WOZA DURBAN ufun’uk’ JIVA – WOZA DEBEN
You must have heard this Autumns hit song – WOZA DEBEN – Come to Durban??? It’s clearly D-day at last – Our Durban DeeVa fills us in on what’s going down at Deben’s Red Eye… Durban has more to offer than sun, surf, spices and sex shops, believe it or not. In spite of the mind-numbing humidity that smothers this dilapidated coastal city for the greater part of the year, Durban …has nurtured a considerable amount of creative talent, especially in terms of fashion, music and photography. In the late nineties, Suzy Bell (then editor of the Independent on Saturday and creator of the hot-off-the-press White Rat photo comic book series) started the spectacular Red Eye Art fundraising event in order to bring together homegrown creative talent on a regular basis. The aim of the event is to provide an experimental space for emerging and established artists and performers to showcase their work to the public, and to bring disparate Durban audiences into the Durban Art Gallery venue. High brow and low brow are brought into contact; young and old mingle together; and funds are raised for the gallery. Red Eye has been criticised for being only a flimsy excuse for a party, an event to ‘see and be seen’ at. Okay, so some of the more ‘experimental’ pieces are occasional flops, and on some nights you might spend the whole evening socialising without watching a single performance, but so what! A public event in the name of art which provides Durbanites the opportunity to emerge out of their red-eyed stupor (or the comfort of the Berea) to enjoy their own city at night is worth supporting, regardless whether it is the art or the jol that does it for you. The theme of this month’s Red Eye was ‘rouge’, as in Moulin Rouge. To be honest, Red Eye always has that Baz Luhrmann feel to me: the city lights, the Indian influences, the bizarre visuals, and above all, the opulence of the gallery staircase (when else does a Durban Diva get to swan in on a red carpet on a Friday night??). Still, the organisers could have provided more of the drag queens and showgirls promised in the publicity material to go really OTT. The line-up provided diverse experiences from opera (performed by the University of KwaZulu-Natal Opera School); traditional Indian dance (by the Nateshwar Dance Company); fashion shows with background Hip Hop tunes (DJs Paperkut and Chidosylenz); and contemporary dance performances. I enjoyed the nimble-footed Bright Sparks Pantsulas, with their ‘smart-smart zoot suits and easy charm. Jay Pather’s Siwela Sonke Dance Company performed a deliriously upbeat number,...
Watch a movie and Gooi a hoop
Some innovative peeps (AND1)have combined movies and sport at the launch of the movie Coach Carter at the ZONE on Saturday afternoon. Watch the movie and then check out our long-legged players shooting some serious hoops. It’s at the ZONE – the home of all things cool ne? And the best is that our favourite little MC Prokid will be there too.. and their’s prizes up for grabs. …MOVIE LAUNCH & BASKETBALL EXHIBITION Date: Saturday 07th May Time: 12 – 4pm Venue: The Zone, Rosebank Featuring: ProKid AND1 Street team (Tony Lamouline, Q, DNyce) Phat AND1 Gear, Movie Soundtracks and other prizes up for grabs … See Ya’ll THERE!!!...
We are not idiots. Bad taste SA TV Adverts
Why is it that we have some world-class, brilliant commercials and then some really crap low-budget ones… Where’s the middle road? Where’s the public refusing to watch crap? I think it’s time that the public got more vocal on how they feel about TV ads and pushed brands to create only QUALITY work. Low budget crap is an insult to the viewer and often to the intelligence of the …target market… That’s not to say that quality commercials can’t be made on low-budgets, it is possible. It’s the fly-by-night directors and producers who throw these embarassing cringe-factor ads together and the clients that settle for below average content and creativity. Do they really believe that they have created something that people enjoy watching? Aren’t they ashamed with the poor product they create? Couldnt they spend a little more money or time making something better? I think if it’s going to be crap rather dont advertise on tv as it does more harm than good to the brand. We are not idiots. We get to watch programming from all over the globe, we are exposed to great content locally and internationally and are aware of what a good storyline is and what makes a good commercial. So please stop insulting our intelligence. Please add your comments about TV advertising that you despise, here’s a couple off the top of my head: Harpic – featuring Mrs Mathabane from Isidingo BioSlim – every single one they have ever created – particularly classic is the one with the Ms Gladiator in it next to a pool somewhere Twinsavers Toilet paper – lady with the nasal voice SABC 2 Program line-up commercials – often very cheesy editing and voiceover And some that are really great: Radio Sonder Grense Opel Lite Doom – everyone loves that one I cant remember the product – is it Handy Andy? With the mother imprisoned in the bath? BRING EM ON. PLEASE CUT AND PASTE THE LIST IF YOURE ADDING ON IN THE COMMENTS SECTION. THX...
