By Our Reporters
For the New Year, here’s the annual forecast by NET, of what and who to look out for in the new year. It’s a list of promising talents, thinkers, tycoons and tech; as well as titans and trends that’ll rule in 2015.
2face Idibia (now 2Baba)
Nigerian superstar musician, Innocent Ujah Idibia, who now prefers to be referred to as 2Baba, is perhaps the most loved Nigerian contemporary singer. Despite scandals from different quarters over the years, whatever Idibia brings to the table, in terms of musical offering, sells. To many, he can never go wrong in that aspect. So year in, year out, he stands out on the Nigerian entertainment calendar. And coming on the heels of the release of his 6th studio album, Ascension in 2014, 2Baba has already started this year on a high note.
On Saturday January 3, 2015, he released the re-mastered version of his very first album, Face 2 Face in partnership with Kennis Music at a very glamorous event at Club Rumors in Festac, Lagos. 2face is also spearheading the ‘Vote Not Fight’ campaign ahead of the February 2015 general elections which places him well ahead of his peers in the game.
AFCON 2015
The 30th edition of the African Cup of Nations will kick off on Saturday, January 17, 2015 in Equatorial Guinea with 16 countries participating as usual. Sadly, the defending champions, the Super Eagles of Nigeria will not be there to defend their title as they failed to qualify for the tournament. This heightens anticipation as the world awaits who will be Africa’s next football kings.
Africa Fashion Week Nigeria
The African Fashion Week Nigeria (AFWN) held its first event in Nigeria in 2014 after organising several African fashion weeks in London. This major event is aimed at giving talented Nigerian designers an opportunity to showcase their creativity to a global audience. Given the success of last year’s edition, many Nigerian designers and fashion enthusiasts are anticipating the return of the show in 2015.
AFRIFF
The Africa International Film Festival (AFRIFF) 2014 was a hugely successful event that firmly sealed the festival’s status as a top annual film festival in Africa as a whole.
The festival reportedly gulped about N350m in 2014 and it remains to be seen if the standard set will be even better in 2015.
AMAA Awards
This is a platform that projects the African film industry to Africa and the rest of the world. It is a glamorous celebration which honours excellence in African filmmaking and cinema. The awards ceremonies is attended by numerous media representatives, celebrities, politicians, journalists, actresses and actors from all across the world. It is widely considered to be Africa’s most important film event and the most prestigious film award in Africa. The 2015 edition will be the 11th anniversary of the prestigious awards.
Apple Inc.
World leading tech and gadget company, Apple, will surely make headlines in year 2015 with more innovative and trail blazing products in the offing. Apple set new standards and maintained market leadership in 2014 with its products, especially the release of the iPhone 6 plus in 2014. The first week of January set a new record for billings from the App Store as Apple customers worldwide spent nearly $500m on apps and in-app purchases, and New Year’s Day 2015 marked the single biggest day ever in App Store sales history. These milestones follow a breakthrough 2014, in which billings rose by 50% and apps generated over $10b in revenue for developers.
According to reports, iOS apps developers have earned over $25b so far.
Banky W
Apart from a good number of singles and collaborations in 2014, Bankole Wellington a.k.a Banky W didn’t really have a groundbreaking year 2014. But it’s looking like the EME boss will step things up in 2015. And this is more likely to happen for him as a filmmaker than as a musician. Having spent 8 weeks at the New York Film Academy last year, he returned to the Nigerian entertainment scene with another appellation to his name – filmmaker. Upon his graduation from the film school, he didn’t waste time to show his fans and minders that his new filmmaking skills will come to bear this year. First thing this year, he released the video to a track ‘Mercy’ off his last album, R&BW. The music-film visuals, written and directed by the pop star himself, has since received several nods from music lovers. Maybe we’ll be seeing an EME-produced Nollywood movie this year, maybe not.
BET Awards
Last year’s Black Entertainment Television awards saw Nigerian artiste Davido win Best International Act: Africa. Nigerians have somehow dominated that category at the awards for years, and now everyone will be wondering who the winner will be in 2015; will it be another Nigerian?
Beyonce
Multiple award-winning Pop diva, Beyonce Knowles comes into 2015 with a lot of prospects. She has 4 nominations in the 2015 Grammys and she’ll be embarking on her long awaited ‘On the Run’ tour of UK and Australia. There are also reports of a joint album by Beyonce and hubby, Jay Z scheduled to be released in the 2nd quarter of 2015.
Big Brother Africa
Since its inception 10 years ago, the Big Brother Africa reality show has been the biggest and most watched reality show in Africa, producing millionaires and superstars in the last decade.
