KEY POINTS:
Neil Finn has agreed to step in for headline Womad performer Cesaria Evora, who has had a stroke and won't make it to the New Plymouth festival this weekend.
Evora, 66, known as the barefoot diva, suffered a minor stroke in Australia last weekend. She was due to perform at Womadelaide, but is under observation in a Sydney hospital.
Womadelaide event director Ian Scobie said Evora should be able to return to her home in a few days once her condition has stabilised. She is expected to make a full recovery.
Suzanne Porter, chief executive of the Taranaki Arts Festival Trust which brings Womad to New Plymouth, said Finn, famous for his stints with Split Enz and Crowded House, had agreed to stand in.
"He wanted to come and help Womad out, so that was a really good thing," Ms Porter told the Taranaki Daily News.
She said Finn would fill Evora's Sunday night spot on the TSB Bowl stage, while replacing her Saturday performance was still being worked on.
Evora is from Cape Verde Island, an archipelago off the western coast of Africa and she is known for performing barefoot.
She sings morna - a local genre related to Angolan landu, Portuguese fado and Brazilian modinha - a soulful style of music.
Her songs are often about her country's long and bitter history of isolation and the slave trade. She was nominated for a Grammy award in 1999.
- NZPA