Who killed Jimmy Valentine – @ UJ!
There’s Murder in the air at the University of Johannesburg…For those who love a WHO-DUNNIT – go and watch this local murder mystery. The University of Johannesburg Song and Dance Company, under the direction of the well-known actor/directer Jerry Mofokeng, will be performing Michael Williams’ indigenous who-dunnit musical. When a taxi owner’s son is killed,… his family and the police want answers. Was it his father’s rival who was responsible? Was it because of the forbidden relationship between Jimmy and this man’s daughter? Come and enjoy an evening of suspense. WHO KILLED JIMMY VALENTINE? will be staged from 18 – 21 May at 20:00 in the UJ Sanlam Auditorium on the Auckland Park Kingsway Campus (the old RAU). Booking is with Computicket. Tickets will cost between R30 and R60, with concession prices for senior citizens, students and block bookings of 10 and more. For more information call 011 489-3058....
Young production team rocks the SAMA’s
Represent had the pleasure of attending what must surely have been the hottest SAMA awards yet – truly taking things to a new level – how exciting. We loved Danny K and Mandoza’s sexy performance, Zamajobe and Themba Mkhize were phenomenal and of course the Ghetto Ruff Zola, PBA, Bravo, Spykos etc number was ‘Electric”!!!! Don’t know what it was that made the difference this y…ear, but our money is on the fact the production team behind the awards were young, funky, diverse and visionary – Sean Watson, Leslie Sedibe and Lesego Majatladi drove the SAMA committee, John Barker was Creative Director, Dzino from RAGE directed the performers, Sarah-Jane Boden wrote the script and Carol Jenkins, Ziyanda Dukuza, Michelle Caldeira, Portia Buthelezi, Bradley Kirshenbaum and Delmarie Seaward Represented from production company BLUE MOON. It makes sense to leave it in the hands of young enthusiatic people – we know what we like…and we know what music lovers appreciate. The superbowl filled up quickly with guests pouring in looking very bling as the event rolled out – hosts Tumisho Masha and Pabi Moloi were not only awesome and world class is their delivery – they were relaxed, down to earth and very REAL. I particularly loved Tumisho’s quick wit and sense of humour throughout the show – my favourite moment had to be when Zola received his award with an MTN seat cover stuck to his jersey (they were on the backs of the chairs – must have got stuck) – as Zola walked off the stage much to the audience’s amusement who had all been cringing for our man ZOLA – Tumisho quipped something like ‘Don’t forget MTN is always behind you’ breaking the ice and the tension – well done TUMISHO! You surpassed all expectations. There were, as always a few dodgy wins like Themba Mkhize as Best Male (who else could it have been? Kabelo?) and Mr Selwyn for Best Rap – Nianell got Best Adult Contemporary Engligh – think the fans were hoping for Freshly Ground – and another weird one was Sugardrive‘s dominance on the Rock scene when they’ve been out of the picture for so long. That’s the way it goes though…All we can do is wait for next year – I CANNOT WAIT The afterparty rocked until the early hours of the morning – with all the stars getting down and showing their stuff. It was a truly glittering event. Oh ja – on the young tip – we must send props to all those amazing young people in the public area on the night that screamed and clapped and sang their hearts...
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