautifully. Secondly, a full length sequined ball gown. Joan’s trademark chocolate velvet round curls were rigidly in place and dark red lips were in full effect “”I never go out without make up!’’

“I don’t think about my public image. I just do it. All the women in my life, my mother, grandmother, wore make-up and were very well groomed. I love clothes and looking as good as I can.”

The stage set was minimal with a simple throne for Ms Collins been-there-seen-it-all posterior and an old school telephone on a stand that rung every now and again to take us to the next chapter in her journey. ‘‘And then I got a call ‘’bbrring brring’’- it was Hollywood!’’

As Joan paced around the stage, she talked us through her early years being born in Paddington, London, the daughter of a dance teacher and nightclub hostess, and an agent whose clients would later include Shirley Bassey, the Beatles and Tom Jones. Showbiz was in her genes.
Her first acting role was at age 3 onstage in Brighton. As a teenager she used to write to movie stars for their autographs. How times have changed- now her fans can tweet and converse with her regularly!

The script takes digs of vengeance throughout. When starting out she was performing at the Arts theatre as a doll with her sibling. “One night we missed our enhances because we were backstage playing snakes and ladders. The Director yelled ‘’ you two will never be actors! ” And as she said that, in the background screen were shots of her in her biggest roles.

Joan talked us through her relationship with the press. ‘‘These were my press headlines; I was labeled Britain’s bad girl. Britain’s answer to Ava Gardner and I loved it’’

Another highlight of the evening was outtakes and her legendary bitch-fights with Linda Evans in Dynasty. Whilst most of us will immediately call memories of her in Dynasty (In 1985, Dynasty was the #1 show in the United States, beating out Dallas which ranked at #2) for her portrayal of Alexis, she informed us she was much more than that. She was nominated six times for a Golden Globe Award (every year from 1982 to 1987), winning once in 1983, the same year she was nominated for an Emmy as Best Actress in a Drama Series. Fascinating to hear that upon accepting the award, Joan thanked Sophia Loren for turning down the part of Alexis.

Among the many confidences, she told of the ups and downs of her career and screens rare and at times hilarious film footage from her life. She is happy to send herself up with cringe worthy old film roles and hilarious costumes. It was very endearing.
She talked about people who had been mean to her

‘’ I wanted to be Ava Gardner. But then I met my namesake Joan Crawford”. I was introduced to Joan. She blanked me!’’

We heard first hand about her marriages, her screen test for Cleopatra and discovered why she lost the role to Elizabeth Taylor, her first on-set encounter with the formidable Bette Davis, being broke and why and how Hollywood changed her fortune.

It’s hard to believe whilst hearing her tales of working alongside Marilyn Monroe, Frank Sinatra and Gene Kelly that she can be her age, when she still seems so youthful. Maybe its her young connects like fashion model Cara Delevingne, who is her god daughter. Things haven’t changed that much for females in the celebrity spotlight in either Joan or Cara’s day. Joan revealed

‘’ I realized the studio were going to fire me if I didn’t lose 8pounds”. My cottage cheese diet failed so they gave me slimming pills. I did lose 8 lbs it was amazing, but I didn’t asleep for 2 weeks either, then I discovered these were Dexedrine- ecstasy pills! “

Joan recalled how Hollywood was a tough gig and she wasn’t always working. Her memories included loads of auditions and rejections. ‘’I decided to go to the job centre for my rightly earned benefits. I wore my best suit and the assistant said “hey didn’t you used to be Joan Collins?”
She laughed as she recalled starring in her sister Jackie Collins books ‘’I starred in “the stud” showing my boobs. I was chastised for being over 40 and naked. So I made….the bitch! Then I got dynasty! Or Die-nasty as we used to call it. It really was the battle of the shoulder pads. Sometimes they were so big we had to walk through the door sideways!’’ My fave Dynasty dress was white with a huge taffeta frill. We’d copy things from Vogue, Harpers and even Princess Diana!”

Clearly she’s always had a cheeky, sexy streak in her whatever the year; at the age of 50, she appeared in a twelve-page photo spread for Playboy magazine!

It was clear (by her version of the story anyway), that she played the game on her terms when it comes to men. Married five times and been hit on by practically every acting God in Hollywood. “I was such a good girl I married the first man who took advantage of me. One night he tried to sell me to an Arab sheik for 10k”, and tales of acting with Bing Crosby. ‘’It was like kissing an ashtray!….but Bob Hope was another story!” ‘’One night, Frank Sinatra called and asked me to dinner. He said he’d send his plane to pick me up. He was In Hamburg, I was in the UK. I politely declined with ‘’I have an early call tomorrow’’ he replied ‘’I can change your call doll”. I never went but Linda Evens did!’’ miaw. Thrown under the bus LOL.
Another similar Richard Burton story where she spurned his advances, ‘’but a few years later Elizabeth Taylor didn’t’’.

