Hiatus Interruptus…

... which if my Catechism Latin serves me well, should stand for “a break in the Break” - or basically, “stop sitting down on your ass and get back to work, you” - and not the other kind of interruptus some of y’all were thinking it was.

And to think I was actually going to call this post “Return of the Mac” until I realised I didn’t have one… A Mac that is…

Don’t know how many noticed but things have been MAD/MENTAL/CRAZY of late on my blogs so much so that I was forced to put everything on lock-down. I wasn’t even going to discuss it, I just wanted to leave quietly but a whole lot of drama has gone on behind the scenes. Suffice it to say, I’ve re-opened for business and I’m still hanging around. I was down but definitely not out.

Second long story short, the love of my life a.k.a. my PC crashed many weeks back meaning I’ve been unable to do updates or a whole lot of other meaningful stuff for a while. It drove me crazy but she’s in a partially fair state of health now. What really annoyed me was that despite the on-going recession and lack of salaried employment, I’ve had to shelve out a lot of money for her resuscitation. Honestly, you don’t want to know how much I spent, unless - that is - you intend to help me out with a refund or an external Hard Disk to recover my backup.

My friend Woomie has been telepathically beating me up to update so… I just had to do this: GOSH!!! I HAVE MISSED YOU GUYS!!!

Of course I’ve been managing to do blog paroles but it’s a whole different thing altogether having to type out each URL instead of consulting my Links/Bookmarks. And worse, I couldn’t save anything for offline reading which I really love doing, but what pissed me off was queuing up with all those Y.Y. boys Rayo once talked about and jostling to use lousy Ice Age café PCs packed chockfull of viruses and outdated plug-ins.

Anyways, I’m back… and hmm… where do I start? Let me just roam along on this one writing it up as I go.

LEFT 2 WRITE…
Speaking of writing, I’ve got loads to do. First, the concluding parts of my other blog posts are still waiting to be written and I just hope the sequels are any bit as good when I get to post them by next week. (By the way, someone left a comment saying I reminded her of Carlang. You guys just keep astounding me. That’s the greatest compliment I’ve received so far. Thanks Miz-Cynic!)

Then there’s a review of Wande Coal’s Mushin2Mo’ Hits album and Kefee’s A Piece of Me to tackle and I’m also trying my hand at a Book Review. After that I’ll have to script a multi-part serialization x-raying the Nigerian music industry partly in view of the current NBC ban on certain music videos plus a critical look at my favourite entertainment medium: the TV.

Star Quest went by during my absence but I think I can still cook up something on that. Then one of my best Dance reality shows, Malta Guinness Street Dance Africa has begun hitting the silver screen already. I’ve got to say this here: Naija peeps are definitely talented when it comes to all sorts of dancing.

Project Fame West Africa comes up in a short bit and I intend to stay glued to that but sadly I’ll be missing Koko Mansion since the reality show’s exclusive to HiTV and honestly, not even D’Banj justifies a cable subscription in these trying economic times. I just hope they maintain a good web presence so I can follow it up online or even better, license other TV stations to show the delayed-broadcast editions (hope Tony Subair, Don Jazzy and the Koko Master himself are listening).

Lastly on entertainment, the 2009 Hip Hop World Awards came up on Saturday, 16th May with the nominees trying to grab our attention beforehand via their blogs and FB status messages. One mild surprise was Omawumi carting away the Next Rated and Best Female Vocalist awards leaving behind acts like Djinee, Niki Laoye and Wajeh. For a full list of the Award winners and celeb pictures, you can check out Linda Ikeji’s blog while Tosyn Bucknor’s and Banky W’s gave some very interesting Behind-the-Scene gists. One thing that really stumped me was that the HHWA website didn’t have any of the above information on its webpages until way AFTER the bloggers had put up theirs!!! Very BIG banana peel…

HHWA photos courtesy LindaIkeji.blogspot.com and WeRunThings.net

Plus Some Random Blogville/FB Stuvvs
Ok, quite a lot has been going on in my absence but let me mention a few that pained me like shege. First on my list, what’s up with Doug’s blog? Got a notification that he’d updated but when I eventually checked it out, poof! The blog had disappeared into virtual smoke! Wetin dey? Is it what I’m thinking? If anyone gets in touch, please tell him to holler ASAP, will ya? And DB, can you please be a good boy and explain the whereabouts of your previously padlocked post?

