ANTIGUA AND BARBUDA FOR LIFE - TIZZY Friday 16th September 2011
Mention of the name Tizzy generally evokes certain thoughts. First and foremost, El-A-Kru(translation Little Antigua Crew) of which she’s lead singer and star. Many also think of soca – the music she predominantly sings, eye-catching fashions she’s always sporting and high energy dancing for which she and her crew are known.
And what many also think of when Tizzy’s name is called is her patriotic pride, her love of country. The soca diva, whose real name is Tanzania Sebastian, is almost never on stage without her Antigua & Barbuda flag. It matters not where El A Kru performs, whether in Europe, or the US Tizzy has the country’s colours in hand, waving it boldly.
According to the artiste, her love of country emanates from a strong sense of identity. Her journey through entertainment began as far back as age nine with Antigua Dance Academy, formally Little Dancers School of Dance. It formed part of her foundation as a performer when she joined El A Kru in 1999.
“Well I’m proud and honoured to be Antiguan and Barbudan. I know who I am, and I’m proud of who I am and where I come from,” she said. “Every country has its good and its bad and I love my country because I love myself. Once you love yourself, you love everything about it and being Antiguan and Barbudan is about loving yourself.”
And it’s the artiste’s display of patriotism, along with her level of professionalism which attracted the attention of telecommunications company Digicel, which has made her the face and voice of its Antigua & Barbuda for Life campaign. The promotion, officially launched July 18 on ABS’ Good Morning Antigua & Barbuda, is described as Digicel’s joyous celebration of everything Antiguans and Barbudans stand for.
To represent this concept, Digicel selected a cross-section of the nation’s personalities admired for their achievements in their respective fields. They include Cricket comic ‘Gravy’, television personality Brucella Marsh, renowned DJ Chickie, among others.
“They’re all Antiguan-born with Antiguan talent, Antiguan influence and people look up to them,” marketing manager for Digicel in Antigua & Barbuda Troy Byrne said.
“They’re pretty much representative of what is a true Antiguan and Barbudan in their own right. Gravy – cricket ambassador; Chickie – cricket again, DJ extraordinaire; Tizzy, of course, soca star.”
Tizzy is just psyched about having yet another opportunity to promote her country. She said she’s thrilled to be part of the initiative.
“Well from all of the hard work that I have been doing for El A Kru, performing about the globe and in Antigua, we’ve been carrying our Antigua flag and our music and our pride and culture boldly all over and from them (Digicel) seeing that, they thought it would have been a great partnership with taking that to the next level,” the El A Kru lead singer said.
“I am absolutely honoured for them to have chosen me for this campaign, myself and … the fantastic people that they have chosen and I am honoured to be among those to represent my culture and my country.” Click here for all News and Specials for
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