In 2015, the famous reality show will be in its 10th year, and fans of the show can’t wait for the twists and turns that will come with it.
Boko Haram
The terrorist group has reportedly killed more than 5,000 civilians between July 2009 and June 2014 including at least 2,000 in the first half of 2014. The attacks occurred mainly in northeast, north-central and central states of Nigeria.
It is left to see if this scourge will finally be brought under firm control by the government in 2015.
Channel ‘O’ Awards
One of the leading and most consistent music awards ceremonies in Africa, the 2014 awards had just 3 Nigerian artistes clinch awards in different categories. We are hoping more Nigerian acts will pick up awards this year.
China
Currently rated as one of the fastest growing economies in the world, international observers and analysts have stated that this year 2015, China will overtake the United States of America and become the world’s largest and strongest economy.
City People Awards
The City Media Group led by Dr. Seye Kehinde is known for its huge contribution and consistent reward system by means of award ceremonies to reward and recognise key players in various industries. In 2015, we anticipate the City People Entertainment Awards, the City People Awards for Excellence and the City People Political Awards.
Cristiano Ronaldo VS Lionel Messi
The two football players have broken virtually every goal-scoring record there is to break across the world. Ronaldo and Messi’s rivalry has been a hot topic every year for at least the past 7 years and they don’t seem to be relenting. Football lovers across the world are waiting to see what 2015 will bring with Ronaldo recently crowned the World’s Best Footballer this January. It remains to be see who will continue to dominate in 2015 as well.
Cynthia Morgan
2014 was Cynthia Morgan‘s real formative year and the year she cemented her intention for stardom. All the singles she released (‘Don’t break my Heart,’ ‘Lead me on,’ ‘I’m Taken’ and ‘Popouri’) last year got good reception and rave reviews. At the pace of the dancehall singer’s career, it’s almost certain that 2015 will be her break-out year.
D’Banj
Bangalee, Eja Nla, Kokomaster…these are but a few of the acronyms Oladapo Adebanjo a.k.a D’banj has come to be known during his illustrious music career which has spanned 10 years and grown beyond Nigeria and the African continent.
D’banj is scheduled to release his 10th Anniversary album this year and he is also rumoured to be going into acting, among other things. With his new rumoured affair with South African beauty queen, Bonang Matheba and his latest wave-making single, ‘Feeling the Nigga’ he’s definitely one to look out for this year.
Davido
All eyes are on HKN boss and BET award winning Pop star, Davido for the release of his sophomore album. It’s been 2 years since he dropped his debut album, Omo Baba Olowo in 2012. With his remarkable success and boundaries broken in 2014, Davido has promised his fans a new album in the first quarter of 2015.
Desmond Elliot
Nollywood actor-cum-politician, Desmond Elliot will know his fate and possibly take his career to a new level in 2015. In 2014, he clinched the APC ticket to represent Surulere Constituency in the 2015 general elections and in a couple of weeks from now might become a member of Lagos State House of Assembly.
Digital Broad
This is the current trend in broadcasting, both in Nigeria and the world over. And according to reports, the International Telecommunication Union, ITU, set 2015 for the entire broadcasting stations in the world to go digital. Nigeria reportedly set June 2012 for broadcast stations in the country to be go digital initially but that target was not fully actualised. The global deadline takes effect this year
Dr. Dre
For Dr. Dre, a legendary music producer and entrepreneur, 2015 will see him return to the recording studio to work on what might be a ‘back-to-roots’ album and, according to reports; he will follow it up with a world tour.
Ebola Virus
The deadly virus became an epidemic across West Africa initially and later spread to other countries and continents as 2014 went by. Yet to have any known cure, Ebola was responsible for the death of over 6,000 people in West Africa alone. As World Health Organization (WHO) and laboratory scientists around the world are leaving no stone unturned to develop a permanent vaccine to combat the deadly virus, we hope the cure will be found in 2015 or the virus will be hugely contained.
EKO Hotel & Suites
This grand hotel in Victoria Island, Lagos has dominated as the go-to venue and virtually become a ‘must-use’ location for every top and premium event in Lagos in 2014. Will this dominance continue in 2015, or will another venue be able to break this current monopoly?
Elite Model Look
This annual model search event discovers new and fresh models to represent Nigeria at the Elite Model International, and it is one of the most anticipated events for models in the country. Last year’s Elite Model International event took place in China.