Oh, then some good news: our Laide’s got a boyfriend! Bad news: It isn’t me. I swear, that post broke my heart to pieces then gathered the pieces and smashed them to even smaller pieces, I was so sad I didn’t eat for all of 3 hours. Nevertheless, I’m really glad for her, honest. Same goes for Vera. Just two things for me to do now: (1) re-focus my glasses and (2) go cast my net elsewhere…

Is it me or does it seem like a cliquish thing is going around Blogville? I haven’t really been able to savour the full flavour of The African Women blog (no thanks to dumb Lagos ISPs) but recently I stumbled upon another group of African bloggers doing their thing literally via movie reviews. Would have loved to join but I’ve got a lot on my plate already…

Now to the really happier bits, I enjoyed reading Rita’s interview with StandTall. I was actually planning to kick-start an Interview segment on my blog by having a chat with our Activist but the gentleman in me let Rita snag it. Yeah, right… More interviews are still in the pipeline nonetheless, so do watch out for that maybe next month.

Blogville aside, I attended the kick-off of the most blogged about literary event, The 9 Writers Book Tour at WA 7 and I must say I was mighty impressed (even better, the event started and ended on time too). You writers are such smart lot! To show how affected I was, I bought a book - definitely helped by the fact that the authoress was good-looking. Borrowing Seye’s lingo, I also un-met Rayo there since she and none of the bloggers I knew eventually showed up. Dante was present but somehow we didn’t meet either. You can read up his reportage of the book tour here.

I’m eagerly anticipating my next Arts meet but another event I’m also looking forward to will hold this time via Facebook. It’s called The Drive and though the destination details are sketchy, it’s basically a road adventure holding on May 29th. Now it’s been a long time since I had adventure, I’m sincerely praying I’ll be around for that one. As for the Sundays At The Bay event, Laide’s chronicle of the April edition, especially the boat capsizing bit has succeeded in “drowning” my enthusiasm. If you use FB, I’m sure you can search for details of both events on the site.

And speaking of Facebook, I’m seriously contemplating its importance to me right now. I seem to be spending too much time on it and moreover, nowadays every teenager, Y.Y. boy and their dog seem to be signing up and popping me with their Friend Requests. Imagine wanting to be my “friend” just because we share the same very common last name? On the flip side, I got into a lyrical battle with someone just because I said Sasha’s sexy and he disagreed. Anyway, I verbally assaulted the guy real bad and won but it’s not as if I’m proud of it seeing as he has to go and majorly diss my FB profile picture. But hey, I never said I was an Adonis, right?

So how’s this for rambling? I’ve got to stop now… Have a gazillion comments to drop plus my blog rounds to resume, certain strong blogging resolutions to be made, a couple of CVs and e-mails to send, stuff to reply to and then Facebook…

So to summarise, even though I didn’t really go anywhere, IT FEELS GOOD TO BE BACK!!!

Gosh!!! I’ve missed you guys! Did I say that before?

Next Stop, London

Sports - Olympics - Beijing 2008

According to an advert from Bank PHB shown constantly during the duration of the just concluded 29th Olympiad, a man needs to take more than 6 steps every second to beat the current 100 metres World record.

Well, Bank PHB lied…

Or rather, the Jamaican Usain Bolt proved them wrong using his long strides to beat not only the 100 metres but the 200 metres World records. And so the Beijing 2008 Olympics came to an end with the extinguishing of the Olympic torch that had burned steadily for the past 16 days marking the end of the Games that saw the breaking of over 40 world records and recording a large number of firsts.

During the course of the two weeks and two days broadcast, the world was held spellbound as several countries that were formerly tagged underdogs shocked everyone with their impressive showings on the medals table. On the other end of the divide, several big names failed to live up to expectations with their dismal performances.

Case in point of the former was Jamaica’s domination of the sprints with the “Thunderbolt” Usain doing most of the legwork. Nigerians however must have been very disappointed by the poor showings of their Team which failed to make any impact at all apart from the exploits of the male football team. Their well-earned silver medals plus 3 bronze medals in the athletics and Taekwondo was a fitting reflection of the fire-brigade approach that symbolized their state of preparedness.

Speaking of preparedness, the gains of planning ahead was evident especially when coupled with the power of determination. When American, Michael Phelps announced prior to the Games that he intended winning 8 gold medals in the swimming events, some people scoffed. Now after convincingly winning his stated 8 swimming medals, Michael is the one doing all the scoffing.

