A week of celebrations to mark the 70th anniversary of the BBC World Service has kicked off with a live broadcast from five concerts in cities around the world.

The BBC World Service Global Party took in shows beamed from Dakar, Mumbai, Kabul, Mexico City and London, featuring stars including Youssou N'Dour, Baaba Maal and Ms Dynamite.

"It's one of the most creatively and technically challenging events ever undertaken by the BBC World Service," said 70th anniversary project editor David Stead.

Youssou N'Dour gets the party started

The show was hosted by DJs John Peel and Emma B in London.

"It will show the World Service at its best and will set the tone for the rest of the week," Mr Stead said before the concert.

Opening the party at Bush House in London, the home of BBC World Service, was Senegalese sensation Youssou N'Dour.

Globally famous for his 1994 duet with Neneh Cherry, Seven Seconds, he performed in a huge marquee in front of an audience of 500 invited guests and selected World Service staff.

The party then moved around the world. In the Senegalese capital Dakar, Baaba Maal mixed his acoustic sound with international dance music.

Political sounds

Thousands of miles east, in Mumbai, Indian composer Trilok Gurtu performed alongside classical pianist turned jazz and pop star Adnan Sami.

In Mexico City, 10-strong band of former students and activists Los de Abajo (Those from Below), performed what they term as "tropipunk".

They represented modern Mexico, playing a combination of Latin rhythms, reggae, funk and hip-hop.

"The only hitch - and it was a big one - was when the satellite lines from Mexico failed," said executive producer Dave Tate. "We played the tunes on a standby system until we were able to get Mexico back up again."

Ms Dynamite won this year's Mercury Music Prize

Meanwhile in Kabul, where a little over a year ago music simply wasn't heard, artists previously silenced by the Taliban performed live to the world.

Performers including Sulam Logari, Gul Zaman, Ghulam Hussain, Safadar Tawakuli, Mashinai and Taj Mohammad sang in local languages Uzbek, Pashto and Dari.

Mr Tate described the Kabul performance as "one of the most moving" of the whole event.

"They were magic. Maybe that was because there was something special about something like this being done in Kabul."

The finale took place back in London, where British singing star Ms Dynamite performed tracks from her album, A Little Deeper.

Having recently emerged from the vibrant UK garage scene, the singer - real name Niomi McLean-Daley - describes her sound as "trying to bring positivity to people... while encouraging people to think".