June 22, 2010
Vuvuzela is adding buzz to world cup
The BBC is considering offering a ‘red button service’ in a bid to appease complaints surrounding the sound of the vuvuzela.
The noise of the plastic horn has become a hotly-debated issue since the start of the World Cup in South Africa last Friday.
On Tuesday morning the BBC confirmed it has received 545 complaints from viewers who find the continual sound of the vuvuzela distracting during matches.
The Corporation has now confirmed it is investigating several options, including stripping out most sound except commentary when showing the games on its red button service.
A BBC spokeswoman said: “Using the red button service is only one of the options that we’re considering. A decision will be made later in the week.”
World Cup bosses have confirmed the horns will not be banned in South Africa, saying they reflect “the sound of Africa”.
Some 20 years after being introduced to the game in the early 1990s, the instrument came to prominence on the world stage during the 2009 Confederations Cup. TV stations were upset by the “goat being slaughtered” timbre, while players complained that they couldn’t hear themselves think over the din. “It doesn’t allow you to concentrate and it’s unbearable,” Spanish player Xabi Alonso said at the time. FIFA head honcho Sepp Blatter, however, pooh-poohed calls to ban the vuvuzela for World Cup 2010, insisting that we should not attempt to “Europeanize” the African tournament.
The vuvuzela is clearly much more than an irritating novelty; it’s a divisive issue that is threatening the health of fans, affecting the quality of performances and ultimately putting people off of tuning in (will you honestly feel enthused to watch Slovakia vs. Paraguay knowing you’ll have to endure 90 minutes of the sound of an angry beehive going through a blender?).
Yet at the same time, Blatter is right (for once) when he says we should not impose Western values on South Africa. A ban would rob the tournament of part of its cultural identity, leaving thousands of locals perplexed: could you imagine being told by an international body that you could no longer drink beer at American football games, or fall asleep during baseball? The South Africans wouldn’t take too kindly to having a national institution removed.
As a compromise, perhaps the vuvuzela could be adapted so it isn’t quite so loud? Or maybe it could be adjusted to produce a nice noise like the sound of John Mayer gargling honey?
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