During the controversy surrounding the opening anthems of the Rugby World Cup matches, the parents of the young singers from Toulouse express their frustration.
« We want to blame the students, but the problem lies with the organizers of the Rugby World Cup. The children rehearsed for weeks, they had imagined themselves singing in front of the whole world, but the organization is a complete failure. The children had not asked for anything initially… »
Au centre d’une controverse
C’est le coup de gueule d’une maman déçue, Sandrine Bartoli, dont le fils, élève au collège des Ponts Jumeaux à Toulouse, a participé à cette fameuse Mêlée des chœurs qui devait apporter une touche singulière à la Coupe du monde de rugby.
However, a twist of events, the Chorus Melee is at the center of controversy during the opening of the competition between the French team and the All Blacks. The canonic anthems, mixed with the players’ and the Stade de France (Paris) crowd’s chants, turned into a cacophony followed by a shower of more or less justified criticisms. « Can’t we sing the anthems normally, please? » Italian player Mirco Bergamasco particularly expressed his indignation.
« I cannot reword »
Whose fault is it? « Certainly not the children, » adds Mrs. Bartoli. What we generally observe is a total lack of professionalism at all levels and a sound problem. Not to mention that it takes almost two hours to pass through the Stadium gates and you risk missing the start of the match. Initially, the organizers of the World Cup promised us that the children would sing on the field, but then they changed their minds. The children haven’t even received their tickets for the match on October 8th in Toulouse, and the teachers are not invited. Despite all the hard work they have put in. »
Pas de version chantée en canon
Des semaines de répétitions ont en effet réuni près de 270 enfants toulousains, du CP au lycée, qui ont appris par cœur les hymnes nationaux du Japon, Chili, Fidji et Portugal dans leur établissement respectif. Hymnes qui ont été enregistrés début juillet au centre de congrès Pierre Baudis à Toulouse. Initialement, le comité organisateur du World Cup France 2023 prévoyait « que vingt-six chœurs soient constitués en intégrant les trente choristes de la maîtrise populaire […] pour chanter les hymnes des équipes à l’occasion des 48 matches, entre le 8 septembre et le 28 octobre ». Soit au total près de 7 000 choristes en France.
On September 13th, the federations of the teams participating in the Rugby World Cup provided initial positive feedback and are finalizing revised and simplified versions while still preserving the children’s voices. There will no longer be a sung version in canon, which was unsettling for the spectators. This decision has been duly noted.
