It Tastes Like Feet... HA!

 

Greetings : ) 

Just a short one! Wanted to give props to all the performers and Robin Law for organising this wonderful event. With the win by Manchester United against AC Milan  (3-2) still fresh in our minds it was the perfect ending to a Tuesday night. After missing the first half, I caught up with my homeboy Fisher (idontliketea2.blogspot.com) and some friends from uni and enjoyed an interesting mix of poetry, rap, singing and spoken word. The first artist was deluded to say the least and with an audience full of ethnic minorites he decided to bring up the infamous topic of weave vs. natural hair. But the word diplomatic did not seem to describe him and after a short performance of  "broke ass ni**as throw your money up" and "ladies go down" it was time to say A-BUB-BYE to him. The rest of the night was beautiful with many performances including a sweet brummy 21 yr old lady who had to run and catch her train straight after her performance. Her voice was light and sweet ( like Angel Delight haha!) and her flow was easy to listen to. There were other short performances by a very charismatic man from New York I believe who reminded me of Dave Chappelle somehow and a great musical combination by PiP who used their voices to produce odd but complimenting sounds to their poetry piece. The night, however, was dedicated to Kim, who seemed an entrepreneur of sorts and performed a calm and thought provoking piece which set the mood for the night.

Special shout out to Fisher for sharing the night with me and the absolutely hilarious discussions on Friends. So great to find someone who shares my passion on this subject...."Tastes like feet" was definitely the theme of the night (or at least the bus ride home) . If you know Friends, then you'll know exactly what I'm talking about! HA!Heres to more Spoken Word events...

P.S I hope everyone enjoyed their pancakes. I didn't get to have mine so am about to chowdown now.

: )

Brewin' about the BBC...

...Sighh...
Imma make this short.
Tonight was the live semi final on Got To Dance on Sky 1 featuring the judges Ashley (Diversity), Kymberly (Pussycat Dolls) and Adam Garcia (Coyote Ugly, Saturday Night Fever etc.)

Now based on the semi final performances alone I can only send my condolences to Unity Youth for bringing it to the best level they could but yet being shot down. Fair enough...but who did they lose to, so to speak?

A young boy, who compared to both other groups was neither technically advance or performed on a higher level.

AND

A group of young classically trained dancers who had some amazing skills, especially the tiny toddlers but in terms of artistic direction, choreography and performance were mediocre to say the least.

Now I bet you're wondering what this has to do with the BBC?

Well the group I am in, PLAGUE competed in a competition run by BBC3 called Move Like Michael Jackson. To cut a long story short after what seemed like some dodgy circumstances the 3 remaining finalists found out that the 4th group Anamaniax were being paid to participate in the final? WTF!?

Now the way we found out is even more disrespectful.

* Jazmine calls the production office to ask why there have been rumours circulating around the fact that Anamaniax are being paid in someway whereby the other 3 groups ARE NOT.
*Woman responds with "I don't know"....
*Jazmine responds with " Well until you find out or give me the telephone number to do so all remaining groups are pulling out." Jazmine hangs up.
*TWO MINUTES LATER. The BBC Head of Finance phones back claiming she has met up with Anamaniax to tell them they would be paid £200 EACH to perform at the MJ final...BUT WAIT FOR IT.....that we ALL should have been told the same.
* Jazmine hesitates before she asks how such a huge mistake could of been made with tens of production workers liasing with all the groups everyday, ALL day and yet Anamaniax were the only group to have ever SEEN this woman.
*THIS IS THE BEST BIT.
*The BBC Head of Finance responds with "Hold on, I don't understand. You guys should be HAPPY you're being paid."


And THIS, my friends, is the reason why I do not trust televised competitions.

So congratulations to all who took part. Take the best you can out of it, stay positive and most importantly stay true to yourselves.

Jazmine x

P.S

Anamaniax won the competition : )


* DISCLAIMER*
These words are based on my opinions and my opinions only and are not intended to malign any religion, ethnic group, club, organization, company, or individual. This is based on my experience with BBC3 and the television program "Move Like Michael Jackson" I participated in during December 2009 and this isolated event only.

2010

So what is life about for Jazmine? Well it's hectic to say the least. I am months away from exams, final coursework deadlines and of course graduating from university, not to mention my 10,000 word dissertation. After a four year battle (with the first year being in Law) it has definitely been a journey. I have also been accepted onto the SAS course (Institute of Education) to teach Music at secondary school level which I am quite excited about. My piano lessons continue (after a 10 year gap almost!) this coming Monday and I am thinking about what steps to take after my third and final year at university. I am booking my TEFL course to teach abroad as it is most likely that I will be continuing my studies from next September as I plan to live in Trinidad for at least a month over the carnival period in February 2011. Other options include conversion courses to History or Psychology, followed by an MA in either History of Theology or Social Anthropology.

As for dance, things are looking up for my group PLAGUE. After our epic defeat on BBC3's Move like Michael Jackson we have been lucky to be sponsored by Adidas and we have a few big things in the pipelines..Fingers crossed.

Things are getting busy and difficult. Just gotta focus on being happy and whats important in life which for me is learning, travelling, friends and family. Without which I just wouldn't be me.

J