Wednesday, July 22, 2009

TheTVObserver: Stefan Ludik


TheTVObserver' StarSpread presents Setfan Ludik. Like everyone we first saw this hunk on Big Brother and immediately we were taken by his intensity which proved to be an asset no broadcaster or producer managed to bottle and sell to a market more than willing to enjoy Ludik Magic. The first time we saw Stefan in real life, we were amazed at how short he is, we are not talking freaky short. He not 6.5, or anything, but he is hot. Stefan Ludik has taken Africa by storm as he wooed millions of TV-viewers and live audiences as actor and musician.

He became a familiar face literally overnight in millions of households around the globe. His rapid rise to fame was spectacular... This all started when he represented the Namibian u/19 cricket team at the World Cup in Sri Lanka just after he matriculated. Then he was off to Germany where he earned his living as construction worker.

Upon his return to Namibia he decided to make a career for himself in forensic sciences. He qualified in Psycho-Physiological Detection of Deception at the WNNR in Pretoria. He registered with the American Polygraph Association and started his own business, Invictus Intelligence (Pty) Ltd, towards the end of 2000 back in Namibia. This allowed him to pursue his natural curiosity as well as interact with people.

Stefan is one who will never back down from a challenge and that's the exact reason that made him enter Big Brother Africa in 2003. He passed the extreme challenge of representing a multi-cultural continent like Africa with flying colours and won the hearts of millions...

Nothing however prepared him for the launch into stardom when he came out of the BB-house. Shortly after being evicted from the house he made his acting debut in well-known comedian, Casper se Vries' Haak en Steek. Upon his return to Namibia he found that not only was he regarded a national hero but an invite from Franz Marx Films also awaited him. The rest is history... Since then he endeared himself to millions around the continent as Werner Kranz, in M-Net's soapie, Egoli - Place of Gold.

Stefan was seen during 2008 in the brand new action series on KykNet called, Transito. Stefan played the lead role in this action-packed series about a transit heist gone horribly wrong. Fantastic reviews for the series have been received country-wide. Stefan was also seen in the popular SABC 2 Soapie 7'de Laan for a couple of weeks, where he played the character of "Roelof". This too won him many fans around South Africa and high acclaim for his excellent performance.

The growing adoration that he enjoys from audiences in and around Southern Africa has seen him nominated for "Best Actor" and "Best Newcomer Music/Stage/Screen" at People Magazine's Crystal Awards in both 2004 and 2005. In 2005 he won the "Best Actor" award and at the 2006 Crystal Awards he walked away with the title "SA's Hottest Hunk".

In 2005 he also won the coveted "SA's Favourite Male Actor Award" at the "You/Huisgenoot Spectacular" and last year he won the "Sexiest Man"-award. He made it a hat trick when he also won Mamabaonline.com's "SA Sexiest Man" award towards the end of 2006. The prestigious ATKV Plume awards in 2005 and 2006 further feathered his cap.

He started building on his repertoire whilst in secondary school and soon he had enough songs to put together a Demo CD. His debut album, Liggroen Doringbome, a witness to influences of his childhood musical idols like Queen, Roy Orbison and Elvis, consisted of a mix of Afrikaans and English lyrics and was released towards the end of October 2005 and received great reviews country-wide due to the fact that Stefan wrote all the songs on the album - the music and lyrics - and due to the quality of the songwriting and production of the CD.
Currently, Stefan is also the Brand Ambassador for Bank Windhoek's Solo Project – a project aimed specifically at educating the Namibian Youth about finances, being responsible for one's own future, and the importance of dreaming big! With this project, over 100 schools has been targeted countrywide, spreading the word with a short and power-packed show involving Stefan singing, dancing, and motivating the youth to make a difference. This show has been so well received that Bank Windhoek extended the contract to 2009.

This was certainly contagious as the prestigious Olthaver & List Ltd, (with its affiliate Namibia Breweries Ltd) also contracted him for 2008 and 2009 for a similar project, where he focuses on staff motivation, throughout all their branches in Namibia.

Stefan needs to get back to TV A.S.A.P and on something more regular and national, hopefully shirtless every once or twice a week, so the ladies and teens can go crazy, while housewives day dream. Meanwhile the guys could have yet another reason not to watch daytime TV or prime-time shows aimed at women.

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