has been criticised by some youth and opposition politicians.

And some people also attacked his off-the-cuff remarks about rap music which he criticised for selling sex and violence to youth.

"As far as I go, if you could afford to pay $195 to listen to Les Brown then you don't need to hear his message,'' said construction worker Mr. Edward Hashim. "The people who really need to hear and benefit from a man of his ability can never pay that kind of money or would be willing to go to Hamilton Princess either.

"Why could't he go to Warwick Workman's, Somerset Cricket Club or the Rec.

That's where he needed to go. That dinner at the Princess was just for the rich and the already powerful.'' Mr. Hashim said Mr. Brown was also wrong to criticise rap music.

"I think it is hypocritical of Les Brown, who is as far as I can see is more concerned with profits than people, to criticise rap music,'' he said. "Sure some of it is exploitative. But it's a business. Black Entertainment Television (BET) always carry a lot of rap because it sells. BET is now one of the biggest businesses because of it.'' Opposition Leader Mr. Frederick Wade said although the event was put on by private individuals who could charge whatever they liked, he would have liked to have seen his (Brown's) message made available to a wider audience.

"The price was a bit prohibitive,'' Mr. Wade said. "Mr. Brown's positive and powerful message would have been better if it could have reached our youth especially our young black males.'' But his Progressive Labour Party colleague, Sen. Ira Philip, disagreed. "I praise Mind Body and Soul Productions for successfully trapping a following who could afford the money for the Les Brown banquet.'' he said. "If there were five teens there, they (the promoters) should consider that a bonus.

"I don't have anything against rap either. It excites me. There are rappers of many persuations. Just last month at my church I listened to a rapper use rap very effectively to get across a message from the Gospels.'' Mr. William Spriggs, one of the organisers of the banquet, said it cost more than $60,000 to bring Mr. Brown to Bermuda.

"We tried to organise something with Youth Minister the Hon. Pamela Gordon but we were unable to put something together in time. We wanted something geared towards the youth,'' he said. See story above.

"Les Brown did not know who we were. It's easy to say that Les should have been speaking to youth in the places where they hang out, like the Rec, but who will pay for that? Mr. Brown charges $20,000 for an hour. Where is that money going to come from?'' Fellow organiser Mr. James Spriggs added: "Night courses at the (Bermuda) College cost upward of $250 and people will pay that with no complaint, yet they will complain about investing $195 in themselves.'' "We plan to hold other events with bigger productions supplemented by smaller ones,''said Mr. William Spriggs. "We had something in February during Black History Month for the youth. We showed all five parts of the video series "Beyond The Dream'' at Berkeley Institute five times a weekend for five weeks. We charged $7. The conscious ones came out but they were few. There were hardly any youth under 26 there. We were very disappointed.'' He also criticised a Royal Gazette story which highlighted Mr. Brown's statements on rap music.

"That story gives people the misleading impression that Mr Brown was talking about rap,'' he said. "That is untrue. He said a lot of good things. People were coming to me afterward telling me how loved and inspired they felt. They said they felt at home.''