Voulez Vuvuzela – VuVu WHO?
A few weeks ago many of us would have responded to the word “Vuvuzela” with “Vuvu WHO?” but with the 2010 World Cup Coverage all that has changed. The unmistakeable VuVu sound has been floating out of television screens across the world as people tune in to watch the first ever Football World Cup to be hosted on African soil.
TheOnion.com has good tongue-in-cheek coverage of the Vuvuzela, running the headline:
South African Vuvuzela Philharmonic Angered By Soccer Games Breaking Out During Concerts
JOHANNESBURG—Members of the South Africa Vuvuzela Philharmonic Orchestra, widely considered to be among the best large-scale monotonic wind instrument ensembles in the world, told reporters Friday they were furious over the recent outbreaks of international soccer matches during their traditional outdoor concerts.
“I cannot imagine what is getting into these football teams that they would suddenly begin full-scale international competition just when we are beginning our 2010 concert series … More…
Vu to You Too? What exactly is the Vuvuzela?
The vuvuzela (voo-vu-zay-la) is a plastic blowing horn usually about 2ft long that has become the instantly recognisable background noise of south african football matches. It produces a loud monotone sound that has whipped up health and safety concerns over whether the combined decibels at a game will cause permanent hearing damage. Opponents also complain that the sound makes it almost impossible for the players or referees to communicate in any verbal form. It also makes the job of the sports commentators a lot more complicated.
The name vuvuzela means to make a “vuvu” noise in Zulu – based on the “voo voo” sound the horn makes.
Similar plastic trumpets have been used in stadiums in Mexico since the 1970s and were used in Argentina as early as 1978 at the FIFA world cup that was held there that year.
Bicycle Horn – was this the invention of the Vuvuzela?
Earlier versions of the trumpets were made of tin and a well-known fan of the South African Kaiser Chiefs Football Club – Freddie “Saddam” Maake claims to have invented the vuvusela in 1965 by adapting an aluminium bicycle horn – removing the rubber sqeezer so he could blow it using his mouth. He has photographs of himself in the 1970s and 80s at local South African games as well as at international games in 1992 and 96 and at the 1996 World Cup in France, holding the aluminium vuvuzela.
He claims that becuse the aluminium version was banned by the authorities because it was apparently a “dangerous weapon”, he then went out and found someone to manufacture a plastic version.
2010 FIFA World Cup – Giant Vuvuzela
The largest working vuvuzela in the world was created as part of the Korean car manufacturer’s 2010 World Cup marketing campaign. The 114 footlong instrument was created on an unfinished flyover road in Cape Town and was supposed to have been blown at the beginning of each World Cup match – powered by several air horns attached to the mouthpiece.
An ongoing dispute with the city authorities regarding the noise levels it would make mean it has remained silent so far throughout the games.
So.. how do you blow a Vuvuzela?
… its as easy as that.
Even Baseball doesn’t seem to be exempt from the vuvuzela
The Florida Marlins baseball team handed out free horns to the first 15,000 fans through the gate for their game with the Tampa Bay Rays on Saturday (June 20th 2010). More…
Vuvu Banned
The controversy over the Vuvuzela during the 2010 World Cup has led to the instruments being banned from numerous stadiums and events including baseball games at Yankee Stadium, tennis matches at Wimbledon, the Melbourne Cricket Ground and the Cardiff City, Millennium and SWALEC Stadiums.