This week on Studio 53 Extra, there is a special focus on The Afrika Afrika show at the Notting Hill carnival in London. Held each August Bank Holiday since 1966, the Notting Hill Carnival is the largest festival celebration of its kind in Europe.
Every year the streets of West London come alive, with the sounds and smells of Europe’s biggest street festival. Twenty miles of vibrant colourful costumes surround over 40 static sound systems, hundreds of Caribbean food stalls, over 40,000 volunteers and over 1 million Notting Hill carnival revellers. The Afrika, Afrika show features more than a hundred amazing artists, dancers, singers and musicians from many different regions of Africa (including Ghana) present an enthralling mixture of breathtaking acrobatics, infectious rhythms and enchanting visual beauty.
Also on the show, there is an exclusive chat with Helen Faussart of the well known Les Nubians in Paris, as well as South Africa’s songbird, Lira. Les Nubians is an R&B Grammy-nominated duo composed of sisters Hélène and Célia Faussart from Paris, France. In 1985 the sisters moved with their parents to Chad. Seven years later, they returned to Bordeaux, France and began singing a cappella, producing poetry slams in Bordeaux and Paris, and singing background vocals for various artists worldwide. Their debut album Princesses Nubiennes was signed to Virgin Records, France in 1998. They have become one of the most successful French-language musical groups in the U.S. Best known for their Billboard R&B Top Ten Single “Makeda” and Grammy nominated song “Je Veux D’la Musique” from their sophomore album One Step Forward. Les Nubians were the 1999 Soul Train Lady of Soul Awards winners for Best New Artist, Group or Duo and received two NAACP Image Awards nominations in 2000.
The talented South African songbird Lira has landed a dramatic acting role in a full-length feature film. ‘The Italian director Antonio Falduto spotted my picture on the cover of a magazine and he said ‘I want her to portray a particular character in my movie’, which just happened to be the supporting lead role,” said Lira.
The interviews continue with ex-model and designer Liz Ogumbo from Kenya. Although a qualified computer scientist, Ogumbo chose to trot the globe as a model, gracing catwalks from Paris to New York, instead of pursuing a career in IT. She still models occasionally, even appearing in her own shows, such as the Arise one. When she came back home in 2005, she started a modeling agency but it did not take off as she had hoped it would. She decided to diversify into another realm of the fashion industry and thus Imani House of Fashion was born. She invested in fabric and a number of sewing machines, and then set about scouting for a tailor to interpret her designs. The first dress she designed was for herself but she promptly ploughed back the Sh5, 000 estimated value of the outfit into her fledgling business. “I later sold the dress to friend and used the money to buy more fabric,” she recalls.
As usual, there is more of the hottest and latest celebrity news, scandals and gossip out of Hollywood and Africa. There is also a countdown of the top ten best Radio DJs in Africa and the battle of the Stars between Jose Chameleon and Zola for the most Notorious musician in Africa.
