The French celebrate West African music

Kgomotso Molelekeng | Monday October 28, 2013 15:33

 

With many titles under his belt including being hailed as a Senegalese singer, percussionist, songwriter, composer, occasional actor, businessman and a politician, Yousson N'dour's show indeed made quite an impression on many that night.

Although the show was live on screen, the live screening made most if not all attendees feel as though they were part of the show itself.

The theme of the day was western African as a number of attendees came looking beautiful in their African attires while some just decided to be relaxed in their regular daily wear. The food was the talk of the night as people constantly gave props to the chef.  Prepared in a western African way, Chicken ground nut stew served with yum rice or hot rice was the main dish while for dessert people were treated to a yummy banana peanut cake.  'This is what most west African countries eat so because today we are celebrating their music, our catering company made sure the food complemented the occasion,' said the chef from AGL catering company.

Speaking to the director of the Alliance Franaise Antoine Courroy, told Showtime that this initiative came up after they partnered with the French institute.  'We are in partnership with Pasis and as a result we can now broadcast live shows and French movies that the institute bought copy rights in and we have already shown live movies that have never been shown here so tonight we just wanted to celebrate western African music,' he said.

He further mentioned that Yousson N'dour who is from Senegal gained popularity in the 80s and became and an instant hit in West African. The recording, which was recorded in Dakar, Senegal, was duped. 'The roll back Malaria - Africa live'. The show that took place in 12-13 March 2005 bought many to tears as the musician kept singing his famous most loved songs, some even sang along with him.

The show was made to provide coordinated international approach to fighting malaria in Africa as it was one of the most dangerous diseases killing children at the time, this was the concert that became the highlight of the year for Senegal.

'This event is a message of empowerment to the artistic community, as People in Africa suffer severely from the impact of malaria. The disease kills over a million people each year, mainly African children, and is a perpetual barrier to socioeconomic development across the continent,' answered Courroy when asked why they specifically choose N'dour.

The event live on screen featured top African artists led by the man himself, internationally renowned Senegalese singer Yousson N'dour and including established stars such as Baaba Maal, Salif Keita, Orchestra Baobab, Manu Dibango and Khaled as well as rising young African talents.

It is reported that the event reached roughly 30,000 spectators and an additional audience of one billion worldwide via television, DVD, radio and CD, celebrating the continent's creative energy and bringing a message of empowerment and hope for tackling its major scourge: malaria.