But soon before he left South Africa, Ibrahim and his band went into the studio in Cape Town.

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From inside a lively recording studio elsewhere in town I find more local artists who cite Doudou as their inspiration.

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As optimism swept over the town in recent weeks, studio executives and producers frantically prepared themselves for this day, hoping to salvage the remainder of the current television season and getting to work on fare for the next.

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New York (CNN) -- A 29-year-old Zumba instructor was sentenced to 10 months in jail Friday for engaging in prostitution out of her fitness studio in the picturesque town of Kennebunk, Maine.

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Even the car park of a Hollywood studio is grander than Cape Town's dilapidated jumble of studios and warehouses.

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"It's a clever way to save money, " Anneli Sjogren, head of photography at IKEA, said during a recent interview at the company's sprawling photo studio in this sleepy southern town.

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They married in 1935, dividing their time among a Paris town house, a 14-room apartment on Sutton Place and an artists' studio (later home) in the Berkshires--the first International-style structure built in New England.

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But while the country's stunning beaches, jagged mountains and lush vineyards have long served as a backdrop for films, as well as TV adverts, Cape Town Film Studios is now aiming to make South Africa a major destination for both location filming and top-quality studio productions.

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