The Academy snubbed Franco in a somewhat surprising move, as Golden Globe winners are widely seen as a hint for who will get a coveted Oscars nod.

Franco’s “The Disaster Artist” was praised by critics, but that was before the actor was accused of “sexually exploitative behaviour” by five women who spoke to the Los Angeles Times.

Rumors first began swirling about Franco’s alleged misconduct after actress Ally Sheedy blasted his Golden Globes win.

Franco’s attorney denied the claims made about him by the five women who spoke to The Times. The actor told Stephen Colbert of Sheedy’s tweets, “I have no idea what I did to Ally Sheedy. I directed her in a play off-Broadway. I had nothing but a great time with her and I have total respect for her.”

But it seems the rumours surrounding Franco’s alleged inappropriate behaviour may have impacted his chance at an Academy Award nomination.

Voting for the Oscars was open from Jan. 5 to Jan. 12. The rumours first began swirling about Franco’s behaviour after the Golden Globes on Jan. 7, so smack in the middle of voting.

“The Disaster Artist” did score an Oscar nomination for best-adapted screenplay.

Franco skipped the Critics Choice Awards on January 11, but attended the SAG Awards on Sunday, avoiding the red carpet altogether. He sat at a table with his date Isabel Pakzad.

The Oscar nominations were announced on Tuesday. The best actor nominees were Timothee Chalamet, Daniel Day-Lewis, Daniel Kaluuya, Gary Oldman and Denzel Washington.

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Source: Fox News

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The only musical show that has over the years kept its audience in a uniform attire of white top and jeans, had the auditorium looking bright with amazing outfits in various styles and shape.

The concert opened with Adomaa who did a ‘mushup’ of some great Ghanaian tunes to the relish of patrons. She was at her usual best.

Her performance was followed by B4Bonah, Magnom, and Fancy Gadam shook the foundations of the auditorium with an energetic performance. The Music Prince of the North seems to wield the magical wand to stage performance. In fact, it was infectious watching him perform to songs like ‘Total Cheat’ which features Sarkodie.

The atmosphere of the 2017 Decemba 2 Rememba concert got electrified when Nigerian comedian Bash mounted the stage to serve patrons a good dose of laughter.

His jokes got the entire audience in stitches. He is one of the surprises CITI FM promised fans prior to this year’s Decemba 2 Rememba, and really he lived up to expectation.

After that, Adina was on stage to do a rendition of her hit songs including ‘Too Late’ and ‘Makoma.’

The auditorium got more charged up when the Lynx Trio took the stage. Kidi, Kuami Eugene and MzVee were phenomenal on the night.

Kidi got the crowd dancing and cheering to his two popular songs, ‘Odo’ and ‘Say You Love Me.’

Kuami Eugene, another great act from the camp of Lynx Entertainment, followed with his performance. He did ‘Boom Bang Bang,’ the popular ‘Angela,’ among others, after which MzVee joined him on stage to do ‘Rewind.’

MzVee took over and did songs like ‘Sing My Name,’ ‘Natural Girl’, among other hit songs from her repertoire.

The concert also featured the ‘90’s bad girl’ Ebony Reigns who thrilled the audience with a magical performance. The ‘Maame Hwe’ hit maker started with her gospel song Aseda and followed with other songs like ‘Kupe,’ ‘Poison,’ ‘Sponsor’ ‘Date Ur Fada’ and ‘Hustle.’

Kurl Songx joined her on stage as they did ‘Feeling’, and later left him on stage to do ‘Jennifer Lomotey.’

The programme ended with King Promise who also came in to add on to the fun and excitement for the official Christmas party.

The 2017 Decemba 2 Rememba was ably hosted by Osei Kwame and AJ Sarpong of Citi FM, and Nigerian comedian Bash, whose sense of humour really lighted up the auditorium.

In attendance were footballer Asamoah Gyan, actress Lydia Forson, and actor Van Vicker among others.

Some patrons also won amazing prizes from the sponsors.

Decemba 2 Rememba is an annual musical concert organised by Citi 97.3 FM which has over the years generated much excitement among music lovers.

#D2R2017 was sponsored by Prime Insurance, Kwese TV, Ring and powered by Ved Investment.

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By: Kwame Dadzie/citifmonline.com/Ghana

The post #D2R2017: A night of white top & jeans, great performances and comedy appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.

“So sad to say that my mother passed away this morning,” he said on his Facebook page, alongside a photo of them together.

“I only saw her last Monday and I am in shock. Travel safe, mum. Thank you for everything.”

Sir Elton, who was born Reginald Dwight, was an only child.

Although his father – a flight lieutenant in the RAF – was a trumpeter in his spare time, it was his mother who ignited his love of pop music.