Phelps, Bolt and all the other new record holders must have trained hard, secretly breaking their respective world and Olympic records in their training facilities during the trials, each waiting for this chance to showcase their skills to an eager world. Their less-fortunate colleagues trained less, a few shot up on banned substances and all hoped to win.

In a closing ceremony that rivaled - if not surpassed - the opening ceremony, China pleased and wowed us with their pyrotechnics, gymnastic displays, stunning choreography, the non-stop ballet of lights and music and the selfless contributions of thousands of volunteers. From Beijing the baton now moves over to London which will play host to the world yet again 4 years from now. Heralded by the arrival of a double-decker bus, a stage performance by Jimmy Paige and Leona Lewis and the kick of a football into the crowd by poster boy David Beckham, London now shoulders the responsibility of making sure the world remains caught up in anticipation of the 30th Olympiad, London 2012.

Their inaccurate ad aside, Bank PHB does deserve FULL commendations for bringing this year’s games to the homes of the common people who wouldn’t have seen them otherwise. The up-to-the-minute broadcast of events as they happened has never been done in this country before. Let’s just hope four years from now there’ll be a Bank PHB to do same.

A rare display of thanks should also be duly given to NTA and the other BON studios for keeping our TVs alive with the best broadcast of the Olympics so far. They won an unrecognized silver medal. And while we are at it, we might as well give a rusty iron medal to the Power Holding Company for keeping the power on a bit more regularly. Or maybe to that your friendly neighbour with the noisy generator.

Oh, and lest I forget, there was one more gold medal that wasn’t listed on that table. It was given to the best Olympic viewer and was won by a Nigerian… Me!

See you in London…

Is It Me? Or was this Chronicle really “Lost”?

TV - Reality - The Gist

When the curtains rolled by around 11pm Saturday 19th July to unveil the new season of Gulder Ultimate Search 5, many a people were glued to their seats as Nigerian Breweries PLC began yet another legend in the quest for money, a car, fame, fortune and failure for 10 youthful representatives of the Nigerian population. They were originally 10 called The Heroes of the Order that set foot on the Agwu Hills in Enugu State to recover the Lost Chronicle and exactly a week ago, the life of the last one standing, Michael Nwachukwu changed for good.

GUS is mostly about characters and the individuality of this year’s contestants was not in doubt. However it is no big secret that the physical rigours of the GUS series have been designed to screen out the weaker sex so that an Ultimate Man will always emerge just as in the past 4 editions. This year, there was a conscious effort among the females to turn this around even though one couldn’t help but wonder how their constant bickering was going to help them achieve this purpose. And of course, there’s always a quiet, brilliant contestant in this case, 24 year old graduate Abiola Olanrewaju who many thought would remain as the last girl standing.

The eviction drama in GUS 5 kicked off with one member each of different sexes been given the boot. First to take the curtain call was 22-year-old Law student, Rita Uloko whose departure was in connection to the physiological damage she suffered to her knee. It would be recalled that the issue of Rita’s knee had cropped up when she first suffered a fall during the drills which she soundly dismissed by jogging on the spot to prove her point. But the body does not lie. Another fall again on the same knee and Rita was history.

As if to dispel the underlying notion that GUS lauds only the display of brute strength over mental abilities, Brian Mokelu failed to solve his puzzle and thus forfeited not only his role as totem bearer but his chance for the big prize. In the words of host, Bob-Manuel Udoukwu, the 25-year-old UNN Geography student’s “relevance in the camp had hereby been terminated.”

Next to leave were Abiola and 25-year-old Fred Dutman for failing at the spear throwing contest but the fact that the other contestants scored points at all was nothing short of a miracle given the warped nature of the spears’ aerodynamics. Aspiring model and Rivers State indigene, Abigail Opuogulya aged 22 and smart but conceited JJ Okop were next to get the boot when their team came last as Abigail failed in yet another physical task.

The other males in this year’s edition, though not lacking in macho looks all seemed to lack the necessary grey matter needed to solve riddles apart from the seemingly haughty JJ who, true to history, would never have been the Ultimate Man. Into the mix were the fishwives Ruphina “Phina” Ohakwe (who at 27/28 years old was the oldest Hero and mother figure in the camp) and Abigail who were so intent in carving a niche in the viewers’ minds with their quarrelsomeness.

