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Did local St. Lucia station refuse to play Nicole video?

Posted by CaribShout on July 14, 2010 at 4:37pm

is Nicole David’s new video too ourageous for HTS? On Wednesday July 7, the Carnival Bands Association announced its decision to use its discretion regarding the playing of songs with indecent lyrics during the Carnival Monday and Tuesday’s Parade of the Bands. The CBA has made it clear that the Parade of the Bands is a family affair and discretion is needed. However, the CBA went on to make it clear that band fetes are another story and its stance does not apply to these events. It has been noted by some that the artistry in much of this year’s songs is nonexistent and shows a blatant obsession with sex. Some radio stations have taken a stand and banned “vulgar” songs. There are those on the other side of the fence who believe censorship of any kind is a form of social control based on the fluctuating morality of John Public. Soca diva Nicole David seems to be the latest topic when it comes to censorship when it comes to her latest video. According to the ‘Queen of the Jungle’, she received a call from a representative of Helen Television System saying that “people have been asking about the video and have been requesting it. They said they wanted to speak to me about editing it because the poles are inappropriate for television. I refused to edit it and told them it is their choice whether they would play my video or not.” The song ‘Outrageous Whine’ is sung by Nicole David, produced by Courtney Louis and the music video is directed by Davina Lee. The video has a party theme and portrays females in Carnival costumes dancing. Some scenes do involve a dance pole while some show a night time beach party with girls in swim suits. Speaking to the STAR, David went on to say “It’s hypocrisy. HTS plays all these soap operas on an afternoon and all sorts of “immoral” activities are shown; who’s sleeping with whose husband and all that. There’s no nudity in my video. There is nothing indecent in it. I have never had a problem with HTS. In fact, I remember for my song ‘Dreaming,’ I have a video where parts of it are shot with me in bed with a guy. They played it. For ‘Outrageous Whine’ they have issues with a pole. It’s a dance pole. Why do you have to attach something negative to it?” HTS has spoken on the issue saying there has been a misunderstanding. HTS News Editor, Carmy Joseph, spoke to the STAR this week stating, “There is no issue with Nicole David and the video. We have always had an amicable relationship with Nicole. We respect her as an artiste. As a matter of fact, we have had a good relationship with most, if not all the people in the music and arts industry in St Lucia. Nicole has been on Straight Up on Radio 100.” Addressing the video itself, Joseph said: “We spoke to Nicole and told her there are some questionable scenes in the video which is against our company’s policy. Not to get too specific but there are scenes which promote the sale of alcohol which we did ask to be edited because our company policy does not promote it. HTS is surprised that this has become a news story. We called Nicole saying we did receive the video and we explained the situation and we tried to find a middle ground. We never said we would ban the video. The video is not banned. We simply asked for some scenes to be edited out.” Video director Davina Lee has added her take on the matter. “In my opinion it was them putting their personal moral beliefs on what the standards should be for the station. There is nothing in the video that is immoral; there are more immoral things being played on HTS right now. It doesn’t really matter if HTS is not playing the video. It is being played regionally on RE TV and TEMPO and people can also watch it on www.youtube.com/davinafilms.
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Tags: caribbean, carnival, festival, lucia, music, people, st

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