‘’Marilyn Monroe came up to me in a bar and told me I got a job cos she was too old. ‘’Watch out for the wolves in Hollywood’’ she warned me.

And ‘’ I met Elvis at a fancy dress party at Rock Hudsons home. I’ve been trying to find the picture of me and Elvis that was taken ever since”

The second half of the evening was a question and answer session with the chance to ask Joan anything you’ve always wanted to know about her amazing life. Her hubby chaired this part and it was interesting taking in their personal dynamic. He’s clearly a dominant alpha male that says what he has to and keeps her in check. They live between their homes in Los Angeles, London, New York and the South of France. He at half her age must keep her young too. The questions that came from the audience were facilitated via twitter. Very modern.

Joan really is the last icon standing after having rubbed shoulders with the greats.
Lets check the stats on this woman. She’s appeared in more than 118 feature films and TV series, her novels and memoirs have sold over 50 million copies worldwide and have been translated into 30 languages. She’s a regular diarist for The Spectator and a contributor to The Daily Mail, The Telegraph, The Times and Harper’s Bazaar. On stage, she’s performed on Broadway, the West End, and in
national tours in the UK and North America. On the humanitarian front, Joan Collins is devoted to the well-being of women, children and families and regularly lends her support and celebrity to causes that include finding a cure breast cancer and empowering children with learning disabilities. In 1997 she received an OBE for her lifetime contribution to the arts and her continuing charity work.

Joans final nugget of gold was ‘’Live for the moment and enjoy every second of it, I think of life as a predator. You’ve got to eat it before it eats you!”

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JASMINE WITH JON SNOW-THE LEADER OF THE UK’S BEST NEWS SHOW.

I ended the week with Jon Snow at the ITN studios for a chat about young people and social media for a #digidebate titled IS SOCIAL MEDIA GOOD FOR YOUNG PEOPLE, OR IS IT SIMPLY A PLATFORM FOR VANITY, VENOM AND VULGARITY?
Jon introduced the evening by having the audience in stitches by telling us even though he was old he loved social media and used it for lots of vanity, vulgarity and venom but that its an amazing medium if used in the right way and the way forwards!

I caught up with actor and music star Ashley Walters (who when he wasn’t telling me about his new line of baseball caps and headphones) and his wife, who told me

‘’ it means that we spend less time with our children and they talk to us less about things because they’re on BBM, Whatsapp, instagram, twitter or any of the other social networking sites so far us it’s changed in that way. When it comes to business I think over the last few years I’ve been able to reach parts of the world that I’d never been able to reach before, so it’s progressed my career and our business and stuff like that as well. So having that kind of global reach is an amazing thing. I remember the days where I had to use a phone box to call my mates so I grew up in that era and I think a lot of the kids today like I said our kids they’ve always grown up with computers and whatever so for them they’re a dab hand at it but for us we’ve had to transit with that change, but it’s been a great thing.’’

His wife , actress and entrepreneur Danielle Isaie added ‘’ Yeah. Definitely, It’s definitely made us more anti-social, like he was saying we’ll sit there, there’ll be like five of us in a room and literally we’re all on our phones like for 45 minutes to an hour and I look up and I’m like “hi, let’s have a conversation!” So in that sense it can be quite annoying.’’

Chart topper Wretch32 told me

‘’’ I think social media has changed the world for the better and tiny bit for the worse. The reason I say for the better, I’ve got a little brother who lives in Canada and now we’re buttons away. For the worse because you never know who is on the other end of the buttons, so it can be used well and misused at the same time. Being an artist its helped me a lot, obviously going from myspace to twitter to youtube etc. I definitely think it has done more good than bad, but with things as big as the internet and social media there’s always a flip side to it.’’

The main event took place at ITV where lots of young people, media leaders and broadcasters alongside celebs from ITV News presenter Charlene White and Adam Deacon gave us their views and things got very heated…..More on that in next weeks Juice!

JACOB BANKS AT HIS SELL OUT SHOW AT XOYO

I started the week at XOYO in Old Street for a sold out show by Jacob Banks. The venue was heaving with young, diverse trendies. The vibe was positive, excited and muso. His two female support acts did a great job but the main man was who we were all there to witness.

He performed an hour-long show with an impressive set list, and his label mate at RENOWNED music- Wretch32- even joined him for a track at the end. His Justin Timberlake and Luther Vandross mash up. Incredible!

JACOB ROCKS ADIDAS KICKS.

Jacob is unique looking and unique sounding. With his laid back cool vibe. He was dressed from head to toe in black with just a peak of white sock escaping from his Adidas sneakers. His trademark wide brimmed hat was perched firmly on his head and complimented by a black, satin lapelled blazer.

JASMINE WITH JACOB.

