R2Bees won the night at the 2013 Vodafone Ghana Music Awards (VGMAs)

The much talked about 2013 Vodafone Ghana Music Awards has come and it is no longer news that the Tema fraternity have once again swept the prestigious Artiste of the Year accolade.

R2bees were crowned with the biggest award on the night amidst five additional ones that they scooped home. As a surprise package, the group received a brand new MG Rover vehicle and Samsung Galaxy S4 phones from Vodafone as part of the awards.

M.anifest, Herty Borngreat and Kaakie were also among the big winners on the night.

Performances from Steve Bedi, Efya, Fuse ODG, 4x4, M.anifest, Amandziba, Akatakyie, Kontinhene, EL, Criss Waddle, Keche, Asem & Kwabena Kwabena, Kwaw Kese, VIP, Sarkodie and R2bees, were enough to warm the cold night that was emceed by KOD and Eazzy.

Below is the complete list of winners at the VGMA 2013

Gospel song of the Year: Zaphenath Paneah

Dancehall Artiste of the Year: Kaakie

Highlife song of the Year: R2bees with 'Odo'

Afro pop song of the Year: Fuse ODG

Hip hop song of the Year: M.anifest

Hiplife song of the Year: R2Bees

Hiphop/Hiplife artiste of the Year: R2Bees

Highlife artiste of the Year: Afriyie

Gospel Artiste of the Year: Herty Borngreat

African artiste of the Year: Wizkid

Best female vocal performance of the Year: Efya

Best rapper of the Year: M.anifest

Best collaboration of the Year: Herty Borngreat & Trigmatic

Group of the Year: R2Bees

Best video of the Year: Chase with 'Lonely'

Best new artiste of the year: Kaakie

Best album of the year: EL

Most popular song of the Year: 'Life' by R2bees

Artiste of the Year: R2bees

No prize for Miss Universe Ghana 2012

The 2013 edition of Miss Universe Ghana has started but Gifty Ofori, the winner of the last year’s pageant, is yet to receive the prize package promised her by organisers, Insignia Experience and RAC Group.

NEWS-ONE has gathered that the two companies have split over the organization of the event and this may be the reason they are dragging their feet in releasing the prizes to the winner.

The 24-year-old model and nurse was supposed to be given a list of prizes including an official car service for her year of reign, an all expense paid trip to the 61st Miss Universe pageant in Las Vegas, Nevada, a three-month internship at the United Nations in New York, and a presentation and modeling portfolio shot by celebrity photographer Fadil Berisha in New York.

The rest are a Samsung Note 3 phone tablet, four pages editorial spread in an international magazine, personal celebrity stylists in New York, Los Angeles and Accra and also management and representation by the Insignia Experience/RAC Group as well as a year of incredible experience of celebrity status and adventure. Per her contract, she will also be given a house to live in for her year of reign.

NEWS-ONE reached Gifty and asked her about the prize package and this was her response: “I have only received Samsung Galaxy, my trip to represent Ghana at 61st edition Miss Universe in the US and the photo shoot I did. I have not received the vital packages.”

She said she had not received any official car service to go about her project. She is embarking on a reading programme and HIV sensitization project and has been using public transport to carry out the project. The internship with the United Nations has also not materialized just as she didn’t see any feature about her in any international magazine. Also, she has not been given that celebrity status she was promised from the beginning.

“While I was in the USA, I was waiting for internship with the UN to happen but it never happened. When I came back, I had to go out and solicit for funds for my project which I need to do. It was difficult for me because everything has to come from my pocket. Meanwhile, I have been raised to a certain standard and I have been left hanging with no one supporting me.

I have always expected the two companies to let us sit down and talk about what needs to be done but nothing is happening. They don’t care about my feelings,” she added.

The organisers would neither pick their phones nor reply to numerous text messages sent to them seeking an explanation for the apparent disappointment, when NEWS-ONE tried reaching them.

LAURYN HILL SENTENCED TO THREE MONTHS IN JAIL

Singer Lauryn Hill has been sentenced in the US state of New Jersey to three months in jail for tax evasion.

The Grammy-winning singer, 37, also faces three months of home confinement, after pleading guilty last year.

Hill failed to pay taxes on about $1.8m (£1.2m) of earnings between 2005-07.

In a statement to the judge, Hill said she had intended to pay the taxes but could not after withdrawing from public life and ending her music career to raise her children.

Hill has six children, five of whom she had with Rohan Marley, the son of Bob Marley.

"I am a child of former slaves who had a system imposed on them," Hill said in court. "I had an economic system imposed on me."

Hill started her career with Grammy-award winning hip-hop group Fugees alongside Wyclef Jean and Pras Michel.

She released her acclaimed solo debut album, The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill, in 1998. It won five Grammy awards and sold more than 19 million copies worldwide. 

BBC

Chris Kelly of Kris Kross Dead at 34

Chris Kelly, one-half the hip-hop duo Kris Kross that scored a radio hit with "Jump" in the early Nineties, has died, The Associated Press reports. According to a medical examiner, Kelly, 34, was pronounced dead at Atlanta Medical Center on Wednesday afternoon; the cause of death is unconfirmed. 

Known as "Mac Daddy," Kelly and his groupmate, Chris "Daddy Mac" Smith, were discovered by a 19-year-old Jermaine Dupriwhile performing at an Atlanta shopping mall. The budding hip-hop mogul brought the duo to Ruffhouse Records, which released their debut album,Totally Krossed Out, in 1992, when Kelly and Smith were 13 and 12 years old. As Kris Kross swiftly gained popularity among teens with their radio-friendly rap and trendsetting style (they wore their clothing backwards), the album reached Number One, selling four million copies, and its lead single, "Jump," topped the singles chart for eight weeks. The group was embraced by older music stars, t0o, appearing in music videos by Michael Jackson, Run-D.M.C. and TLC. 

Song Stories: Kriss Kross, "Jump"

Kriss Kross released two more albums in the Nineties to lesser success before Kelly and Smith went their separate ways. In February, the duo reunited to perform their at the 20th anniversary concert for Dupri's So So Def label.

http://music.yahoo.com