The Rugby World Cup in France had not yet fully started when the tournament was already marked by a scandal that united fans from almost all participating countries in a single outburst of anger.
The cause of universal hatred, curiously, was the national anthems. Ireland, Italy and even the fans of the host team are just an incomplete list of those who suffered from the organisers’ seemingly good but ridiculous idea.
Because of the leaders, the reputation of the children’s choir may be affected.
Of service
Initially, the organizers of the Rugby World Cup (Webb Ellis Cup), which takes place in France from September 8 to October 28, decided to change the anthem ceremony. Instead of the traditional option, the management decided, at first glance, on a rather pleasant, even friendly idea.
Children’s choirs from 26 countries were invited to perform their national anthems. It seemed like everything could go wrong, but it turned out that this decision would turn out to be a complete failure. Initially, about 300 young singers were supposed to perform under the arches of the stadium, but soon their number was reduced to 170. However, live performances only took place in the two largest stadiums of the nine presented: the Stade de France in Paris and the Vélodrome de Marseille. Recordings of the performance were broadcast in other stadiums. This narrow focus was more than enough to cause a hot scandal.
After the first performances, social networks were filled with angry comments in which spectators cursed the organizers. And there is a reason for this: the unpleasant renditions of the national anthems, coupled with children’s voices and polyphony, confused spectators and players, depriving them not only of one of the most important events of any rugby match, but also confusing the players. themselves. As a result, the organizer had to return the traditional variation of the performance.
The only thing that saves is the fact that not all the teams played in the first week of the competition, but among those that did there were already the hosts of the tournament, whose fans can rightly be considered the most fervent of the World Cup. . In principle, a spoiled “La Marseillaise” rarely leaves without consequences for the Frenchman, and here he is at home in the opening match. Then, although the French team managed to beat New Zealand (27:13), the atmosphere was still ruined by the performance of the Melee des Choeurs team from Toulouse:
“This is the most rotten Marseillaise in history,” wrote former French tennis player Julien Benneteau.
Due to the strangeness of the organizational decisions, not only the fans, but also the children suffered. Thanks to ridiculous interpretations and demands, their leaders had to defend the youth:
– We want to blame the schoolchildren, but the problem comes from the organizers of the championship. The boys rehearsed for weeks, dreaming of how they would sing in front of the entire world, but this performance turned out to be a fiasco. The children did not insist on the original version of “La Marseillesa”, it was the initiative of the organizers, who did not take into account that, accompanied by 80 thousand voices that would sing in a different style, a cacophony would occur in the stadium. And many French citizens may feel uncomfortable as a result and even think they have been insulted, one executive said.
Similar cries of disapproval came from fans and players in many other countries:
“The hymns were terrible! – said former Ireland captain Brian O’Driscoll after the match against Romania (82:8)
“Can’t we sing the hymns normally, please? We can’t spoil this unique moment for the players! – wrote former Italian rugby player Mirko Bergamesco during the match against Namibia (52:8)
Now the organizer will have to rack his brains about how to arrange everything urgently. After the first wave of outrage, they came out with the statement that more classical interpretations with enhanced instrumental elements would now be used during the performance of the anthem. Thus, a good plan became a big scandal that, even if the situation is corrected, will remain in the memory of the fans.
