Beauty queen, singer, dancer, chantress, actress. Feloshade Ife John (Ayana for short) has a lot on her proverbial plate. Back in ’96 and ’97, she won gold and silver medals for NIFCA, and in 2005, her looks and charismatic personality earned her the Bikini Barbados title. That same year, she was a finalist in Digicel’s Rising Stars competition, and also wrote and performed Everyone Falls on Lethal Studio’s Lal Mirchi album.

In Everyone Falls, Ayana displays both singing and chanting abilities – an unusually refreshing combo for Bajan female artistes. As the lone female in Hit Island’s 16-shot competition, the same signing/chanting combo was displayed on her track You Must Be Crazy. Ayana has also been featured on Skinny Fabulous’ (St. Vincent) Charismatic and on Teff’s Gimme That Chance. Now Ayana’s jumping to the big screen, and hoping to jumpstart an acting career. In Flight of the Mongoose, an independent film shot in Barbados and debuted at this year’s Bridgetown Film Festival, she plays the role of the mistress of a Canadian ambassador. The 20-year old says she is taking all of her talents seriously, and hopes to build a solid career on at least one of her talents.

(Photo: Andre J. Alleyne)