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 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

Hey iShiners!

Hey iShiners!

WOW! What an incredible week in JHB! I had such a blast! We were at Little Falls Church, then had an amazing album launch at The World of Yamaha, we then jotted off to judge and sing at a national Gospel event and then ran to Pretoria, (ok not literally ran, LOL!!) to sing at Designed2Shine which was such a blessing! I got to connect with such amazing people and see the purity, love and enthusiasm in kids eyes. It was truly eye-opening for me to see how loving and amazing kids are and we can learn so much from them, I truly did!:-)

So I am now in CPT for our iShine Southern Starz album launch here in the mother-city on Tuesday, 26th Setember 2011. Im so excited and cant wait anymore!:-)

I really hope to see you all there and meet you ALL in person and connect with you:-)

Love you all and thanks for shining and being bright stars for God! Together we will show the world Gods love and the good side of life!:-) Cause we living the GOOD life with HIM in our hearts!:-)

Much love,

Courts.

IShine Southern Starz album launch

Hey guys!

WOW what an awesome album launch!!:-) Our album was so well received and I had a blast! It was so anointed and you could feel Gods presence in the building!:-)

It was so nice to connect with everyone after the show and hear what they thought of the launch! If you missed our JHB launch then don't worry, you can catch us in CPT on the 26th of September 2011, you can check out our fb page for more details and you can get your hands on our brand new album in stores from the 23rd of September.

Love ya guys and see you at all our shows and back on One Gospel in December! Season 2 of iShine Southern Starz is gonna blow your minds!:-)

Much love,

Courts.

Can you say EUROPE

Hey guys!

WOW! Its been a while since we last spoke and the awesome news is that I have so much news for u! I just got back from Europe to record the vocals with Loyiso Bala for the new Oslo Gospel Choir album and wow was that alot of fun! I cant wait for the album to be released so you can get your hands on it cause its gonna blow your socks right off your feet! It was such an honor to work with such talented people and tour Europe! I LOVE touring so it was the best of both worlds! Its so awesome to go across the world and experience so many different cultures and taste every countries specialty. Like in Holland we had peanut butter sauce, LOTS of peanut butter sauce.. and in Norway I had SOOOO much candy, for some reason, the candy in Norway is so good! LOL! but i have the biggest sweet tooth so maybe thats why:-)

It's good to be back home as South Africa is such a lovely country and I can truly say I'm proudly South African!:-)

So our iShine Album launch is coming up soon, how exciting is that? So after all your patience testing times you'll finally be able to get your hands on our iShine Southern Starz compilation album and may I just say its sounding fab!:-) So I know you'll love it and truly be blessed as you can feel God's presence and anointing on it:-)

Love you guys tons and check in soon!!

Dont forget to get in touch with me on my FB page. Just add "Courtney Jonas" as a friend. I'd love to connect with you!:-)

Much love,

Courtney.

Courtney's Oslo Travel Diary

In August Courtney Jonas jetted off to Olso in Norway with Loyiso Bala to record a new album titled 'Live in Africa'. This will be the latest release from the world renown 'Oslo Gospel Choir'. Here's some awesome pics of their trip. The album will launch in October 2011.

Connell's Take on Courtney's New Look

Hey friends!
Yesterdays episode of iShine Southern Starz rocked! Hope u didnt miss it!:-) I love coming here sharing my days with you and whats going through my mind and earlier I was thinking, "I would really like to know what you guys are thinking and whats on your mind.." So I want to open the invite to all you wonderful people to add me "Courtney Jonas" as a friend on facebook and let me know how you are, whats going on in your life and just simply how u feeling.. We all family and I wanna hear from you so I'll be looking for those messages!:-) I dont only present and sing on this show, but I connect with you, and if you going through something hard I wanna be here to help you and if you having the time of your life I wanna be here to celebrate with you and praise God for His goodness! So feel free to chat!:-)
LOVE YOU GUYS!
Courtney.

DSTV Dish Magazine!

Hey guys!
iShine Southern Starz is THE SHOW TO FOLLOW! Here it is in the DSTV dish magazine! Its a show not to be missed with tons of exciting music videos, live performances, interviews, giveaways and SO MUCH MORE! Catch us on DSTV Channel 331 One Gospel every Saturday morning from 8am-9am! You'll be hooked for life!
Check ya later!
Courtney.

