Akon Lights Up Drogba’s Ball
Côte d’Ivoire and Chelsea striker Didier Drogba threw a star-studded charity bash at The Dorchester Hotel on Saturday evening and Footy Factor was there to capture all the action. With proceeds from the black-tie event going towards the Didier Drogba Foundation and it’s goal to build a hospital for children in Abidjan, Drogba’s place of birth, famous friends descended on Park Lane eager to flash some cash. Supporting their teammate on the big night was John Terry, Ashley Cole, Joe Cole, Juliano Belletti, Paulo Ferreira, Ricardo Carvalho, Florent Malouda, Nicolas Anelka, Michael Essien and Salomon Kalou. Ex-Chelsea striker Carlton Cole and midfielder Claude Makelele popped in and so did Arsenal’s Emmanuel Eboue. But the biggest surprise of the night was the appearance of highly controversial Senegalese-American R&B artist Akon.
Check out this magical clip we filmed of Drogba, Akon (wearing trainers), Eboue (sporting a bow tie) and Kalou (entering late) dancing to the smooth sounds of Ivory Coast’s Magic System all in the name of charity.
Tags: Akon, akon-and-drogba, Ashley Cole, Chelsea, Didier Drogba, didier-drogba-say-no-to-racism, Dorchester Hotel, drogba-dancing, emmanuelebouecharity, Florent Malouda, Football Wiki, inurlpageleave-a-reply-factor, Ivory Coast, John Terry, Magic System, Nicolas Anelka, Players, Ricardo Carvalho, Salomon Kalou, Teams
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Comments (18)
PJay
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Those cats are too cool for school. I thought Drogba was injured?
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Drogba throws a party for charity | The Final Third
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[...] Well done Footy Factor [...]
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kakutaboy
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love the video! i want to be on the dance floor!
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101 Great Goals - latest football videos and international soccer goals from the Premier League, Champions League,La liga, Serie A, World Cup, UEFA Cup and more » Blog Archive » Top 11 Goals of the Week
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[...] Emmanuel Eboue turned up in another comical video over the weekend sent to us by the people at footyfactor.com. After tonking Wolves on Saturday, Chelsea striker Didier Drogba hosted a charity event at [...]
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Top 11 Goals of the Week | No Banjo - Sports
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[...] Emmanuel Eboue turned up in another comical video over the weekend sent to us by the people at footyfactor.com. After tonking Wolves on Saturday, Chelsea striker Didier Drogba hosted a charity event at [...]
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Rachel Eva
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WHY DO YOU HAVE TO IDENTIFY THE FOOTBALLERS BY THEIR ATTIRE????? There’s some covert discrimination going on here, clearly anyone who reads this blog knows enough about football to distinguish Drogba from Akon, or Drogba from Eboue. You would not do that if white footballers of comparable stature were dancing. Say, John Terry, Roy Keane, and Gareth Barry. disgraceful.
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Bayonet Balls
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Sorry, Rachel, I don’t see where you’re coming from. I don’t find anything racist about the fact that two people in the video were identified by the items of clothing they’re wearing. It seems completely reasonable, actually.
I do know who Drogba is, but I didn’t know who Akon was and I couldn’t pick Eboue out of a crowd.
Racism is a pretty heavy accusation to level at someone. Next time be a little more thoughtful before you write.
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Justin the Fish
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HOW IS THAT RACIST??!?
I understand your trying to insinuate that the writer thinks all black people look the same, since he identifies the people in the video using their clothing and not their facial features.
But have you actually watched the video??? You can barely make out their faces because of the quality. The only thing I can pick out was Drogba’s ponytail. Identifying the others through their clothing and where they’re standing is the only option.
(Nice try, though.)
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Dirty Tackle » Blog Archive » Links!
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[...] Dancin’ Drogba (minus the siezure legs move), along with Akon, Emmanuel Eboue in a bow tie and oddly shiny suit (did he fall in nuclear waste?), and a late cameo from Salomon Kalou. [Footy Factor] [...]
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Top 11 Goals of the Week | Soccer-Studio.com
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[...] Emmanuel Eboue turned up in another comical video over the weekend sent to us by the people at footyfactor.com. After tonking Wolves on Saturday, Chelsea striker Didier Drogba hosted a charity event at [...]
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kakutaboy
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wow rachel. as a person of color, i didn’t find anything racist or discriminating about this article. it just made me want to put on my dancing shoes (whether they are trainers or a pair of high heels) and get on the dance floor with those boys!
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Off The Post off the post Video: Akon goes dancing with Didier Drogba, Emmanuel Eboue and Salomon Kalou
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[...] Spotted on Footy Factor [...]
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African perspective
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May I draw attention to the fact that Rachel did not mention the word racism in her post. She made a reasonable observation that also crossed my mind. But then again, it just lets me know that this is written for a target white audience because most black people I know would have no trouble identifying the men in this vid.
If a video starring famous white men (of similar clarity) was up here, I find it very hard to believe the author would have felt it necessary to identify them by the clothes they were wearing. And if they did, people would be wondering why they did such a silly thing. To me, it’s like saying John Terry is the one in the blue hot pants and Brad Freidl is the one in the red hot pants! It’s not necessary, uless you find it difficult distinguishing between African faces (famous or otherwise).
And yes, i do realise that there are other men in the vid that people may not know. Even though i know who Magic System are and what the memebers look like, I could still tell that the guys with the pot-bellies (apologies to Magic System) were not Eboue or Akon!
The argument about the video clarity does not stand with me. I am not wearing my specs and I could still identify all in the video without looking at their clothes. It was harder for me to notice Akon’s trainers than it was to distinguish the different faces. To be honest, even if all the men had been standing with their backs to the camera, I would have been able to correctly identify them.
I don’t think it’s racist, I just think it was a bit silly and patronising to think that people couldn’t recognise who they were from just watching the clear video. Maybe if this was being written for a group of people who knew nothing about football personalities or multi-million selling popular American artists, then maybe the clothing references would have been warranted. However it wasn’t a shock or unexpected.
It’s subtle things like this that go over most people’s heads or offend/ upset people when mentioned. It’s ok to admit you find it harder to recognise African faces. No one is labelling this as a racist trait! lol
It’s just good to see things from another perspective before telling someone to be a bit more thoughtful when they have been very perceptive and noticed something that you may find unremarkable.
No personal attack or anger is meant with this post. I’m just trying to express my sentiments from an African (black) perspective. if you are not African, I can wholeheartedly understand why you may see nothing wrong with this.
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KTY
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an amazing video!!!
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N S
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Many thanks for bringing the video.
I enjoyed the foot tapping music. You were highlighting a chrity event for a worthy cause. More power to Footy Factor.
NS
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hunterjinx
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Interesting: ‘African perspective’ finds it’s better to identify people by their physical features (no matter if it risks being offensive) rather than by what they’re wearing (how an individual chooses to distinguish themselves and their personality)? Strange, indeed. In the interest of responsibility, please realize that by grasping at straws with your hypocritical rhetoric, you are MOST DEFINITELY part of the problem, and not the solution.
On a more-relative-to-the-subject note:
Great footage of the guys cutting loose and having fun for charity…and looking quite dapper! Would have LOVED to be there.
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akon
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akon is sexy anh his songs rock
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Didier Drogba Carries Africa on his Shoulders | Footy Factor
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[...] £3 million to fund a hospital in his home country. (Check out exclusive video from the benefit here.) Drogba has also long believed that his sport can play some kind of role in resolving his [...]
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