An avid record collector, she brought home music by artists such as Elvis Presley and Bill Haley and supported Sir Elton throughout his career.

Petty argument

But they fell out over a “petty” argument in 2008, when Sir Elton asked her to sever ties with two old friends, Bob Halley and John Reid.

Mr Halley had worked for Sir Elton for three decades, first as a driver then later as a personal assistant, before he resigned as part of a series of changes Sir Elton was making to his team.

Mr Reid, who had been Sir Elton’s manager and briefly his lover, helped the musician become one of the world’s most famous – and richest – performers, but they too fell out.

I told him: ‘I’m not about to do that and drop them,'” Ms Farebrother told the Daily Mail.

“Then to my utter amazement, he told me he hated me. And he then banged the phone down. Imagine! To me, his mother!”

Ms Farebrother told the newspaper at the time that she had never met her grandsons Zachary and Elijah, who Sir Elton and his partner David Furnish fathered through IVF with an American surrogate mother.

For her 90th birthday, Ms Farebrother hired an Elton John tribute act to perform.

Her son got in touch soon after, sending her white orchids to celebrate the milestone.

But their relationship was still strained. Sir Elton told Rolling Stone that his mother had not called him to say thank you after the bouquet arrived.

“To be honest with you, I don’t miss her,” he said. “I look after her, but I don’t want her in my life.”

However, the pair appear to have fully reconciled this year, after Sir Elton recovered from a potentially fatal bacterial infection.

“Dear Mum, Happy Mother’s Day!” he wrote on Instagram in February. “So happy we are back in touch. Love, Elton xo”

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Source: BBC

The post Sir Elton John ‘in shock’ after his mother dies aged 92 appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.

Vicky Chen, 14, was nominated at the Golden Horse Film Awards for her role in The Bold, The Corrupt and The Beautiful.

Her co-star, Hong Kong veteran Kara Wai, won the best actress gong, which Chen was also nominated for.

The awards are held annually in Taiwan and are open to Chinese-language films.

The Bold, The Corrupt and The Beautiful, a crime drama centred around a wealthy family, was nominated in seven categories and won in three, including best film.

Chen was also nominated for best actress for her role in Angels Wear White. She plays a hotel maid who witnesses a sexual assault and grapples with the decision of reporting it.

Despite losing to Wai in that prize, she beat two former best actress winners in the best supporting actress category.

Although it missed out on best film, The Great Buddha+, by Taiwanese director Huang Hsin-Yao, was a big winner. It took five awards, including best adapted screenplay, best original film score and best cinematography.

The mostly black-and-white dark comedy focuses on two friends – Pickle, a night security guard at a factory making Buddha statues, and Belly Button, a collector of recyclables. The pair uncover footage of Pickle’s wealthy boss that reveals his dark secrets.

Ang Lee, the Taiwanese-American director, and US actress Jessica Chastain jointly presented the best actress prize.

Lee was the first Asian to win the best director at the Hollywood Oscars, taking it in 2006 for Brokeback Mountain. Chastain won best actress in a drama at the 2013 Golden Globes for Zero Dark Thirty.

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Source: BBC

The post Teen actress beats veterans at ‘Chinese Oscars’ appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.

Naa Ashorkor, who recently gave birth to a baby boy, said the pressure for young couples to have children as soon as the rings are on their fingers does not help in planning for the future.

She told the Graphic Showbiz in an interview that already she has to answer questions about when she is having a second baby.

“It’s been less than three months since I gave birth but questions are coming on when my second baby will arrive. Sometimes, I find such questions interesting but I don’t allow them to get to me because I don’t think I’m too old to rush to have children.

“That is the pressure many couples go through and I know many friends who are going through emotional trauma because they are just three years or even less in their marriage and everyone expects to hear the cry of a baby in their home,” she continued.

Naa Ashorkor got married in 2014, and after two years of marriage and no baby, there was so much talk about her getting pregnant but the Perfect Picture actress said she did not allow that to get to her.

Instead, she used such occasions to ask more questions about motherhood and also learn from the experiences of older women to help her prepare for a baby.

“Motherhood is a full-time job on its own and in these modern times, taking care of a baby is no child’s play. Why would you rush to give birth when there are no provisions to make the child comfortable?

“Sometimes, your work could even be a barrier and that is why despite our culture placing much value on child birth, we must give couples the power to decide when they are ready to bring children to this world,” she stressed.

To back her argument, Naa said she sacrificed her job for seven months to have her baby. “These are some of the problems which confront you in making decisions and so you need to plan well.”

Although she took time off radio and television to focus on motherhood, she wasn’t inactive. She told Showbiz she was busy working on her latest play, Bukom, for her April Productions House and her online marketing company, Jaanor.