Emmanuel Ikubese
After becoming the 1st runner-up at the Mister World Pageant, winning the Most Stylish Man award and also featuring in the TV series, Shuga in 2014, Emmanuel has appeared at many major events. He featured in Tiwa Savage‘s video, ‘My Darling’. The fast-rising celebrity apparently seems to have a lot to offer the entertainment industry and he’s sure to make waves in 2015.
EMMYS
An Emmy Award recognises excellence in the television industry, and corresponds to the Academy Award, the Tony Award, and the Grammy Award. The awards ceremony puts together to honour the best of primetime television programming is a top feature annually on the world entertainment calendar.
This set of awards which, celebrates young people between the ages of 18 and 31, have made outstanding achievement in the year under consideration is a highly anticipated feature annually. Forbes has described the awards as ‘Nigeria’s Most Important Award for Outstanding Young Nigerians’.
Geoffrey Oji
For many weeks that the season 7 of reality singing competition, MTN Project Fame West Africa, lasted – Geoffrey’s performances were outstanding. Many of the show viewers already tipped him as the winner of that edition even before the final pronouncement.
He walked away with the N5m cash prize, an SUV and a recording contract, making him an instant champion. Does this guarantee him a spot in the real music industry? NO! The young man knows the competition is far from over, which is why he’s set to release singles upon singles this year. He’s definitely one to watch out for.
Goodluck Jonathan
Much can be said about the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, who was adopted as the People’s Democratic Party’s (PDP) presidential flag bearer for the first time in the party and indeed country’s history. But the most important question and high point this year about him remains: will he be successful in his re-election bid? Especially with a formidable candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Muhammadu Buhari; and many Nigerians, online and offline asking for Jonathan and his cohorts to leave the seat of government, Aso Rock in peace or pieces. February 14, 2015, will judge.
GRAMMYS
This annual Awards show is arguably the most prestigious and popular in the world. It brings together thousands of creative and technical professionals in the recording industry from all over the world. The 57th Annual Grammy Awards will be held on February 8, 2015, at the Staples Center in Los Angeles, California. The show will be broadcast live by CBS. It is not yet known who will host the ceremony.
In all, 83 Grammy Awards will be presented; 1 more than the number in the last edition of the prestigious awards in 2014.
GTB Lagos Fashion Week
The 5th edition of the Guaranty Trust Bank Lagos Fashion and Design Week (GTBank LFDW) will take place this year 2015. The prestigious event promises to be groundbreaking as new indigenous and talented designers will be introduced and given a grand platform to expand in the fashion industry.
Hennessy Artistry
In Nigeria, this event has been one of the biggest annually since inception. 2014 saw 2face Idibia and Wizkid as headliners. And this year 2015; the Nigerian entertainment world waits to see which superstar duo will take centre stage.
Hennessy Artistry is an innovative musical platform launched worldwide by Hennessy in 2006 to celebrate the vibrant multiculturalism of different genres. Hennessy Artistry combines contemporary, hip and inspirational music around the world, and has worked in collaboration with talented artistes like Kanye West, Pharell Williams, Ne-Yo, Leona Lewis, LL Cool J and Fabolous. Through its commitment to the global ‘art of mixing’, Hennessy Artistry has since become a permanent anticipated fixture in the urban music scenes of many countries around the world; from China to Malaysia, South Africa, Nigeria, USA and more.
According to research published recently by the GlobalWebIndex, Instagram is the fastest growing of all social media sites worldwide, increasing its active user base by 23% in the last 6 months.
Will Instagram overtake Twitter in 2015 by becoming the social media platform with the highest number of users? This is one to watch out for definitely this year.
ISIS
Islamic State of Iraq and Syria is made up of a group of jihadists in Syria kidnapping and killing innocent citizens from United State of America and European countries in 2014. It remains to be seen if their influence will grow further or die off gradually in 2015.
A influential female cinematographer, this 35 year-old filmmaker has won numerous awards and she stands tall in the midst her male counterparts. She’s already released her first music video for the year 2015, and she has repeatedly said she has many more in stock this year.
Kunle Afolayan
Immensely gifted filmmaker, actor, director and producer, Kunle Afolayan again had an amazing year in 2014 with the release of his latest film October 1. The movie has swept awards in virtually every category it’s been nominated in since its release. One cannot help but anticipate how well it will do in 2015 especially if it goes on DVD this year.
Linda Ikeji
Linda Ikeji is unarguably one of the biggest and most successful bloggers in Nigeria presently. She made headlines last year after her blog was allegedly shut down.
Whether or not she will be able to maintain her standing is what remains to be seen this year as other prominent bloggers like Olorisupergal, Onobello, Ladunliadi, Kemifilani, and others seem hot on her heels.