With the camp reduced to four the female cause was left to Phina and yet another quiet female, Linda Iweka, UNIABUJA Computer Science student aged 21, who never seemed too sure of herself to take charge at any time. There was a bit of melodrama when both females came last on yet another physical/mental task and everyone thought they would be evicted but this was not to be as both were thrown a lifeline. The dream for an Ultimate Woman was however further shattered when another set of physical removed first Phina and then Linda leaving Marketing graduate Frank Mohammed and 26-year-old “Big Mike” as he was fondly called to jostle for the crown. Of course, by now the outcome of GUS 5 is well known.

GUS 5 didn’t fail in its tradition as one of the (if not the most) popular reality TV shows but Despite its cult status, GUS Season 5 fell seriously short when compared to previous seasons 1 and 2 and sadly followed in the tradition of GUS 3 and 4 by failing to live up to its billings. There just wasn’t enough flash to keep the viewers’ attentions.

Take the characters for example. Maybe it was the editors’ fault but GUS 5 looked more robotic and less realistic. There was no bonding, no romance, no drama, hardly any comedy or friction between characters (apart from Phina and Abigail) and all the crucial socio-dramatic elements that go to make up a popular TV reality show. But then maybe it was the fault of the screening panel who seemed to focus mainly on contestants with materialistic tendencies instead of diverse, eccentric and radical personalities. Hardly a tear was shed when any contestant got evicted unlike in the previous editions as the remaining ones saw only each eviction as a chance for them to lay hands on the cash prize and the SUV.

The choice of host also had a few question marks. A reality TV show usually requires the services of a vibrant, versatile, convincing and witty host but disappointingly, host Bob-Manuel Udokwu has still remained the same Bob-Manuel of Season 4: The Golden Age with no improvement whatsoever. At least one can be grateful that he is far more bearable than the “Tin-Tin” host of Season 3 at NIFOR. Jungle Film Works (the TV Production company) wowed us with their cinematic prowess in previous years but like Bob-Manuel they also decided not to tinker with their magic formula this year showing exactly the same cinematic capabilities they displayed before.

The scenic Agwu Hills location of this year’s Search sadly excluded marine activities from the tasks which was a shame actually giving that the ability to swim was one of the criteria for choosing contestants. The tasks themselves while solely lacking in creativity, focused so much on the physical and less on the mental aspects thus successfully eliminating females from the Ultimate prize which, if one really thinks about the way Michael discovered it, actually had nothing to do with these much touted physical attributes. Any female doesn’t even need to go through the National Youth Service scheme to know they could overcome the obstacles en route to the prize but maybe at a slower pace.

And on a final note, there’s the issue of the Legend itself. There’s something about that Chronicle story that accompanied the Search that definitely didn’t stand up to the test of time and maybe therein lies the problem. The myths that surround every season of GUS are beginning to sound more absurd nowadays and even the tiniest tot in your house can see through the charade. The sci-fi tale of the emergence of a despot in the future who radically altered the Star Wars-like landscape and banned all forms of intellectual improvement (a la the movie “Equilibrium” and several others), leading to the Heroes of the Order sending the Lost Chronicle back in time to be discovered in Enugu was laughably ridiculous. The animated cartoon than came with the story was even more so.

In case there is a GUS 6 planned in the future (which is doubtable given that all the elements for brewing a good beer - which the Ultimate Search is about anyway - have been found) it would be great if NB Plc as well as Insight Communications as well as Jungle Filmworks put heads together to review the flaws apparent in GUS 5. The Scriptwriter, Director, art directors task builders/grips and film editors need to do more work to make the storyline more interesting the and the tasks more diversified while the narrator, host, contestants and even we the viewers need to put in more spirit in GUS.

I would have gladly helped too, but no one asked me to anyway…

PS: For more info on the past editions of the Gulder Ultimate Search such as previous winners, rewards, tasks and locations, click this link. To find out about the crew members a.k.a. the “Men” behind the Scenes click here. All referenced materials are copyright of NB Plc and related Agencies.

Bits And Pieces 2: No More Drama

TV - Drama - Summarized

Once upon a time, there was a hit TV series called Inside-Out that featured Barbara Soki. Then there were others such as Ripples, Checkmate, Behind The Clouds, and my personal favourite, Basi & Company. All these programmes had a peculiar characteristic in common: they made you hunger for next week’s edition. Viewers of today don’t just know what they missed.

