Celebrities of 2017

Every year, various celebrities spring up while others fizzle out. These celebrities have worked enough in the previous year and are likely to become the stars of 2017. JOAN OMIONAWELE features a few of the lot.

Juliana Oloyede (Toyo Baby)

The star actress of Jenifa’s Diary has mastered the act of playing Funke Akindele’s best friend in the comedy series, Jenifa’s Diary.

Juliana who recounted how she became a lead cast in Jenifa’s Diary said “I decided to be an actress when everyone I came across would say I could do it and I thought to try it. I got an opportunity in 2007 to play a minor role as a nurse and the encouragement and feed back I got made me audition for a role in Tunde Kelani’s Arugba in 2009 and I got the part, Then I decided to work on my craft and I learnt on the job as one of Funke Akindele’s first set of students.

The actress is also the ambassador of a VV Hair line and is set to cinche more deals this year. It’s obvious that she is just gettting started.

Gregory Ojefua
Plus size actor and Model, Gregory Ojefua acted in major movies of 2015, from appearing in top movies like Just not married, to Surulere, to The Arbitration, the graduate of Business Administration has proven continuously that  he isn’t in the entertainment industry to play.

Recently nominated alongside top acts like RMD, Ramsey Nuoah and Olu Jacobs in the Best Actor category of the Africa Magic Viewer;s Choice Awards ( AMVCA), Ojefua is unperturbed by the big names and ready to let his work speak for him.

Although he told reporters jokingly that if he wasn’t into acting, he  would have become an importer and exporter, His journey into acting started way back in primary school where he was fascinated with school plays so much so that while in primary 3, he could recite two to three paragraphs of Julius Caesar, Macbeth and other Shakespeares Classics, though my mum being an English and Literature teacher also helped.

Tekno
Born Augustine Miles Kelechi is a descent of Ebonyi StaTE, the young musician grew up in Nothern Nigeria and at the age of 8, Tekno Miles was enrolled in a music school where he learnt and mastered how to play  the piano and guitar.

In 2013, signed a music contract with Made Men Music Group and  released singles like “Dance” and “Anything”, but it was not until 2016, that luck smiled on him. His song” Pana was on the lips of every music inclined youth and became a club banger.

He became furious last year, when he was nominated in the next rated category and refused to get accredited, a move which caused the organisers to disqualify him from the awards. He eventually did not attend, because, according to him, he had been in the music industry too long enough to be referred to as next rated artiste.

This year, will he live his record labels and sign other deals? Will he release more hits? We can only watch, but one thing is sure, he is definitely an artiste to watch out for in 2017.

Wale Turner
Young, indegenuous rapper, Wale Turner, was difficult to ignore in 2016, this was because the rapper continuously put out videos online and luckily signed a record deal by selling himself.

He believes he’s one of the best artistes in the industry.

Due to this, he has attracted the likes of Olamide, Eniola Badmus and Funke Akindele to himself and his music.

The rapper told an online magazine, “I’ve always dreamt of having my official video shot by one of the biggest directors in the industry. Director Q shot my video. I got used to doing my Instagram freestyles so on the day of my video it felt like I was doing my freestyles.”

Let’s see if he will put up a great show this year

Jumoke Aderounmu
The actress who has become more popular for her role as Esther in Funke Akindele’s comedy series, Jenifa’s Diary and has been involved in several acting projects since then.

The small but mighty actress who stated in an interview with Tribune that she is not ready to rest on her oars, is set to go on a training scholarship courtesy of the African International film festival ( AFRIFF) as a trainee actor.

Let’s see what 2017 holds for her.