Lupita Nyong’o
Lupita Amondi Nyong’o was born in Mexico and moved to the United States for college, graduating from Hampshire College with a bachelor’s degree in Film and Theatre Studies.
Her first feature film role in Steve McQueen’s historical drama, 12 Years a Slave (2013) earned her the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress among numerous other awards and nominations. Nyong’o is the first Kenyan and first Mexican actress to win an Academy Award.
She was so successful in 2014 and is definitely one to watch this New Year. Part of her honours in 2014 includes: ‘The Most Beautiful Woman’ by People Magazine, ‘Woman of the Year’ by Glamour Magazine, ‘African of the Year’ by the Togolese magazine Africa Top Success among others.
MOBO Awards
The MOBO Award show is held annually in the United Kingdom to recognise artists of any ethnicity or nationality performing ‘music of black origin’. Many Nigerian acts have been nominated for the international awards which 2face, D’banj, 9ice others have won before. We hope more will be nominated and eventually clinch the award this year.
MTN Project Fame
MTN Project Fame, a reality show which seeks to discover raw talented musical hopefuls, who are later groomed to be perfect, has given us a lot of artistes who are rated superstars today. From Iyanya to Chidinma, Omawunmi and Praiz, everyone’s fingers are tightly crossed to see who will be discovered in 2015.
Muhammadu Buhari
Former Head of State and APC presidential candidate, Muhammadu Buhari had a landslide victory at his party’s presidential primaries in December 2014. Famous for being a disciplinarian during his tenure as a military head of state in Nigeria, Buhari has seemingly softened with age as his appearances at some high profile entertainment events at the end of 2014 shows.
He has been trending on social media since winning the primaries and it remains to be seen if he can reproduce that winning form at the presidential polls come February 2015.
Music Meets Runaway
This annual fashion and music show features a showcase of top fashion works and is spiced up by live performances from popular music acts including international artists. This platform is created for talented designers, especially those who normally are excluded from the highly competitive world of fashion to showcase their unique art works. The show is expected to come up with something unique and different this year.
Native & Vogue
The Port Harcourt International Fashion Week popularly known as Native and Vogue, gulped about N200m last year with the international designers and models that were invited. We look forward to a bigger event this year.
NEA
One of Nigeria’s most respected entertainment awards will be in its 10th year in 2015. The NEA (Nigerian Entertainment Awards), since its inception has always been held in New York, United States of America. However, the organisers are working on making the 10th edition a grand event by bringing it down to Nigeria.
Nigerian General Elections
The year 2015 is an election year in Nigeria’s calendar. The attention of the world will focus on Nigeria as Nigerians take to the polls on February 14, 2015 to elect the next president of the country. As it stands, the battle will be between the incumbent, Goodluck Ebele Jonathan running under the umbrella of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) and Muhammadu Buhari running under the umbrella of the major opposition party All Progressives Congress (APC).
NMVA
The 10th edition of Nigeria Music Video Awards (NMVA) is one of the events to watch out for on the Nigerian entertainment calendar in 2015. The highly coveted awards will be honoring the best in the music video medium in Nigeria.
Nollywood
Every year, the Nigerian movie industry a.k.a Nollywood delivers premium and memorable entertainment, not just for Nigerians but the world as a whole. From outrageously ridiculous scripts to absolutely brilliant and thrilling productions; Nollywood is set to thrill again this year as the industry has already received a substantial part of the $200m presidential loan fund to help finance film projects.
Olamide
Indigenous language rapper, Olamide set a new record when he dropped his 4th album in 4 years with the release of Street OT in November 2014.
In 2015, the eyes of the industry and indeed the entire nation will be on Olamide as we anticipate his next album which will be his official 5th studio album. Will he continue the streak as the first and only Nigerian rapper to drop 5 albums in 5 straight years?
OSCARS
The Oscar Awards which is also known as the Academy Awards, is one of the biggest annual American awards ceremony on the global entertainment community. Film fanatics around the world will turn their attention to the Academy Awards in 2015 to watch the glamorous ceremony and learn who will receive the highest honours in filmmaking.
Patoranking
He’s unarguably the breakout star of 2014 and he ended the year on a high note, winning the coveted Headies 2014 Next Rated award. Patoranking will be releasing his debut album in 2015 to the delight of his fans.
Queen Elizabeth
Come September 2015, Queen Elizabeth is set to overtake her great-great-grandmother, Queen Victoria as the longest-reigning monarch in British history. Elected to the throne in 1952, the 88-year-old has lived through everything from World War II and the first man on the moon to the birth of personal computers and email.
