One On One With Allegro
1. The Entertainment industry has been labelled as a rough, dangerous, cruel industry and that only the tough survive, what's your view on this?
A: Absolutely true! One has to have a tough skin, especially in a country such as South Africa where our entertainment industry is still so small with very few positions on offer. You find that people fight and backstab on another just to get THAT position. It's very hard to make REAL friends in this industry.
2.What best describes Allegro and Orgella online?
A: WOW! Well, Allegro is BOLD, she's a go-getter, focused, hardworking, driven and very energetic.
Firstly "Orgella" is my name backwards, inspired by Oprah. Orgella Online is an extension of who Allegro is and what she wants to voice out and also how she chooses to entertain and inform. It's a limitless brand that has so much potential. It's MY space and I hope to turn it into OUR space.
3. What's a day in the life of Allegro like? Is it always as glamorous? A: I wish! To be honest the glamour only takes over on specific occassions. A day in my life is all about work, literally from 6am-6pm. I have irregular sleeping patterns which explain why sometimes I'd be on Twitter at odd hours of the morning. I don't sleep a lot, in fact I think work somehow keeps me sane, lol. I love the rush of preparing for my next meeting and the pressure of a deadline. I'm just one of those people who work well under pressure.
Take for instance my Tuesday's (My busiest day of the week)...
- 6am I'm up and ready to start my day
- 7am-8am I get ready and sometimes have breakfast
- 9am -11am I attend my first lecture
- 12-1pm- I set up interviews and/or brainstorm ideas with my partners
- 1:30-3:30pm- I attend my second lecture
- 4-6pm between this time I usually pick up my outfit for the evening at FabroSanz Creations or get a fitting done for the rest of the weeks events
- 7pm - 12midnight this time is taken by events. Sometimes I can attend 3 events on one night.
- 2am I'm usually back at home and either work on articles, study or prep for my next day.
The best feeling ever is when I come back from a long day and put my slippers on #Bliss :)
4. Having met international sensations, you've seen how many South African's got crazy when they come to our country. What do you think is the one thing that South African artists are doing wrong because as South African's we don't get as excited as we would be about international artists. How do we restore the pride in our musicians and the industry?
 |
A: I think it's just a matter of producing good music and making sure that you build a fan base. International artists and mostly American artists are lucky in the sense that they can rise to the super stardom level which just 1 or 2 albums but for local artists to even be recognised as superstars in their own country it would take a lot more than that. But times are changing and we're seeing more talented artists rise locally with just their debut albums but then again for them (the artists), they would also go 'crazy' over international artists maybe because they look up to that certain artists and have always been inspired by them. So in that sense it's kind of normal to react that way.
The only way we can restore pride in our local musicians and the inustry is if the musicians themselves produce quality music and we as fans support them, because honestly for me i'm not going to buy a bad album jjust for the sake of supporting local music, if it's dope, then I don't have a problem supporting.
5. You are a phenomenal lady, you're an entrepreneur and you're doing what you love. What's the one thing that's fulfilling about what you do?
A: That moment when I'm done with an article, an interview either on radio or any other medium and I'm proud of the work achieved. I think one should appreciate their own work before anyone else can. Then of course that wonderful feeling when you have people enjoy what you put out there, that's amazing.
6. IceCream Mag seeks to inspire the youth of South Africa, what change do you want to see in our youth and how do you aim to achieve that?
A: I want to be used as the example that "hard work pays off". Nothing is ever offered to you on a silver platter, if it is then you must know something is either wrong with it or it usually doesn't last. When you've worked hard for what you have, it's not easy for the next person to come and take it all away from you because you will fight just as hard or even harder to keep what's rightfully yours. I always say "I wasn't born with a silver spoon in my mouth, so pardon me while I polish my spoon", and that means hard work. Until it's sparkling silver I won't stop!
Young people need to learn how to make things work for them. We live in societies where things are'nt given to you, we often have to earn them or take them. I just hope that my hard work can inspire many my age. At 21 I feel this is the time to be doing something worthwhile for my future, and I urge my peers to do the same.
7. Where to from here??
Well I have a couple of short and long term goals lined up. I'm less than 8 weeks away from graduating in record time with a BA Journalism Degree from UJ, I launch my own company Orgella and website OrgellaOnline.com in just under 4 weeks and I start my internship program with the BBC in October, so that's pretty cool. There are other things I'm working on launching such as Orgella Helping Hands, a charity foundation and also breaking into commercial radio. I don't want to limit myself, so come what may, I'm ready!
 |
| Allegro - The LayAbouts Who Is Thando??? 8TH AVE'S VERY OWN THANDO NDLOVU BIRTH NAME Thando "Musa" Ndlovu - i was born in Tembisa raised in Midrand in 1996, attended MIDRAND PRIMARY SCHOOL | FAST FORWARD TO THE FUTURE | Im now known as the OWNER/FOUNDER and CREATIVE x GENIUS of 8thAve --- whats 8thAve? good question, i don't yet, BUT i can tell this _ the day i find out --- you'll know {GIGGLES} What we do varies in demand _ i mean from WEB DESIGNING, ALBUM COVERS/MIXTAPE COVERS, MODEL PORTFOLIOS, ILLUSTRATIONS, you name it we can do it --- www.whats8thave.com hit us up browse through our portfolio. JUST VISIT THE SITE LOL YAYA BOWSSY --- thanks for having me _ oh ja its 8thAve B#!* FWYH Contact info. www.whats8thave.com @whats8thAve |
Thando |
