“I’m Not Dating Nasara”- Nana Boroo.

He Readies Fresh Single, “Bebiaa Soso”

By Hi Newspaper

Nana Boroo, owner of today's hottest song, ‘Aha Yede’ has debunked news making rounds that he is in a romantic relationship with ex-Ghana's Most Beautiful winner, Nasara. “I’m sure people are raising this issue because she was seen with me at my birthday party two weeks ago”, says Nana Boroo.

According to the heartthrob, he was actually supposed to be with his 'date', but she was out of the country at the time. His family, including his sister and cousins who had flown in for the party settled on ‘planting’ Nasara as his 'date' for that night since she was “close to the family and most importantly, needed company at the time.”

He said since Nasara was going through some public lashing at the time for the lost of her Ghana's Most Beautiful crown (which TV3 withdrew for the negative press and her breach of rules of the title), Nana Boroo used his birthday as an opportunity to make “a good friend put herself together”. “That’s all there’s about my relationship with Nasara, case close”, he says

At press time, Nana Boroo was on his way to grace a show in London, scheduled for August 7. When he is back from the UK, he said: “I would shoot the video for my new single, “Bebiaa Soso” (literally: Everything Is Big).

The song is an appraisal to L-size women and engineered by Killbeatz and mixed by Kaywa. It is expected to follow the lead of his “Aha Yede” song and warm folks into the coming party season- Christmas.

“Bebiaa Soso will surely blow your mind because it is a party/dance song with a mild Francophone feel”. Mugeez of R2BEES added his vocal support on hook and Nana Boroo used the rest of the cut to prove to Ghanaians why he insists “Aha Yede” is his own baby, but not stolen from SK Blink’s.

Praye Drops “New Dance” By Hi Newspaper

With the promotion of their new video on youtube, hiplife trio, Praye are set to release a new dance song called “Getoge” (Get together). A single they are hopeful would be an instant hit because “every wild guy or girl would love to know to dance to make them accepted on the dance floor”, says Praye Honeho, the choirmaster.

The video which was shot at the Aphrodisiac Nite Club was directed by Gyo for Phamous Philms. Hiplife godfather, Reggie Rockstone featured in the clip as a DJ.

“Getoge” is Praye’s first video and second single off their upcoming “Fourth Gear” album. They are yet to produce a video for “Independence”, the hottest song so far on this project. “We decided to do a video for “Getoge” (Get together) cut because it is more danceable” says Praye Tintin.

Okyeame Kwame Certain Of MTN Deal Extension

By Hi Newspaper

Ghana's No.1 telecom Network, MTN has expressed interest in extending its one-year endorsement deal with One-Mic Entertainment ceo/rapper Okyeame Kwame after the July 5 deadline.

This was revealed to Hi Newspaper by the 2009 GMA Artiste of the year in an exclusive interview on Saturday, when the Nsiah-Apau family- including his lovely wife, Annica and little son, Syre, stormed Accra for business with the agencies handling O.K's upcoming album release and tour project.

“MTN requested renewal of the contract even before the 5th July deadline and I hope to do so because I enjoy working with them.” He said.

He told Hi Newspaper that working with MTN “has kept” his career active even though he hasn't released any album in 2 years, he said: “For instance I played a show each day from 21st through to 27th, last December and that was by courtesy of MTN. They promised they wouldn’t leave me dry when I signed with them, and they have been true to their words.” Kwame said

Also, Kwame hopes to extend his deal with Coca-Cola when it ends sometime in October. He hinted that he wouldn't sign any endorsement deal beyond a year for personal reasons.

Kwame, like most other telecom endorsees, would not reveal figures he made from both endorsements though he admitted “I have made quite a fortune from the two companies”.

Hi Newspaper can reveal that in the coming weeks, MTN and Kwame will be talking figures between 80,000 and 150,000 per year. O.K wants to keep a lid on details when Hi Newspaper pushed him to give us figures.