How would they know, when examples of what they get as Drama include:

Un-Super Story
Much as I RESPECT and ADMIRE Mr. Wale Adenuga and his PEFTI productions, I am SO NOT feeling the current edition of his Super Story series titled: “Omajunwa - The Child of Destiny”. The artistes are stellar and all the necessary ingredients are sprinkled into the plot but the script seems somewhat dry (for lack of a better word).

Enebeli Elebuwa’s screen renditions of an invalid are right on the money but I think he delivered his act better while he was on his feet instead of just lying down all the time whining. His cheating wife, her Manager-boyfriend’s schemes, his insolent children’s continuous disobedience, the pseudo-serious security man (who by the way fails to amuse me every time) and the sudden introduction of a previously-unknown son aren’t helping in reviving the plot either. The only other person that may just keep me watching is the woman who portrays Adesuwa, the dedicated house help.

Mr. Adenuga, can you do something… Maybe like give us another better series. PLEASE…?

And TARIMA too…
Ok, so Emeka died long ago. Point One taken. OK, his widowed wife has been pregnant all this while. OK, Point Two. So, his village people still think she’s a witch. Big deal… When is TARIMA (Tribe And Religion In Marriage) going to come to an end? The deceased/widow plot has been flogged even far worse than a dead horse that I can’t just help thinking if the script writers can’t come up with something else. Why torture us so?

Now, as if to answer my prayers, Emeka’s ghost has taken to appearing to certain people in the village scaring the bejeezus out of them while mysteriously leaving the very people responsible for his demise and the ill-treatment of his widow looking none the worse for wear. And to make matters worse they decided to freshen up the musty storyline by reviving several formerly dumped characters and giving them a new lease of life with recycled dialogue.

Sigh… There isn’t any tiny morsel of suspense in the whole thing! And pray, when will his wife EVENTUALLY give birth?

What Area Are We In?
A certain drama series which features Patrick Otoro (as Barrister) as well as a certain long-legged, cute-in-her-own-way babe called Seyi Olu-something-or-the-other (as Rali) is supposed to mirror our country Nigeria in its own little way. Throw in Ikponmwosa Gold (as Vendor) and certain other obscure idiosyncratic characters together in an extremely boring script and that’s Area Eleven for you.

Area 11 (supposedly located somewhere in the FCT) is supposed to be a microcosm of our society with its attendant issues and its possible solutions but it misses the fine points of Drama horribly.

The character I most love to hate is a certain Senator - a caricature of the members of our dear National Assembly - who by the way says exactly the same thing every time.

Just 3 TV Dramas and I am already weary. The list could go on and on. Little wonder I favour the TV reality shows nowadays. Ever wondered why so many people are shunning evening Television to embrace the DVD craze, grabbing pirated copies of foreign TV series like “Desperate Housewives”, “Lost”, “Prison Break” and “24”?

Now you know why.

Bits And Pieces: Quick Takes On Entertainment

All Media - The Gist - Summarized

Street-ctly Credible
Caught glimpses of 9ice’s “Street Credibility” music video on Celtel’s Central Station Special on Wednesday July 23, around 8:30 pm or so. It’s sure been a long time coming and just like his moniker, the music video is nice too. However, after the initial dose I couldn’t help not feeling a bit unimpressed. The said video contains the same HD camera-shot footage, impressive backdrops, panoramic jib camera angles and feature artistes that are now slowly and steadily become a staple in almost all Nigerian music videos.

The trend is beginning to look like you can get away with a great music video even if the song in question is trash. Whatever happened to funny, simple or just plain crazy music videos? Or the ones with storylines like Djinee’s “I No Dey Shame” or Beautiful Nubia’s OST video for Tunde Kelani’s movie? (And another thought: How come the musical videos’ cinematic innovations are yet to migrate over to Nollywood?)

9ice’s video features the likes of Ruggedman and 2shotz but what really did it for me was Tuface’s T-shirt. Am I seeing double or were the words “Enyimba FC” boldly emblazoned on it? Any eagle eyes out there please spot if this is so and report to me A.S.A.P. Wouldn’t it be great if Nigerian football clubs could get out their own clothing lines instead of all those Premier League knock-offs a.k.a. replica jerseys many Nigerian “fans” crave for?

The Advert Wars
The Bankers are at it again. When they’re not trying to impress us with their lending rates or P & L sheets, they take to slugging it out in the boardroom or the football fields. Or our TV screens for that matter.

It’s no secret that Skye Bank PLC and Bank PHB are always going neck to neck with each other when it comes to advertising but guess what: now I think it’s about time I get to choose the winner.

