Category: ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½
THREE; Factual
& Arts TV
Date: 03.09.2004
Printable version
Londoner Kat Francois fought off stiff competition
last night to be crowned the ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½ THREE Slam Poet 2004 in front of a
live audience of 600 people in Central London.
Eight of the UK's top performance poets competed against each other
in a thrilling showdown but Kat was voted the best by both the live
audience and a prestigious panel of judges comprising poet John Cooper
Clarke, face of TV and radio Margherita Taylor and Ruth Borthwick, Head
of Literature and Talks at London's South Bank Centre.
The three judges were overwhelmed by the standard of all eight poets.
With subjects ranging from mobile phones, the tube, love, race and
Richard Madeley, the performers played to a captivated audience.
The exciting, underground art form of slam, merging hip-hop, poetry
and stand-up is growing in popularity across the UK.
Hosted by top MC, actor and poet Lemn Sissay, Slam
Poets marks the first time that a slam showdown will be broadcast on
such a scale on national TV.
Slam Poets goes out on ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½ THREE on National Poetry Day, 7 October
2004.
Kat Francois quit her job just two days before the ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½ THREE slam event
so that she could concentrate on poetry and writing - and her decision
already seems to be paying off.
As a performance poet she has been on the circuit for over two years
and regularly runs poetry nights in various London venues including
Covent Garden's Poetry Cafe.
She is a dynamic and intense performer who has a very musical style.
She describes her performances as energetic and diverse and her work
is both political and sexual.
On winning she said: "I am astounded and delighted to have won - and
now very exhausted! I was determined to go all the way just like Kelly
Holmes!"
Poetry 'slams' evolved from the jazz and hip-hop scene in New York
in the late Eighties where the stand-up skills of comedy merged with
the lyrical dexterity of rap.
Arriving in the UK in the early Nineties to instant success, the slam
scene on both sides of the Atlantic has challenged perceptions of poetry
and revitalised the trade of the wordsmith.
The most famous group to come out of this scene were the Nuyorican
Poets.
Other poets that competed at the event at the Mean Fiddler on London's
Charing Cross Road were Dike Omeje; Trish Casey; Luke Wright; Phenzwaan;
Chloe Poems; Jude Simpson and Deadlock Alien.
Slam Poets is produced by Baby Cow and airs on ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½ THREE on 7 October,
National Poetry Day.
