What is red and yellow and green and brown and scarlet and black and ochre and peach and ruby and olive and violet and fawn and lilac and gold and chocolate and mauve and cream and crimson and silver and rose and azure and lemon and russet and grey and purple and white and pink and orange and blue?
Musical theatre fans will say Joseph's Technicolor dreamcoat from the famous musical.
Those who watch local news broadcasts might say CTV Vancouver News anchor Nafeesa Karim's wardrobe.
Over six weeks, Karim, who hosts CTV News Vancouver at Five, wore 29 different outfits to match the lyrics from "Joseph's Coat" from the famed musical Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat.
"They were in order on consecutive days, because you can't do this halfway," she told V.I.A.
The rainbow wardrobe appeared on broadcasts between May 6 and June 19.
Karim revealed the weeks-long project on July 1, 2025, via social media, stitching together clips from the broadcasts to the song (specifically the 1999 version with Donnie Osmond).
The reveal has been a hit, with thousands watching and liking the video and dozens commenting as of publication time.
@nafeesakarimctv I finally did it! ALL the colours from #josephandtheamazingtechnicolordreamcoat ... Thanks to @metrotheatre for the inspiration 🌈 #musicaltheatre #tvnewslife #tvnewsanchor #redandyellowandgreenandbrownandscarletandblackandochreandpeach #silly ♬ original sound - nafeesakarim
A fan of the musical since a child
Karim has been a fan of Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat since she was a kid and she saw a production in the 1990s; after the show her family got the songs on tape.
"We wore out the tape," she said. "This was my entire identity for a while as a child."
To this day she can still recite all 29 colours in the song in order.
"It's just one of those things we listened to in the car over and over again on cassette tape," she added.
Recent production inspires project
In 2023, Karim, who's known for her colourful broadcast outfits, did the first colours from the song, but ended there.
However, the idea returned this spring after she got tickets for Metro Theatre Vancouver's spring production of the Andrew Lloyd Webber musical.
"We got the tickets for the show here in Vancouver and I thought, wouldn't it be funny if I wore the colours all in order," Karim says. "It was just something for me."
While she had many of the colours already, especially anything related to purple, she said she had to go find a couple of pieces, like fawn. Planning was relatively easy; she already keeps a list of what she wears, so she doesn't get repetitive.
"We work in a really serious business; news is serious, and I take my job seriously," she said. "But people are also looking at what we look like in addition to what we're saying."
That's part of the reason she dresses colourfully.
"If it makes people smile and a moment of levity in these serious times, I'm happy with it," Karim said.
She didn't really discuss the lyrical inspiration with anyone, though she did tell weather anchor Ann Luu when they were discussing on-air outfits.
After she'd completed the list, she edited clips from all 29 broadcasts to post on social media, where she usually posts news stories she's worked on.
It's gotten a sizable response on Instagram and a much larger response on TikTok.
"It turns out there are a lot of theatre kids on TikTok," Karim said.
Given the news in general can be quite negative, she's glad the Technicolor wardrobe has brightened people's days.
"It's always refreshing when something gets people's attention, that's a happy thing," she said. "I'm bringing a little colour to the doom and gloom."
