New Oslo Gospel Choir Release Inspired by South Africa Feat. Courtney & Loyiso

Integrity Media Africa is excited to announce the brand new album from the Oslo Gospel Choir, titled Stay Amazed. Local stars Loyiso Bala and Courtney Jonas were chosen to capture the essence of South Africa on the album which is set to be another ground-breaking release, a 15 track artful blend of sounds and language.

The Managing Director of Integrity Media Africa, Nurden Cross is delighted with this new project "From the moment I first encountered the Oslo Gospel Choir in 2007 I have loved their unique sound. Stay Amazed is a studio project that contains great hints of Africa as it pre-empts their tour to South Africa next year. This is a dream come true for the choir as they love the unique sounds of Africa, and Africa loves the sound of choirs, so, in my opinion, this project has to be partnership made in heaven!" 


 Kari Jobe, Paul Baloche and Chris Tomlin, are just a few of the contributing songwriters on Stay Amazed. With songs such as ‘I’m singing’, ‘Above All’, ‘Create in me a pure heart’ and ‘Bambelela’, the lyrics are honest and descriptive, expressing a manifold of emotions.
Bala and Jonas spent a week in Norway this past August recording as headline artists on the latest delivery from one Europe’s most successful choirs. This is a huge honor as musical legends such as Andrae Crouch, Pat Boone, Neil Sedaka, and Princess Märtha Louise of Norway have performed on their albums in the past. In just 3 months from recording, Stay Amazed is ready, marking the choirs twenty-ninth album release.


Bala has always had a love for the choir arrangement, and spent his early years singing in the world famous Drakensburg Boys Choir. Adding to a long list of accolades and notable performances was Bala’s show alongside Alicia Keys, Shakira, the Black Eyed Peas and John Legend at the FIFA World Cup Kick-Off celebration concert at Soweto’s 30,000 capacity Orlando Stadium. Ex-presidents, business and TV moguls like Nelson Mandela, Richard Branson, Gordon Brown, Bill Clinton and Oprah Winfrey are just some of the public figures that Bala has been invited to perform for.


This October Courtney Jonas toured South Africa with one of the founding fathers of modern worship Brian Doerksen (Canada). Jonas performed as a guest lead vocalist at Doerksen’s live shows. The 22 year old singer, songwriter rose to fame with her performances on the hit shows ‘High School Musical’ and ‘Evita’ as well as the presenter and performer on the teen music show ‘iShine Southern Starz’.


Since the Oslo Gospel Choir’s conception in 1988, the choir has performed more than 1000 live shows, and have sold in excess of 1.5 million albums globally. Between the years of 1990 and 2000, the choir became the highest selling artists in Norway, topping album sales of Michael Jackson. The thirty-two piece choirs appeal has successfully transcended age, race and gender.


The Stay Amazed CD will be on sale throughout South Africa in November, in time for the Christmas period. The Oslo Gospel Choir will be touring South Africa in the New Year, where visuals of South Africa will be captured and a Live DVD of Stay Amazed will be born. More details to follow.

iShine Southern Starz CD Review

Connell Cruise in The Citizen Newspaper

Courtney Loves Cupcakes

When scouting for a great venue for Courtney Jonas to film her sermonettes, the first thing that came to mind was cupcakes and milkshakes. For those who know Courts, she loves all things girly! yup, she has a teeny tiny Chihuahua named Bella-Starlet, she loves cupcakes, always wears dresses, drinks pink milkshakes, has a pink Blackberry as well as a bright pink iPad (which she can't put down)... oh, and Bella-Starlet wears pink too...

I stole this pic from her FB page :)

I came across the gorgeous Succulent Cafe on 14th Avenue in Northcliff and fell in love with it. The bonus being it had Courtney's name written all over it and it HAD to be the setting for her sermonettes. 


The wonderful team at Succulent Cafe were extremely delighted to have us shoot at thir decadent cafe. Thank you to Cindy and Stella for hosting our team, we are all in love with your spot!


Here are some pics of Courts recording her sermonettes for iShine Season 2 that will air in Dec 2011 on One Gospel, Channel 331.

Season 2's Dynamic Youth Pastors

iShine Southern Starz Season 2 is in it's final preparation stages, and it is set to be 10 times bigger and better than Season 1. We have a brand new insert where we have chosen 5  inspirational youth pastors from around Gauteng to chat to the audience about their bible based take on each topic weekly. From dating to drugs, we discuss extremely important topics that we all are exposed to.

Thank you to these wonderful guys for their time and profound messages. They are the real deal, walking talking Christians, it's no wonder they lead dynamic youth groups.

The crew were blown away by their humour and wisdom and cannot wait to share the footage when Season 2 airs in December 2011. You will be moved!

iShine Southern Starz would like to introduce...

Adrian Wright from Little Falls Christian Centre

Murendeni Nefale from Vereeniging Baptist

Connell Cruise

Garreth Williamson from Rhema

Barry Brokensha from Wilrow Park Baptist

iShine Southern Starz Season 2 filming

Hey guys!

What an amazing week this has been! We are busy filming iShine Southern Starz which will be aired on DSTV channel 331, One Gospel from December 2011!

Tomorrow we will be filming our performances and I cant wait, it's gonna be such awesome fun!:-)

I cant wait to hear what you guys think of Season 2! I truly believe its gonna blow your minds and you not gonna be able to keep your eyes off the TV screen!:-)

Here is a pic of me filming my sermonettes on Tuesday for iShine Southern Starz Season 2!

Much love,

Courts.xx

Connell Cruise @ The Battle of the Saints 2011!

for more info on the Battle of the Saints see our Facebook profile... www.facebook.com/battle.of.the.saints