Real Madrid
The Club World Cup champions have been a big threat to every team they’ve come up against, especially in the second part of 2014. They capped up a very successful year by going into the record books as the only team to win 22 straight matches in all competitions.
This is definitely the team to beat this year and the football world waits to see how well they will fare and if their amazing form can be maintained.
Reekado Banks
Winning the Headies ‘Rookie of the Year Award’ puts a lot of pressure on an artiste to break boundaries next year. Mavin Records act Reekado Banks has one assignment in 2015, and it is to prove that he’s not a flash in the pan.
RMD
Popularly known as RMD, Richard Mofe Damijo won the African Movie Academy Award for Best Actor in a Leading Role in 2005. He has been acting as the Commissioner for Culture and Tourism in Delta State, Nigeria since January 2009. Having been off the screen for a while, Richard is set to make a return to acting in 2015 and the talented actor is surely one to look out for this year.
Rolene Strauss
This 22-year old South African beauty was crowned Miss World 2014 in London. She is the 2nd South African woman to win the Miss World pageant. We believe this 4th year medical student will explore a lot in 2015.
Sam Smith
Sam Smith is a new UK artiste who made history in 2014 by becoming the first artiste ever to sell over 1 million records in the US and UK in one year. His debut album, In the Lonely Hour went platinum and this new act is surely one to look out for in 2015.
SAMSUNG
The brand, which hasn’t done badly with their products over the years, will be introducing more efficient products as they are poised to go head-to-head with their competitors in the electronics market in 2015. The proposed release of the new Samsung Galaxy S6 is planned for this year.
Skales
Baseline music act, Skales was scheduled to release his debut album Man of the year in 2014 but he didn’t. The Pop star who parted ways with E.M.E in 2014 and signed a mouth-watering deal with Baseline Music will surely want to drop his long awaited debut album in 2015.
Tayo Faniran
One of Nigeria’s representatives at the 2014 BB Hotshots in South Africa, Tayo’s popularity across Africa grew tremendously since the start of the reality show, with many certain he would eventually emerge the winner; but he ended up as the first runner-up.
He has indicated in several interviews that he is more than willing and ready to break into Nollywood. Hopefully, Tayo will be in the Nollywood spotlight this year.
The Headies
The Headies will also hold its 10th edition in 2015. With a decade of experience and staying top as the most respected music award in Nigeria, Headies will surely be one of the events to look forward to in 2015.
The Interview
This Hollywood comedy film created uproar when the North Korean government threatened ‘merciless’ action against the United States if the film’s distributor went ahead with the release last year.
The movie, which was scheduled to come out in October, was delayed till December 25, 2014 and was reportedly edited to make it more acceptable to North Korea. As of January 6, 2015, it has earned $31m online, bringing the total revenue to $36m and making it Sony’s most successful online movie.
The Mavins
Led by Don Jazzy, The Mavins (Tiwa Savage, Dr Sid, D’Prince, Korede Bello, Reekado Banks and Díja) will be greatly looked upon to set the pace and redefine the standards in music making this year. Still basking in the success of their hits from last year like ‘Dorrobucci’, ‘Adaobi’, ‘Looku Looku’ and others, fans and pundits wait to see what they have up their sleeves this year.
Tiwa Savage
This multi-award winning singer might not be very busy doing music this year as she and her husband, Tunji ‘Tee Billz’ Balogun announced that they are expecting their first child together. We are looking forward to yet another celebrity baby this year.
UEFA Champions League
Always a very hotly contested trophy and widely considered as the World Cup of club football, the finals of the 2014/2015 UEFA Champions League will be played at the Olympia Stadium in Berlin, Germany on Saturday, June 6, 2015.
As always, the world eagerly waits to see who will be crowned kings of Europe this season.
Wizkid
Following Wizkid’s exit from E.M.E and the release of his sophomore album, Ayo in September 2014, the star boy who now runs his own independent label, will drop his new album under the Starboy imprint in the first quarter of 2015. This album is expected to feature his collaboration with Chris Brown and other top international artistes.
Yemi Alade
Another break-out artiste in 2014, Yemi’s smashing hit, ‘Johnny’ and ‘Tangerine’ were among songs that made 2014 so memorable but she missed out on the coveted Next Rated award at the last Headies. The singer is obviously not relenting and it’s definitely going to be an impactful year for the Afro Pop star, who came into limelight after winning the maiden edition of the Peak Talent Show in 2009.
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