Importance of family

Hey guys!
Today I want to harp on the importance of family! They the ones that know you the best, that get all your grief and up hill but they always willing to put up with it cause they love u.. Have you ever taken the time to think about who are the ones that are always there for you through thick and thin? Who tells you the truth, even when the truth is really hard to handle but they love you so much that they'll risk you being upset for a little while just because u need to hear what they have to say to you.. Guys, take time each day to spend time with your family and tell them how much you love them! God has blessed you with a unique one of a kind family, embrace it and appreciate them! They just on loan to you, so take advantage of every moment you have with them and never forget to take a few seconds out of your day just to say, "I LOVE YOU"..
Here's a picture of my incredible sister and myself when we were little!:-) She is 6 years older than me and has always been looking out for me since the day I was born.. I couldn't have asked for a better sister!:)
Have a blessed day iShiners!:-)
Much love,
Courtney.

Courtney is crazy about Planetshakers & more...

We caught up with 'Worship Today Mag's', August Cover Girl, and OUR iShine SA presenter Courtney Jonas, to find out what music she is crazy about this month. Out of her fabulous and varied music taste, she had to narrow it down to 3...well kinda...

WOW! I'll have to start with my ultimate fave release being "Planetshakers-Nothing is Impossible" as I'm a Planetshaker now myself and Ive never been happier in a church/worship team before! Our statement is "the louder for God, the better! You cant contain praise, if you are happy and on fire for God. You wanna shout it from the rooftops" and that's what we at Planetshakers do! We make a lot of noise for God, because He deserves all the praise in the world!

I'm on such an awesome spiritual journey with God and Planetshakers is my new family, they are incredible people with hearts on fire for God. Our church in Cape Town is our first international plant. We have one in Melbourne and another in Geelong. We are all one big family, and not exasperated churches. We like to see it as us all coming together under one big tent, looking out for each other and spreading God's word across the world!

Another one I love, (well its actually 3 but they are all iShine so I can sneak them under 1 right? LOL!) It's the Rubyz new album as well as Mission Six and Jonnie and Brookie. They are young, passionate and keen to spread God's word to the youth of this world, who are the future and need to hear God's voice. I love their young, edgy sound! You cant help but wanna dance and move to their music, as well as feel spiritually moved by the message they bring across in their lyrics. I'm so happy and blessed to be part of the iShine family and part of the awesome plan God has for iShine world-wide! Cause its HUGE!

The 3rd one would definitely be "Proxy". I personally know a lot of the band members and WOW, what incredible people! Their hearts are in the right place and they always willing to put others ahead of themselves! They are an awesome partner church with us (Planetshakers) and they have been so selfless and kind to allow us to use their premises to rehears our worship team during the week until we have our own building and move out of the CTICC. That's just one example of how selfless, sharing and loving they've been. Their music is catchy as well as the worship songs being beautiful and anointed! This album is a MUST HAVE!

_________________

That's that for this month, we will catch up with more hot music must have from Courtney next month!Don't forget to buy this months Joy Magazine, and read more in the Worship Today section on Courtney & the iShine All Starz SA team, Connell Cruise & Shanna*

Courtney on SABC 3's breakfast show EXPRESSO

Hey friends!
I had such an awesome experience being the main sit-down featured guest on SABC 3's breakfast show "EXPRESSO". Not only was it so much fun with an awesome team of people but God was there! You could feel Him moving in ways words cant describe and you could feel His presence! He anointed this song and I really wanted to share it with you! It will be my debut song/single for iShine so its in actual fact a sneak-peak of what you'll hear on the iShine compilation album coming to your stores soon!! So take a look and give me your comments and feedback!:-)
Lots of love.. Courtney.

7 Days!!

And the countdown has begun!!:-)
7 days till iShine Southern Starz hits your tv screens! Channel 331 on One Gospel 8am every Sat morning! Gonna be awesome!:-)
Today is an exciting day for me cause my big sis(not biological) is getting married! Shes been waiting for this day for many years and I cant wait to see her dreams come true today, she is truly gonna be the most beautiful bride I've ever seen!:-) This pic is of myself and my big sis, having a great time over dinner(and brocolli!-LOL!)
Hope you guys have an awesome weekend and be blessed! Always remember Phil 4:13.. In every situation no matter what, with God on your side, you can do all things through Him, cause He'll strengthen you!! You're BLESSED to be a BLESSING!
Much love,
Courtney Jonas.