Laisa Vulakoro is a Fiji

Fiji

Fiji , officially the Republic of Fiji , is an island nation in Melanesia in the South Pacific Ocean about northeast of New Zealand's North Island...

an female singer known as the Queen of Vude. She comes from the island

Island

An island or isle is any piece of sub-continental land that is surrounded by water. Very small islands such as emergent land features on atolls can be called islets, cays or keys. An island in a river or lake may be called an eyot , or holm...

 of Yacata in Cakaudrove

Cakaudrove

Cakaudrove is one of fourteen provinces of Fiji, and one of three based principally on the northern island of Vanua Levu, occupying the south-eastern third of the island and including the nearby islands of Taveuni, Rabi, Kioa, and numerous other islands in the Vanua Levu Group...

 Province

Local government of Fiji

Fiji is divided administratively into four divisions, which are further subdivided into fourteen provinces; the self-governing island of Rotuma and its dependencies lie outside any of the four divisions. Each division is headed by a Commissioner, appointed by the Fijian government...

. Her music combines disco

Disco

Disco is a genre of dance music. Disco acts charted high during the mid-1970s, and the genre's popularity peaked during the late 1970s. It had its roots in clubs that catered to African American, gay, psychedelic, and other communities in New York City and Philadelphia during the late 1960s and...

, rock and Fijian folk music

Folk music

Folk music is an English term encompassing both traditional folk music and contemporary folk music. The term originated in the 19th century. Traditional folk music has been defined in several ways: as music transmitted by mouth, as music of the lower classes, and as music with unknown composers....

. Vulakoro has performed since the 1980s and has released sixteen albums. During a period in Australia

Australia

Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...

 in the 1990s, Vulakoro performed with Australian rock singer Jimmy Barnes

Jimmy Barnes

James Dixon Swan , better known as Jimmy Barnes, is a Scottish-born Australian rock singer-songwriter. His father Jim Swan was a prizefighter and his older brother John Swan is also a rock singer. It was actually John who had encouraged and taught Jim how to sing as he wasn't really interested at...

. Now a resident of Suva

Suva

Suva features a tropical rainforest climate under the Koppen climate classification. The city sees a copious amount of precipitation during the course of the year. Suva averages 3,000 mm of precipitation annually with its driest month, July averaging 125 mm of rain per year. In fact,...

, Fiji's capital, Vulakoro is seen regularly at major national events. Her style incorporates a unique blend of Fiji traditional music, R&B, Jazz and rock. She has been described as Fiji's answer to Renée Geyer

Renée Geyer

Renée Rebecca Geyer is an Australian singer who has long been regarded as one of the finest exponents of jazz, soul and R&B idioms. She had commercial success as a solo artist in Australia, with "It's a Man's Man's World", "Heading in the Right Direction" and "Stares and Whispers" in the 1970s and...

.

Political activities

Vulakoro condemned the military coup

2006 Fijian coup d'état

The Fijian coup d'état of December 2006 occurred as a continuation of the pressure which had been building since the military unrest of the 2000 Fijian coup d'état and 2005-2006 Fijian political crisis....

 that deposed the elected government of Laisenia Qarase

Laisenia Qarase

Laisenia Qarase is a Fijian political figure. He served as the sixth Prime Minister of Fiji from 2000 to 2006. After the military quashed the coup that led to the removal of Mahendra Chaudhry, Qarase joined the Interim Military Government as a financial adviser on 9 June 2000, until his appointment...

 on 5 December 2006. After writing an unsympathetic letter to a local newspaper, Vulakoro found her Suva home raided and searched by members of the Republic of Fiji Military Forces

Military of Fiji

The Republic of Fiji Military Forces are the military of the Pacific island nation of Fiji. With a total manpower of 3,500 active soldiers and 6,000 reservists, it is one of the smallest militaries in the world. However, most of its surrounding island nations have no militaries at all...

 on 26 December. http://www.fijivillage.com/artman/publish/article_34677.shtmlhttp://www.fijivillage.com/artman/publish/article_34684.shtml She was subsequently taken to Suva's Queen Elizabeth Barracks

Queen Elizabeth Barracks (Fiji)

Queen Elizabeth Barracks is a Fijian Army base, located in the suburb of Nabua, in Suva. It is the national headquarters of the military.The barracks, commonly known as QEB, was the scene of an unsuccessful army mutiny on 2 November 2000...

 for questioning at 1a.m. on 28 December. Before being released, she was warned to stop speaking out against the Military. http://www.fijivillage.com/artman/publish/article_34709.shtml

Fiji Television

Fiji Television

Fiji Television Limited is Fiji's television network. It was founded on 15 June 1994 as the first permanent television broadcasting network in the country, although television had previously been introduced temporarily in October 1991 to broadcast the Rugby World Cup as well as Cricket World Cup....

 reported on 12 January 2007 that Vulakoro faced possible imprisonment on her return to Fiji, following the unexplained disappearance of international criminal Peter Foster

Peter Foster

Peter Clarence Foster is an Australian who has been convicted and jailed on three continents for offences involving weight loss products and property transactions....

, for whom she had put up F$5,000

Fijian dollar

The dollar has been the currency of Fiji since 1969 and was also the currency between 1867 and 1873. It is normally abbreviated with the dollar sign $, or alternatively FJ$ to distinguish it from other dollar-denominated currencies...

 in bail

Bail

Traditionally, bail is some form of property deposited or pledged to a court to persuade it to release a suspect from jail, on the understanding that the suspect will return for trial or forfeit the bail...

.

Vulakoro is reportedly the niece of war hero Sefania Sukanaivalu, the sole Fijian recipient of the Victoria Cross

Victoria Cross

The Victoria Cross is the highest military decoration awarded for valour "in the face of the enemy" to members of the armed forces of various Commonwealth countries, and previous British Empire territories....

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