Irene and Jane on the big stage
Ghana's Irene and Jane, the Charterhouse Stars of the Future pop discovery made an impressive appearance on last Sunday's Big Brother Africa eviction show in Johanneburg, South Africa. Watch Heat It Up by Irene & Jane
A couple of weeks before, it had been highlife star, Ofori Amponsah who performed at the Big Brother Africa 3 eviction show which is beamed live to audiences across the African continent.
Costumed tastefully in shorts and tops with great hairdos to boot, Irene and Jane gave a good account of themselves as they sang and danced to the thrill of their in-studio as well as television audiences.
Irene and Jane, the duo whose debut album Unveiled is in contention for Best Artiste or Group – West Africa at KORA and Best Duo or Group at the Channel O Music Video Awards both to be held later this year, have blended their talents and have worked together after spending most of their lives as solo artistes.
Irene has lived most of her life in Ghana, but is Liberian. Her father and brother died when she was really young and her mother moved with her to Ghana and married a Ghanaian. She grew up surrounded by music, her step-dad is a guitarist and singer while her mother sang professionally too.
She had her first go at a microphone at age three. At five, she performed at the National Theatre with the Christian Action Faith Ministry in a gospel rock show. By the time she was in Achimota School she was a choir leader and performing at various places, including weddings, churches, and even Miss Teen Personality 2002.
She also won an Opera Singing Competition and a song-writing competition for a Fanta song she composed with some friends. She was part of a group called S-Touch which also featured Salimi Akill, Richie, Ferguson and Selassie Hanson.
Jane was also born in a family of entertainers and has been singing since she was six. Her mother, Adwoa Awindor, is the popular host of the program 'Greetings from Abroad'.
That the duo, Irene and Jane, secured a performance ticket to such an impressive event is a clear indication that the young ladies have made quite an impact on the African continent.
They must have done something right in choosing the genre of music that they sing because it seems to have gained them some recognition across the continent.
The Irene and Jane music project that produced the Album Unveiled came about when Irene Logan, winner of Stars of the Future season one, invited Jane Awindor, who was also a finalist at the same competition, to join her in recording their first album.
The two became known as Irene and Jane and although they are currently working on separate albums, their collaboration is still receiving high ratings both locally and internationally.
During the eviction show itself, Namibian favourite, Lucille became the second housemate to be evicted from M-Net's Big Brother Africa 3 house. The travel and tourism student spent 35 days in the house – and won more than her share of fans and admirers!
Nigeria's Uti – also up for eviction with Ricco from Angola – reacted angrily to the news when host KB announced that Lucille was the next housemate to be evicted, smashing a window in the glass house and kicking furniture around until Ricco finally calmed him down.
It was a long week on Big Brother Africa – with the task providing the most entertainment as the contestants created their own game show – Desperate Housemates – ultimately leading to them winning their 100% wager with Big Brother, who congratulated them for their 'glitzy and colourful' show.
Tensions were also high, though, after TK had introduced a game earlier in the week which saw the contestants writing anonymous notes about each other which were then read out –leading to some home truths being aired and outrageous reactions shared!
This week also saw an alliance spring up between Lucille, Ricco and Mimi after their discussion about Sheila and how her innocuous actions seem to be adding up to something more sinister.
Saturday also saw a visit from SuperSport's Thomas Mlambo, who commentated on an intra-house soccer match! But Sunday night was eviction time and KB met the shy Namibian outside the famous Big Brother doors after the big announcement and immediately asked Lucille if she was surprised to be eliminated.
'Not at all – I was sure that TK was going to replace himself with me because he still believes I stole his cigarettes!' she said. With that, attention turned to the house as Ricco and Uti were told that they could re-join their housemates.
Whereas the returning contestants had previously been warmly greeted with excited chatter, Uti and Ricco walked through the door without a word – with the housemates clearly shocked to see Lucille had departed.
The silence was only broken briefly when Uti kicked over a table. KB asked Lucille if she felt that Uti was upset because she had left, or because he hadn't. 'I'm not sure,' she said. 'Maybe he's just releasing some stress from the week'.
Lucille then watched her nomination on the screen on stage – to see that only TK had nominated her when he replaced himself with her! She went on to say, 'Big Brother Africa has been such an amazing experience – I've met people from so many different countries and tasted all sorts of food,' she said after laughing her way through TK's clip.
'I would have showered naked if I was here 'til the last – if only my parents weren't watching!'