After failing in politics, Ms Desree Barlow, formerly of UBC, KFM and President’s Office, has now joined the WBS TV news team.

She was on air this weekend with Owen Kibenge who is also coming back after a stint at the International Labour Organisation (ILO).

The former CEO of Broadcast Forum tried to get into Parliament as a Youth representative [Central] during the 2006 elections, but was unsuccessful.

She has since kept a low profile. But Desree hadn’t really abandoned broadcasting completely as she remained host of Desert Island Discs on Capital FM. Nevertheless she now appears to be back to her broadcasting roots in a bigger way.

Ebonies' Olga back in K'la

Remember Rita Tusubira? The light-skinned ‘Olga’ in the Ebonies’ That’s Life Mwattu series? Well, she is in tawo. The stunning beauty will feature in this weekend’s Agony and Ecstasy at Theatre Labonita. D&N hears she is eager to be back on stage for the first time since leaving Uganda eight years ago.

Meanwhile, the Ebonies are back from Denmark, Sweden and United Arab Emirates (Dubai) where they had gone to film new episodes to be screened on local television.

PAM awards changes names

The PAM Awards will henceforth be known as Bell Pam Awards after the beer company took over as main sponsors of the annual competition. Previously, the Pam Awards were sponsored by Celtel and Bell Lager, among others, but each one of these offered equal sponsorship.

With new sponsors come new innovations. Organisers now say winners of Uganda’s premier music awards will with effect from this year be equipped with skills on top of the usual money and trophies.

According to Isaac Mulindwa, the main man behind the awards, the new name is clear indication that the awards are getting bigger and better.
Well, we shall be able to tell some time in October this year.

500 for Big Brother III

Big Brother Africa III has recorded the biggest number of applicants, with more than 500 Ugandans registered.

The successful Ugandan representative will enter the BBA house, whose location is yet to be revealed, in August and do what Maureen Namatovu and Gaetano Kagwa failed to do – win the dollars.

Eagles sign with MTN

As Jose Chameleone fights to get out of the corporate sponsors’ cage, D&N hears Eagles Production is fighting to get in. We hear the group is signing a one-year contract with MTN worth Shs 150m.
The band already has a Nile Breweries sponsorship. Though the band managers are tight lipped about this, D&N hears a big signing function is on the way.
The way it works: band members will be barred from performing at rival company-sponsored functions – something that made Chameleone uncomfortable, forcing him to bolt when his contract with MTN expired recently. Oh, you poor fans!

Mulaasi re-opens Kampala studio

Don’t write off Swimming Pool singer Abdu Mulaasi so easily. He may have produced no hit of late, but he has re-opened his Light Studio in Makindye. This studio used to be at Sunset Arcade on Wilson Road in Kampala, but he shifted it to Masaka where he discovered it was not making him any profit. Instead, it was eating deep into his pocket.
The singer has now returned the studio to Kampala and is luring musicians with subsidised rates. D&N wishes him good luck.
So, let’s get naked!