{{Short description|Cameroonian-French-American radio host (born 1940?)}} {{Use dmy dates|date=February 2021}} '''M’vam Georges Collinet'''<ref name="Detroit interview" /> (born 1940?<ref name="NEH Scheuerman" />), also known in his early career by the nickname '''Maxi Voom Voom''',<ref name="Afropop bio">[http://www.afropop.org/radio/host.php Meet the Host: Georges Collinet] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090406001924/http://www.afropop.org/radio/host.php |date=6 April 2009 }} at afropop.org</ref> is a Cameroonian-French-American broadcaster. He is known for hosting radio shows, such as the internationally distributed radio program ''Afropop Worldwide''; and for hosting and creating documentary television shows and films. From 1965 until the late 1990s, Collinet hosted a hugely popular morning show broadcast by Voice of America which had over 120 million daily listeners. He is widely considered the best-known and most famous broadcaster on the African continent.

Most, if not all, of his work focuses on Africa. He has broadcast in French and English.<ref name="Afropop bio" />

==Early life== Collinet was born in Cameroon<ref name="Afropop bio" /> to a Cameroonian mother (whose lineage was Bulu) and a French father.<ref name="Detroit interview">[http://www.afropop.org/multi/interview/ID/101/Georges+Collinet,+2006 Interview] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120314083842/http://www.afropop.org/multi/interview/ID/101/Georges+Collinet,+2006 |date=14 March 2012 }} with D. Misha Turner, Detroit, Michigan, 2006.</ref> While still a youth, he moved to France, where he received his education<ref name="PRI bio">[https://theworld.org/contributors/georges-collinet George Collinet biography], pri.org</ref> and lived in Neris-les-Bains with his paternal grandmother.<ref name="Detroit interview" />

==Career== His broadcasting career began in the early 1960s<ref name="RockPS 150">[http://www.rockpaperscissors.biz/index.cfm/fuseaction/current.bio/project_id/150.cfm "Bio: Hip Deep Producers and Staff"]{{Dead link|date=September 2025 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}, ''RockPaperScissors.biz'', 2002.</ref> at Voice of America.<ref name="Hindu 2005">[https://web.archive.org/web/20121108110552/http://www.hindu.com/mp/2005/07/30/stories/2005073002750400.htm "Message on the radio"], ''The Hindu'', 30 July 2005.</ref> From 1965 to the late 1990s, he hosted a morning radio show on VoA which boasted an audience of over 120 million people.<ref name="NEH Scheuerman">Scheuerman, Dan. [https://www.neh.gov/humanities/2008/marchapril/feature/maxi-voom-voom-afropop "From Maxi Voom Voom to ''Afropop''"] , ''Humanities'', Vol. 29, No. 2, March/April 2008.</ref> This show made him famous in many African countries and was notable for his encyclopedic knowledge about African pop and his enormous enthusiasm for the music and musicians. His exuberant personality broadcast well and made him a household name to many, at all levels of society.{{Citation needed|date=February 2011}}

Although he moved to the United States in 1959, and still resides there,<ref name="PRI bio" /> during the 1970s and 1980s he worked in Paris with African musicians to develop their music and sustain their musical heritage.<ref name="PRI bio" />

In 1988 he began hosting the radio program ''Afropop Worldwide'',<ref name="Afropop bio" /> which he continues to do while also working on television programs and films.<ref name="PRI bio" />

Collinet has been instrumental in creating the Maracas D'Or (the African version of the Grammy Awards) as well as "the first journal in Paris devoted to contemporary African music".<ref name="PRI bio" />

Collinet has directed as well as developed television productions as well as films.<ref name="Afropop bio" /> George Collinet Productions (a.k.a. G C Productions) is based in Washington, D.C.<ref>[http://www.kftv.com/company-a8569836.html Company profile] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110713145900/http://www.kftv.com/company-a8569836.html |date=13 July 2011 }} at kftv.com</ref>

In 2007 he started the popular{{Citation needed|date=February 2011}} weekly podcast at the World Bank in Washington, D.C., called ''On the Move''.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.worldbank.org/podcast |title=News & Broadcast - World Bank Podcasts |access-date=17 September 2010 |archive-date=18 November 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081118224109/http://www.worldbank.org/podcast |url-status=dead }}</ref>

==Personal life== Georges Collinet resides in northwest Washington, D.C., with his wife, Louise (Cooki) and son Georges-Alexandre.<ref name="NEH Scheuerman" />

==Notes== {{reflist}}

==External links== *[http://www.afropop.org/ Afropop Worldwide]

{{DEFAULTSORT:Collinet, Georges}} Category:African-American radio personalities Category:American broadcasters Category:American public radio personalities Category:Living people Category:Year of birth uncertain Category:21st-century African-American people Category:20th-century births Category:Year of birth missing (living people) Category:Cameroonian emigrants to France