India (i/ˈɪndiə/), officially the Republic of India (Bhārat Gaṇarājya), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the south, the Arabian Sea on the south-west, and the Bay of Bengal on the south-east, it shares land borders with Pakistan to the west;China, Nepal, and Bhutan to the north-east; and Burma and Bangladesh to the east. In the Indian Ocean, India is in the vicinity of Sri Lanka and the Maldives; in addition, India's Andaman and Nicobar Islands share a maritime border with Thailand and Indonesia.
Home to the ancient Indus Valley Civilisation and a region of historic trade routes and vast empires, the Indian subcontinent was identified with its commercial and cultural wealth for much of its long history. Four of the world's major religions—Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism, and Sikhism—originated here, whereas Zoroastrianism, Christianity, and Islam arrived in the 1st millennium CE and also helped shape the region's diverse culture. Gradually annexed by and brought under the administration of the British East India Company from the early 18th century and administered directly by the United Kingdom from the mid-19th century, India became an independent nation in 1947 after a struggle for independence that was marked by non-violent resistance led by Mahatma Gandhi.
Bombay Bicycle Club are an English indie rock band from Crouch End, London. The band is composed of Jack Steadman (lead vocals, guitar), Jamie MacColl (guitar), Ed Nash (bass) and Suren de Saram (drums).
The band were asked to play the opening performance of 2006's V Festival after winning Channel 4's "Road to V" competition. Following the release of two EPs and their debut single "Evening/Morning", the band recorded their debut album, I Had the Blues But I Shook Them Loose. The album was released on 6 July 2009.
Steadman, MacColl, de Saram met at age 15 began playing under the name The Canals after performing together in a school assembly. They switched between various aliases until they picked Bombay Bicycle Club, named after a chain of Indian restaurants in Britain. The line-up changed regularly until summer 2006, when Ed Nash joined the band after they met him at a funeral. Initially they played gigs at small London venues such as The Old Blue Last, Lark in the Park and Jacksons Lane (as well as winning Exeter's Got Talent 2009).
Trevor Noah (born 20 February 1984) is an award winningSouth African comedian. He has also been a radio DJ, actor and TV host.
Trevor Noah had a small role on the South African soap opera, Isidingo in 2002, when he was 18. He then began hosting his own radio show Noah’s Ark on Gauteng’s leading youth radio station, Yfm. Noah then went on to host an educational program on SABC2 followed by hosting The Real Goboza, a gossip show on SABC1.
Noah dropped his radio show and acting to focus on comedy, and has performed with South African comedians such as Riaad Moosa, Darren Simpson, Marc Lottering, Barry Hilton and Nik Rabinowitz, international comedians such as Paul Rodriguez, Carl Barron and Paul Zerdin, and as the opening act for Gabriel Iglesias in November 2007 and Canadian comedian Russell Peters on his South African tour.
Noah has performed all around South Africa in The Blacks Only Comedy Show, Heavyweight Comedy Jam, the Vodacom Campus Comedy Tour, the Cape Town International Comedy Festival, the Jozi Comedy Festival, and Bafunny Bafunny. His stand up comedy specials include The Daywalker, and Crazy Normal both of which have been released on DVD.
Alex Boyé is a British-born Latter-day Saint singer and actor of Nigerian descent.
Boyé was born in London, England. He joined The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church) at age 16. He served as a missionary in the England Bristol Mission. He was then the lead singer in the boy band Awesome, which sold over 500,000 CDs while on contract with Universal Records Europe. In 1999 Boyé left the band to begin a solo career, releasing his first solo album in 2000 which made it to number 12 on the European charts.[clarification needed][citation needed] In 2000 Boyé moved to Utah. He has since been involved in many musical and theatrical productions.
Boyé has been an actor for the Hale Centre Theatre in multiple productions and has played the role of Frederick Douglass in Frank Wildhorn's Civil War both at Hale Center and at Rogers Memorial Theatre in Centerville, Utah. He played the role of Aminadab in Lightstone Films' production of David and Goliath. He is a member of the Mormon Tabernacle Choir, in addition to pursuing a solo career. In August of 2010 he participated as a featured soloist in a concert connected with the rededication of the Catholic church in St. George, Utah. In 2005 Boyé received an award from the LDS Booksellers Association for his album "Testimony". He had two solo parts in the Mormon Tabernacle Choir's "Come Thou Fount" album.
India.Arie (born India Arie Simpson; October 3, 1975) is a Grammy Award-winning American singer-songwriter and record producer . She has sold over 3.3 million records in the U.S. and 10 million worldwide. She has won four Grammy Awards from her 15 nominations, including Best R&B Album.
Simpson was born in Denver, Colorado. Her musical skills were encouraged by both parents early in life. Her mother Joyce is a former singer (she was signed to Motown as a teenager and opened for Stevie Wonder and Al Green) and is now her stylist. She has an older brother named J'On. After her parents divorced, Simpson's mother moved the family to Atlanta, Georgia when she was thirteen. Simpson had taken up a succession of musical instruments throughout her schooling in Denver, but her interest in the guitar while attending the Savannah College of Art and Design, in Savannah, led to a personal revelation about songwriting and performing. "When I started tapping into my own sensitivity, I started to understand people better. It was a direct result of writing songs", she said at the press release of her debut album, Acoustic Soul.