Ground Zero 2
We’ve reached the 70-days-to-go mark, so I thought it was time to catch up on the mood and sounds from South Africa as it readies for football’s biggest event. So it was back to Ground Zero,
Cape Town, South Africa, for an update from urbanbushman1:
Vuvuzela – South African football’s beautiful noise
What’s plastic, a metre long, brightly coloured and sounds like an elephant? It’s the vuvuzela, the noise-making trumpet of South African football fans, and it’s come to symbolise the sport in
the country. Yes, it’s an instrument, but not always a musical one. Trying to describe the atmosphere and noise in a stadium packed with thousands of fans blowing their vuvuzelas is
difficult. Up close it’s an elephant, sure; but en masse, the sound is more like a massive swarm of very angry bees. And when there’s action near the goal mouth, those bees go really crazy.
To get that sound out requires lip flexibility and lung strength – in short, a fair amount of technique. So be sure to get in some practice before attending a football match in South Africa, or
the sound you produce may cause some amusement in the seats around you!
The ancestor of the vuvuzela is said to be the kudu horn – ixilongo in isiXhosa, mhalamhala in Tshivenda – blown to summon African villagers to meetings. Later versions were made of tin. The
trumpet became so popular at football matches in the late 1990s that a company was formed in 2001 to mass-produce it. Made of plastic, they come in a variety of colours – black or white for
fans of Orlando Pirates, yellow for Kaizer Chiefs, and so on – with little drawings on the side warning against blowing in someone’s ear!
As for the name, well there’s some uncertainty on the origin of the word “vuvuzela.” Some say it comes from the isiZulu for – yes, you guessed – “making noise.” Others say it’s from
township slang related to the word “shower,” because it “showers people with music.” Whatever the case may be, vuvezalas are bound to play an integral part in South Africa’s 2010 celebrations,
and World Cup visitors are sure to go home with one or two in their country colours tucked in their luggage – and a little ringing in their ears.
Music spectacular to kick off World Cup
The Black Eyed Peas, Shakira, Alicia Keys and John Legend are just some of the stars who will be performing at the inaugural Fifa World Cup Kickoff Celebration Concert at Orlando Stadium,
Soweto on June 10 – the day before South Africa meet Mexico in the first match of the 2010 tournament. The concert is being billed as the greatest entertainment event to be held on the African
continent and will be broadcast to over one billion people in 92 countries.
2010 art revolution
A quiet art revolution is building ahead of the 2010 World Cup, with thousands of singers, painters and other artists plying their trade with a strong focus on the upcoming event: In the
poverty-stricken Cape Town suburb of Tafelsig, resident Desmond Kannemeyer is removing gangster grafitti from the walls of his neighbourhood and is planning to replace them with giant
2010-themed murals; Tomas Majebe from Cameroon is selling spectacular oil paintings of the 2010 stadia at flea markets in the Western Cape; Adam Carnegie and his team are churning out kelp
vuvuzelas; and all around the country, thousands of makarapa
football helmets are being manufactured.