Already, she’s back on GHOne TV hosting her Tales from the Powder Room and would return to her radio duties as host of Starr FM’s mid-morning show, The Zone from October 2.

“I miss being on air. It feels like forever and I’m looking forward to getting back to work full time,” she said.

Even though she admitted to being indifferent to feminism, Naa Ashorkor, who will be celebrating her third wedding anniversary next month, advocated for women to confidently build and empower themselves to be relevant to the society saying, “marriage and childbirth don’t define any woman’s worth in the society”.

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Source: Graphic Showbiz

The post Don’t rush to give birth after marriage – Naa Ashorkor appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.

The Central Intelligence star is trying to get himself out of a bad situation that he got himself involved in—and so he’s coming clean. The funnyman took to Instagram on Saturday to publicly and profusely apologize to his pregnant wife Eniko Parrish and kids Heaven Hart and HendixHart, his children from a previous marriage, for some “bad” behavior on his part and to say that someone was trying to extort him for “financial gains” as a result of his actions.

In the video he posted wide, the actor began, “I’m at a place in my life where I feel like I have a target on my back and I should make smart decisions and recently I didn’t.”

“I made a bad error in judgement and put myself in an environment where only bad things can happen and they did,” he confessed. “And doing that I know that I am going to hurt the people closest to, whom I have talked to—my wife and my kids.”

The post Kevin Hart apologizes to family after suggestive video released appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.

Afia, who is alleged to have been caught in bed with another man, is heard saying in an audio chanced on by Citi Showbiz that it was a mistake that she chose Lawrence for a husband.

In the audio, Afia is heard saying she is no more interested in the marriage.

“I have quit the marriage. A man does not marry while living in his wife’s house. He should go find job to do. Anybody who comes here to talk about my marriage again, I’ll curse him with Antoa Nyama,” she said.

She added that “I don’t have time for this marriage because my husband is a very wicked man. For the past eight months, I have been feeding you. Find a job to do. I can’t be feeding you. You are too grown for me to be feeding you,” Afia added.

Afia also said in the audio that the man stole from her and even slept with their house help.

“His own friend told me not to marry him but he said he was a good guy. It was a mistake. You are a mistake,” she said in the audio.

It is believed that Afia’s marriage to Lawrence fell on the rocks about three months ago.

However, a new audio purported to be a recording of when Lawrence caught Afia in bed with another man, has Afia begging Lawrence to forgive him. It is quite unclear why Afia, after ‘divorcing’ Lawrence for all her allegations, would apologise to him for cheating on him.

In the meantime, the comedienne has posted on social media that she is single and ready to date (not a broke man).

“I am single…ready to date your father! Nice breast, nice a**, not for broke men….Massa get a job and take your eyes off my money,” she said.

Afia Schwarzenegger and Lawrence Abrokwah got married in 2016 in South Africa.

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By: Kwame Dadzie/citifmonline.com/Ghana

The post My marriage to Abrokwah was a mistake – Afia Schwarzenegger [Audio] appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.

The two will perform their collaboration, “This is Who I am,” which is on Ahmed’s award-winning 2016 album, “Music has no Boundaries.”

After the festival, Wiyaala will go back to the United Kingdom to perform at the Africa Utopia Festival at the South Bank Centre in London, she will also tour the UK in August and September.

The Timitar Festival is a three-day event that is defined by its focus on the Amazigh culture, with a theme of “signs and culture” and has performances from traditional and modern Moroccan musicians alongside those of contemporary international artists.

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By: Jeffrey Owuraku Sarpong/citifmonline.com/Ghana

The post Wiyaala to perform with Ahmed Soultan at Timitar Festival appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.

Since the pictures got viral, a lot of people have expressed their joy for the 47 year old.

The ‘Standpoint’ host, Gifty Antwi, got married in October, 2015 to host of ‘PM Express’ on Joy News Channel on Multi TV and Chief of Adumasa Traditional area in the Eastern Region, Nana Ansah Kwaw.

Watch their royal wedding below:

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Kwame Dadzie/citifmonline.com/Ghana

The post Gifty Anti spotted pregnant [Photos] appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.

The wedding which has generated buzz on social media was strictly by invitation. Report has it that there is high security presence at the Unique Floral at the Trade Fair Centre in Accra.

Earlier on, the traditional marriage as held at Louisa’s family house in Tema.

Louisa Ansong is a dentist who graduated from the Kwame Nkrumah University of Ghana in 2016. She won a lot of academic awards when she graduated.

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By: Kwame Dadzie/citifmonline.com/Ghana

The post Stonebwoy weds Louisa [Photos] appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.