With MTN, Hi newspaper gathers, brand icons enjoy far more than the cheques initially received as signing-on cash to join the big yellow family. A source at MTN marketing department reveals that some MTN icons receive other benefits such as funding of at least a big project within the year, and sometimes birthday and travel remunerations.

Okyeame Kwame's tentatively titled 'The Clinic' album is expected to be released later this month by when an anticipated 3-city tour is scheduled to be activated. Expect a surprise career move to be unveiled by Kwame later in the month.

Grand Sales 2010: Exhibitors Frown, Organizers Hopeful By Hi Newspaper (Business)

As the ongoing Grand Sales 2010 enters its second week, exhibitors are lamenting over the low patronage of the fair, blaming it on publicity. Some exhibitors Hi Newspaper spoke to were of the view that the Trade Fair organizers have not done enough to pull crowd to the fair at Accra International Trade Fair Centre (July 22-August 11).

On Monday, August 02, 2010, stands Hi Newspaper visited were virtually empty; some of them said sales were relatively good on the preceding Saturday and Sunday.

Jane Sarbah, exhibitor at the Ashfoam stands in Pavilion A was of the view the Trade Fair organizers could have even urged, say, churches and other identifiable groups to attend the fair. She however praised the organizers for the swift labeling of the stands- with names of exhibiting firms.

Fatima, a Syrian who sells wedding and bridal products in Pavilion B and Abdul, from Egypt were not so impressed by the organization and thought the structure which housed the stands could have been properly done.

Both exhibitors said people outside the exhibition location were oblivious with what was happening at the centre, so the organizers could pay more for TV stations and newspapers to cover the fair.

Another point raised by the exhibitors was the fact that the emergence of the Accra Mall and other shopping centers in the capital was a contributing factor to the low patronage. Monica Akoto and Alex Baiden of the NPG and Kick Energy Drink stands respectively thought people would rather go to the Accra Mall than pay money to attend the fair since the two served same purpose.

Meanwhile, when Hi Newspaper spoke to Mr. Seth Asamoah, Chief Marketing Manager of the Trade Fair Centre over the concerns raised by the exhibitors, he was rather hopeful the fair would attract more people from the second week and even more in the ending days, which has been the case with trade fair events over the years.

He said, the centre had spent GHC25,350 on promotion in the mass media alone. Sounding very touched by the concerns, he said, “We thought we could double that mileage from the media with better discounts like in previous negotiations. Most of the media houses gave us up to 50% discount with Viasat 1 and GTV giving us 70 and 60% discounts respectively”, he said.

He was of the view that, though the patronage is likely to pick up in the coming days, the low patronage of the fair could be attributed to unavailability of disposable income these days. He said, the new school curriculum has made August the month of re-opening when it used to be September/October. “This new development has made people circumspect in spending around that time”. When asked if the Grand Sales couldn't be rescheduled to favor the new development, he answered in the negative claiming that, the centre was busy all year round due to the organization of Regional and sector fairs.

“The emergence of malls has not made trade fairs irrelevant. With malls, only big firms could afford spaces but at the trade fair, pricing of the spaces was done to favor small and medium enterprises (SMEs). Even in the world’s big cities where malls abound, like London, Johannesburg, Madrid and New York, trade fairs are still organized sometimes at closer intervals than we do here”, says Mr. Asamoah.

In defense, Mr. Asamoah said, “this year's Grand Sales has been one of the best in terms of organization”. He revealed that, out of the 400 spaces earmarked (not counting resident stands), 398 have been occupied. Also, figured from the gates, according to the Marketing Manager, revealed that 6,700 people visited the fair between 22nd July and 27th July.

This weekend, Hi Newspaper and TV Africa will host two entertainment events on Friday, August 6, 2010 [Grand Sales Talent Expo from 6pm); and on Saturday, August 7, 2010, top musicians will perform in a concert dubbed TV Africa/Hi Newspaper Grand Showdown at the forecourt of the administration block, Trade Fair.