Saturday, June 12, 2010

Is the vuvuzela annoying to you?

Will the noisy plastic trumpet overshadow the World cup?

INTRO: Those of you, who are watching the World Cup 2010 games in South Africa, have noticed a very loud never ending never changing noise at every game. Some have described it as buzzing hornets or a beehive, but I see it more like a Formula 1 race with 1000 cars. It's a sound made on a plastic trumpet called vuvuzela, which is a very popular instrument of the South African football fans (see photo above).

COMPLAINTS: I must say when I watched the first few games, the volume on my TV was not turned up a lot and the sound of the buzzing vuvuzelas was not so strong, I haven't even thought about this instrument. But then I watched a game on German TV and another on a Croatian TV channel and the commentators bluntly stated, that they're annoyed by the never ending sound of vuvuzelas. That affected me and I started to get annoyed by the sound, too. Now I'm someone who's easily annoyed by noise. In Taiwan hawkers sometimes use megaphones that constantly advertise their tea or stinky tofu or there are motorcades of scooters on Taiwan's roads. And let's not forget the garbage trucks with their loud "Per Elise". That frankly does annoy me sometimes.

CULTURE: So, be it South Africa or Taiwan, certain ways of making noise are a cultural particularity. I'm from a small country with lot of nature, traffic jams are very scarce. Most of the time, it's peaceful here, so I guess it's not surprising, that vuvuzela noises would annoy me. On the other hand, I wonder, why the German and Croatian commentators complain, since the football fans from their countries are famous for being one of the noisiest. Then again, they're probably there in the stadium, in their booths, trying to do their jobs, but can hardly hear their own voice, because the vuvuzelas keep horning like crazy around their ears.

PRO vs. CONTRA VUVUZELA: Here are some of the arguments I have heard and read in the past 3 days regarding vuvuzela. I will list the ones of vuvuzela supporters and vuvuzela haters. It's up to you to make up your mind.

Arguments against vuvuzela:
  • Vuvuzela sound is a very loud and annoying ear-wrenching noise.
  • Vuvuzela makes it hard for the players to concentrate and communicate.
  • Viewers at home can't hear the commentary.
  • Viewers and spectators are unable to follow chants and crowd's reactions.
  • Sensitive people need to either turn off the volume of the TV or not watch.
  • It's very un-African to irritate your guest.
Arguments for vuvuzela:
  • Westerners are trying to impose their standards by banning vuvuzela.
  • Vuvuzela is part of African culture, we should be tolerant to that.
  • Africans are also not complaining, when European fans sing anthems or whistle.
  • Vuvuzela makes the games more exciting, gives it an African atmosphere.
  • Vuvuzela is a (South) African pride.
  • Vuvuzela is an important (South) African cultural heritage.

EXTERNAL LINKS: Just few minutes of googling and I came across these websites:

REACTIONS: There are some extreme reactions from the mentioned You-Tube video:

"It's just waiting till the first 1 gets mad enough to go on a killingspree because he couldnt take it anymore..." (by SuperBuzzFuzz)

"Damn vuvuzelas.. nothing cultural on that plastic-made shit -.-, it's unhealthy for your ears and for the WC atmosphere. I hate them!!" (by OnRage666)

"I fucking hate vuvuzelas, the most retarded sound and my head is aching from it. I can't enjoy this fucking WC, I hope next WC will be much better. Just awful..." (by MoFroBo)

"oh fuck - I'm just watching ENG - USA ... and again.. VUVUZELA SHIT !!! culture my ass !! If that is your culture, you deserve to be erased - black or white! Hell, I'm pretty sure I will punch the next guy I see with a FUCKING VUVUZELA !" (by DreamOfDacialization)

Another set of pro-vuvuzela reactions from comments on BBC's article:

"The vuvuzela is far less annoying than listening to fans in England chanting abuse at the fans of their opponents for the duration of a match!" (Adrian Scarlett, Liverpool, UK)

"...The Vuvuzela is a matter of pride (and religion) for some of us on the African continent and we will not allow our enjoyment of a once-in-lifetime event be overshadowed by someone watching the games from their living room in Europe. You just have to come and join us next year and I assure you 100% that 100% of all foreign fans (including those from Europe) will go back with a Vuvuzela in their bag because they will have been electrified by this little plastic trumpet!" (Isaac Kagula, Zambia)

I never liked the concept of the vuvuzela, but after reading all these stiff upper lip arrogant comments i am arming my entire family with one! Learn to enjoy self - let your hair down - i dare you! (Bruce, Cape Town, South Africa)

MY OPINION: I must say I do not share such strong dislike for the vuvuzela. I'd like them to restrict the number, but not ban them fully. I can understand that some people are annoyed or angry, but I think since that's how South African fans enjoy their games, they should be allowed to continue so. Then again, I'm just watching TV and I can tune down the volume, but the people who bought tickets, can't. The only pity is, that you can't hear the crowd's reaction to goals or near misses or hear fans sing football anthems, all you hear is a very noisy and never changing beehive trumpet sound.

IN CONCLUSION: Looks like my post about vuvuzela's has become very popular, as of this moment over 50 people voted and 80% of them are annoyed by this plastic trumpet. What's more interesting is how much traffic I get from Google, because people (most come from Germany) frequently search for opinion on vuvuzela with phrases like "fuck/fucking vuvuzela", "shit vuvuzela", "vuvuzela annoying", "vuvuzela irritating" and "hate vuvuzela". That just shows that a lot of people are annoyed with the vuvuzela-sound and openly express their anger, be it in the poll below or the comments. That says a lot. Hope FIFA will listen.

VUVU-STOP: Did you know that someone is selling earplugs named Vuvu-stop (see photo on the right) and they're now selling better than the vuvuzelas themselves. Gosh, some people are really good businessmen, ah? :-)

What's your opinion on vuvuzelas? Is it a cultural thing and we should accept it or should the World Cup hosts respect the foreign viewers and ban the vuvuzelas at the games?

Please vote on the poll below, but only if you have watched a game or two. Thanks.


Sources: [Photo 1: Source, Photo 2: Source]
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