Ok, so both banks decided to employ good music pieces for their ads. Good point but Skye Bank’s “Yes” attitude didn’t go down well with me when they decided to mutilate the “Lion King” soundtrack. If I was Cobhams Asuquo the Maestro Extraordinaire, I’d have distanced myself from such a debacle.

I guess I speak for all die-hard Disney fans to say I cringe anytime I hear “Hakuna Matata” sounding like it was edited with a machine gun or watch the nonsensical choreography in the two TV versions of that ad. Even my baby niece won’t dance to that.

PHB’s choice of R. Kelly’s “The World’s Greatest” showcasing the extraordinary capabilities of ordinary people (the so-called P H Beings) is the clear Advert War winner. For now…

As for me, I trust neither. It will take more than good music and a beautiful ad to stop me keeping my money under the mattress.

Between Power And Passion
Once upon a time, there was a certain energy drink in powder form called Power Fist that never seemed to catch on with the market even after it adopted the Koko Master as its brand icon. Saw the marketing dames/dudes behind it on one episode of The Apprentice Africa trying to re-brand their stuff.

Passion Energy drink, another competitor in the same sector entered into the game some months back and these guys are choosing to fight dirty even if the weapon employed involves some subtle name-calling. Pray, is there a better explanation for the Passion drink’s slogan which categorically states: Passion Pass Power!

If anyone has another interpretation of this, please let me know.

Sh*t Mennn!
No, I’m not the one swearing but a certain Radio OAP (On-Air Personality) was actually doing so! Happened to catch a certain Radio phone-in programme on LivingSpring 104.5 FM, Osogbo on Wednesday, the 9th of July or thereabouts. Time was going on 11 pm and the topic was on women who double-date.

Now, I don’t know the rationale behind the choice of topic but the contributors seemed to be feeling the gist. Then a certain female caller comes on air. Girlfriend wisely states that “…women date more than one guy because they want to have a spare in case one of them f**ks up”.

Being used to the Rhythm 93.7 Port Harcourt OAPs’ choice of punishment for using expletives which could take one of two forms: either getting the caller to apologize for using the f-word or cutting off the call altogether, I was a little bit uneasy when LivingSpring’s OAP goes ahead to parrot the caller, f-word for f-word.

Now I ain’t no prude but I sure was startled when the call drops while female caller was stating her point and homeboy yells out: “Sh*t Mennn! What is wrong with this network?”

No bad feelings, brother. I feel your pain too! Let’s just keep it clean on-air, OK?

Still Speaking of Ads…
After dissing them on the subject, the Onga Ad disappeared for a while and I thought they were listening. Who-sai? The ad is back in full force, further incurring my wrath and continuously embarrassing my poor dear Kate all the time. Unlike many people, I happen to really watch adverts - almost with movie-like dedication I must add.

Her excessively made-up “daughter” in that ad who brandishes an equally heavily made-up accent by the way, looks like she should be almost Kate’s age (hence the make-up) and I don’t still get the Onga/Tradition link.

Can anybody explain that ad to me as well? Maybe I’m getting slow… or maybe Iya Basira has been putting too much Onga in my food again…

Ko Won Je
That’s the title of another video I caught on CCS. This one is by Big Bamo featuring Tolu, all formerly of Maintain fame. The beat was good, I liked the changing tempos and switched beats and those killer dancers (they look like kids to me - I’m seeing double again) sure know how to step.

My only beef? The set did look a tad monotonous throughout the video. And as for the rap? Guess I didn’t notice till now how Olu and Tolu sound so alike.

And GUSsy Comes Visiting…
Lest I forget, my TV friend came visiting at night on the 19th of July. That’s right, the Gulder Ultimate Search began in earnest just as I’d hinted you earlier and this time there was no postponement in broadcast like after the unfortunate circumstances of last year.

In fact if death would have been mentioned in the same breath as GUSsy, it must have been when I was swearing at the maloo NTA Program Scheduler. Whoever it was decided to start showing Charley Boy and Tunde Obey’s “Zoomtime” in the time slot that had been hyped all day for the Ultimate Search. Luckily for them, me and the TV I almost smashed, they switched back just in time for me to see re-runs of the previous editions of GUS.

OK, the re-runs are long over, the selected 40 have been drilled at the Lagos Sea School and the preliminary 18 whittled down to the final 10 Ultimate Men and Women. So, grab your remotes, refuel your generators, and get ready to be entertained for the next 11 days or so.