Just Curious...Lelo Boyana

Just Curious: Lelo Boyana

By: I.Life

Here’s a mouth watering “Brown Shuga” coated delight…enjoy, savour the moment!

I.Life: Who is Lelo Boyana? Break it down… (For the striking Petrol Truck Drivers and for those whom have just crawled out of a rock in Poffadder)

LB:  I'm just a girl from Welkom who's passionate & very much in love with SA's entertainment industry.. I'm also very opinionated and like sharing my sometimes twisted opinions with the world. I'm a mother to a 9 year old boy who makes me laugh and of course I'm a proud African!

I.Life: Where do you stay and what do you for a living, besides attending parties?

LB: I stay and work in the East Rand, still doing Human Resources. That's my bread and butter, everything else I do simply because I can. 

Parties, well, I don't even go to events that much anymore...unless it would be really interesting to write about. It gets tiring after a while.

I.Life: what are some of your hidden talents? (Eish, not the ones performed in darkness)

LB: Hahahahah well...nothing I can think of! I don't know if it's a talent but I know quite a bit about soccer!

I.Life: You were once a Gospel Singer??? Can S.A expect a musical offering from you in the near future?

LB: Sjoe...and put Sis Ribs outta business? No, I love her too much to do that!

Hayi maan, that whole singing thing was just part of growing up, didn't you sing Gospel wena at some point? Hahahaha. I can string a few notes together but I don't like attention so I would have a problem with being on stage with thousands of people looking and listening at me and besides, Msholozi is a better dancer than me, mina I can't dance to save my life. In short, no, I'm too shy to do that.

I.Life: Fortunately, I’m a taxi driver who happens to be PC literate…I came across “Brown Shuga” elaborate…

LB:  Brown Shuga is one of the best things to ever happen to SA's entertainment blogging.

She shares my passion for the entertainment industry, is a South African celebrity & Television blogger who started out on TVSA, did whatever she did to help grow the site and contributed to making it the force it is. I've sort of slowed down on the blogging front lately coz I get bored with doing the same thing over and I think I have established myself as a “credible blogger” and right now I'm up for the next challenge. Okay, lemme stop before I start sounding like something that came out of a Bouga Luv track.

I.Life: Can I conclude that you suffer from Schizophrenia (Multiple personalities)?

LB: Hahahahah oh yeah, that goes without saying! People fall in love with Brown Shuga and then they meet me and get disappointed coz I”m so not like her...I'm moody, a bit quiet and not very good at small talk, which I've found to be a must-have if you wanna be popular with people in this industry...you know, fake smiles here and there, a lil compliment to this one or that one...I can't do that unless I mean it and yeah I'm not shy to dish out compliments where they're due but huwiee...

Brown Shuga is very much outspoken, tells it like it is but Lelo is kinda reserved and gets very hurt when celebrities snub her because of what Brown Shuga wrote about them hahaha

I.Life: You are a Blogger of note, are you obsessed with gossip/”Celebrities” why this passion?

LB: Hahaha I was kinda obsessed when I started out but I don't think I am right now coz at the moment I only blog about something that I'm really excited about and if you check my recent blog postings you'll see that it's not only about celebrities any more.

Celebrity news are still very much in demand though & I'm still interested so that's an area I'm definitely gonna continue exploring. When they criticize they say we are into celebrity news coz we don't have lives, maybe that's true but bottom line is that there is demand out there & it can't be ignored.

I.Life: Ms Beyonce err pardon me Ms Boyana, you are fiercely hot and damn… do you have a JZ (He stole my vote too, NO not that one) in your life? If YES…how did you meet and what made you say YES? If NO, what do you look for in a guy?

Lelo: Mmmmh...thank you MaG! My answer is “no comment” and as for what I look for in a guy...hayi...the truth is that I used to have a “shopping list” but I don't anymore, life is just not designed that way. I just enjoy people who make me laugh nje that's all.

ILife: I just had to get that one out of the way (For my fellow taxi driver’s eNoord), back to business… Lelo, you where once part RGB followed by a short stunt with City Press what happened?

Lelo: Yeah...I've had a lot of questions about what happened with RGB, the truth is that I left coz it was just not working out & everybody who watched could see that. The details of “how” exactly was it not working out & “why” will be made known in my tell-all book about the ins & outs of SA's celebville! Hahahhahah, yes, keep it locked mzansi, it's coming!