His vocals are extremely smooth and the audience was with him every beat of his art. In the house were fans and friends.

TV and radio host Reg Yates attended with his fashion world lady Tia Ward, Capital Xtra DJ and celeb party DJ Manny Norte, Radio 1Xtras Twin B, west London music act Shakka, Olympic athlete and music industry favorite Jeanette Kwakye.

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JASMINE WITH KWABS

Next I caught up with another young man causing a buzz on the scene and tipped for huge things in 2014- Kwabs! He’s been on every ‘’who to watch in music’’ list (MTV, RAIO 1XTRA) and his debut EP – Wrong Or Right will be released on Feb 4. The EP includes songs – Spirit Fade, Last Stand and a Ben Pearce remix of ‘Wrong or Right’.
Kwabs has a deep baritone vocal that rumbles and reverberates becoming an instrument of both power and vulnerability but most of all, that transcends description and which, quite simply, just has to be heard. He brings to the forefront a mix of his African roots with both R&B as well as gospel influences set against a backdrop of electro-synthesized soul. Already, he’s captivated audiences at his sell out shows across the capital. His growing reputation for an exceptional live performance has already won him praise from the likes of Jessie Ware, India Arie, Laura Mvula, Emeli Sande, Joss Stone and Plan B.
He revealed to me what we can expect from his new music

“There are still loads more musical flavours that aren’t out there yet. The fans will be used to hearing me sing on slower, brooding tracks so I intend to pick the energy up a bit. To that end, I suppose the biggest surprise will be when my music gets them dancing.”



Kwabs is a south London lad. I personally always avoid going south of the river. Yes I’m a north of the river snob. Kwabs attempted to sell south London to me ‘“It feels like a proper melting pot here, with different cultures crossing paths all the time, and I love that. It also has the BEST food, which is basically everything…” I wasn’t convinced but decided to focus on our mutual love of Africa. He’s West African, I’m east African. We laughed at the never-ending competitive banter between Ghana and Nigeria and which was best “That is a dangerous question! I honestly couldn’t say that one place is better than the other – I’ve never been to Nigeria. Our Jollof rice, though. It wins. Sorry guys.”


We returned to the UK and I wondered which radio station he was most in tune to? His answer was unhesitant.

“Radio 1xtra. I love that that station is always pushing new and interesting music.”

As that dreaded annual commercial money making day called Valentines Day is fast approaching, Kwabs revealed, “I can’t take that day seriously! I’ve been known to try and gather friends for incredibly unsexy anti-valentines lunch. Anyone who is romantic all year round is welcome to join me…”

Finally we touched on the dangerous yet exciting world of social media. This week at ITV I held a debate titled Is social media a platform for good with young people or a platform for vanity, violence and vulgarity? Kwabs added his two pence worth “Definitely both. Social media makes young people feel they can say what’s on their mind very publicly without real and direct repercussions to airing their views. Though that’s not to say that everything on people’s minds is worth hearing! The most enlightened or funny or interesting of us flourish on social media. And some others leave us with our heads in our hands. It’s all relevant stuff though, because it truthfully shows what a wide spectrum of people exists. “
Describing his best and worst experiences personally he laughed “I once had someone tell me on twitter that they didn’t enjoy my gig. You get over that pretty quickly, though. Life is way, way too short. I do get occasional marriage proposal over twitter! Those are more or less guaranteed to make me smile.”
To listen to Kwabs take a wonder here; soundcloud – https://soundcloud.com/kwabsmusic/wrong-or-right/s-UDK4F.
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JASMINE WITH STEFANO HATFIELD- HEAD HONCHO AT NEW TV CHANNEL LONDON LIVE WHICH MAUNCHES MARCH 31ST!

Finally, something making swaths of London’s media, showbiz and music industry companies are happy about the impending launch of new London local TV channel London Live. I sat down with the big man up in London Live Towers- Stefano Hatfield – for more information.

Its strapline phrases probably include the words urban, young and knowing. So many young BAME (black and minority ethnic) young people have been snapped up by the brand. My own reporters plus numerous other mini brands that have been hustling their art in London for years are finally getting their first big breaks.

New TV shows to look out for include;
Brothers with no Game- a comedy about four young Londoners with unsuccessful love lives, Spit TV- an exclusive one mic one take set of performances hosted by Ras Kwame, Nothing to Something- a string of high profile Londoners tell us how they made their way to success, Car Check- a top gear for the urban generation, Balcony TV music session- music acts recorded o a balcony overlooking Westminster, and The adventures of T-Boy- a multi cultural sitcom following the exploits of T-Boy a rich Nigerian who comes to live with his aunt and cousin in London!

Some will win, others may fail but at last a mainstream broadcaster is giving London’s ethnic minorities an equal opportunity on TV screens and that is something I applaud!