City Press – I really enjoyed writing for City Pulse but the one thing it taught is me that I'm not really much of a socialite. I resigned because the job required me to go to events all the time and I dislike going to events coz I “have” to....it has be coz I want to and I have times when I just wanna be at home the whole week and not go out!

Also, 2008 was a very hectic year for me man coz at some point I was doing RGB, City Pulse, City Press (big brother), TVSA plus HR and I really neglected my duties as a mother so it all got a bit too much and I feared that I would end up dishing out nonsense on some jobs so I had to slow down. I think my son suffered the most in a sense because I wasn't home half the time and when I was, I would be too busy writing this or that.

The Big Brother column obviously ended coz the show ended!

ILife: Who is the most entertaining “Celeb” which you have interviewed and why?

Lelo: Entertaining? Mmh... I'm not sure what you mean about entertaining so I'm just gonna flip that to “interesting”....

I've enjoyed interviewing all the guys I spoke to but the ones I'm most proud of are Siyabonga Ngwekazi & Robert Marawa.  When I interviewed them I had never read previous interviews they'd given so I didn't know what to expect but they were both very candid. I spent no less than 2 hours with each of them and yazi if you leave an interview and you're going “wow, wow” then you're know ukuthi there's something special about that person and just through interviewing them nje, I learnt a whole lot.

They may come from different worlds but uRobert & Siya are similar in terms of being focused in their work, the creative way in which they deliver their work, they are both very humble, never flaunt their success in anyone's face and I think that as a result, they will continue to be in demand and relevant.

You've actually just made me realize that I've interviewed more men than women and that's a worrying factor for me as a woman. Gotta fix that! On my wish list are Khanyi Dhlomo & Debra Patta just to name a few.

Ilife: Who is your Top 5 Hott (talented) news worthy “Celebs” in S.A? And what is the craziest thing you have done to cover a story?

Lelo: I'm answering this with the thinking that you are referring to Sunday World, Sunday Sun typa news neh?

People that are hott because they are hard workers are DJ Sbu (he's innovative), Bonang Matheba (she deserves all the props she's getting right now), Siyabonga Ngwekazi (can someone please do a business case study on Ama Kip Kip?), Jozi (definition of talent) & someone needs to take a closer look at Thokozani Nkosi coz that's a mogul in the making right there! Obviously there are lots more but those are the people that came to mind right now. I also have a long list of overrated celebs but it's a pity you didn't ask that! Hahaha too late now!

I haven't done anything crazy to cover a story, maybe I will , just to get the Deborah Patta interview! Yho, she kills me shem!

ILife: A question to “Brown Shuga” what is happening with S.A Radio? (My passengers are requesting Cd’s)

LB: I'm more of a TV critic so even thought I will admit that it has never stopped me before, I'm not qualified to comment on radio. However I don't mind telling you about my radio habits if that's okay?

My best ever breakfast radio show will always be Fresh and Thato on Yfm back in the day. I've since gone through Phat Joe, Thomas, DJ Sbu without much happiness but I've finally settled on Gareth Cliff on 5FM and now and again I tune in to John Robbie on Talk Radio 702.

I'm at work during the day so I can't listen to the radio without losing focus so I only tune in again on my way home and I love Glen Lewis' humour so I'm on Metro FM in the afternoon till after Discovery Sports Centre.

Fresh is doing a good job at 5FM but there's only so much “5FM music” a girl can handle in a day so for that reason alone, I can't tune in hahaha.

ILife: What can we expect from Lelo Boyana TV/RADIO/PRINT gigs?

LB: I don't have an agent, I don't go to auditions so if you see me on TV again it will be because the job came to me! Hahahahaha. Seriously though, I'm not pursuing anything in that area, coz mina shem I don't have the heart to be rejected after an audition. My self esteem is too fragile.

I have NO ambitions of being on radio whatsoever coz I just don't have the voice for it! In terms of writing, I've had a few opportunities presented to me but I'm still looking at how they will contribute to my growth so we'll see! Oh yeah, I would do City Pulse again if it meant I only went out when I want to!

ILife: Dankie… short left, good luck with the rest of your DESTINYation…

Catch Ms “Brown Shuga” on www.justcurious.co.za or Lelo Boyana on www.facebook.com