Ras Dumisani, Reggae Singer, Angers South Africans After Butchering National Anthem (VIDEO)

It's excruciating. And, to tens of thousands of YouTube viewers who have sent around the video, it's pretty hilarious. But to South African sports fans, it's sacrilege.

The footage is of reggae singer Ras Dumisani tunelessly singing "Nkosi Sikelel' iAfrika," the South African national anthem, at the start of an international rugby game against France at Toulouse's Stade Municipal. South Africa went on to lose the game, but the anthem hurt more.

Now, The Times of London has reported that the South African Rugby Union has lodged a complaint with the French authorities over the anthem. Union President Oregan Hoskins is quoted as saying:

"The performance of the anthem is a treasured part of any rugby international and we take great pains in this country in the selection and rehearsal of artists to ensure that we appropriately honour all anthems.

However French officials hit back, saying they had not made the choice of Dumisani to sing the anthem, instead blaming the South African embassy. According to Reuters, the embassy is too denying responsibility, and also accusing the French of hanging the South African flag the wrong way.

Naas Botha, a legendary South African player, even told South African paper Business Day that the anthem might have been behind the team's loss:

"It was sad that we lost the game," said Botha. "But after that absolute disaster of a national anthem, everything went wrong. It was shocking and definitely didn't assist in creating a calm atmosphere for the team, as it should have. Someone has to be taken to task for this disaster.

And what does Dumisani have to say for himself? The BBC reports Dumisani blamed the match organizers, who wanted to "sabotage" his performance with a "too old" microphone and a "too fast" orchestra. The plot thickens...

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Comments

[wellingtonian]

France beat South Africa!?! Jeez, it's not looking good for us then!
As for that anthem, wow. Just, wow.

[brokerthanu]

They handed this over to a reggae artist. What did they expect?

[Oleg1]

reggae artist in sore need of ear training classes, to complete the description.

[Pgrace]

I'm not a conspiricist but I'm suspicious of France's choice of soloist. The French national anthem and the RSA's national anthem are far and away the finest. I had goose bumps when I first heard "Nkosi Sikelel' iAfrika " in 1985 sung by exiled ANC members in Nairobi. It forms the first half of an extraordinary multi- lingual national anthem. .
My Australian National Anthem is butchered more often than not, but that's OK because its utter blandness happily accommodates bad singing.The reason South Africans are angry is that their anthem is all about complex vocal harmonies and nothing at all to do with brass bands. I watched that match and the world champions were way off their normal brilliant game. As they say in RSA, pass the freedom fries.

[D0gb3rt]

"However French officials hit back, saying they had not made the choice of Dumisani to sing the anthem"

No "conspiricist", just a poor reader.

[nhop]

The Star-Spangled Banner is butchered by almost everyone who sings it before an athletic event. (No wonder the Phillies lost the World Series.)

[Dayahka]

Anyone ever listen to how Jimi Hendrix mangled the Star Spangled Banner? In comparison, this was a well-sung anthem.

[dyldrix]

um r you out of your MIND...first, Hendrix performance of r anthem was inspiring, secondly...time and place, Hendrix didn't spring the National Anthem redux to an arena expecting the traditional versions, it was an off the cuff moment in the early morning, secondly it was an instrumental interpreta­tion...and finally, as I said before...it was awe inspiring what he did with it...if your going to change up a well known favorite, you better do it well

[FdeBear]

Wrong, wrong, wrong on both counts. Hendryx's rendition of the Star Spangled Banner in the context in which it was skillfully performed was awe inspiring! Hendryx's musicianship and poetic interpretation has never been matched. The second is Marvin Gaye's performance. Compare that to Rosanne Barr's which was sheer butchery.Regarding the Dumisani performance: poorly performed. The South African national anthem is one of the most beautiful and melodic anthems on earth and he sounded like a drunk.

[Pgrace]

Ah you would be referring to the most expressive- the most articulate guitar solo in history. Sheesh!

[Nivekian]

Yeah, he butchered it so much it's the template for any guitar solo version of the Star Spangled Banner. Sheesh.

[lilnyc]

If they'd won, would there be a complaint? That said, I don't respect anyone who uses the stage to disrespect what others hold dear.

[bvwalters]

Dis-respecting a national anthem is never a good thing; that being said, I have seen/heard much worse.

I'm not S. African, and do not have a sense of why there is such a great uproar over this. However, judging by the reactions of the players, it was clearly not a big issue to them at the time.

A dose of Rosanne Barr, Carl Lewis, etc should provide a better perspective of what it's like to butcher an anthem.

[lj9283]

In case you all forgot;

Rosanne Barr singing the national Anthem:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1FhndWwWt8I&feature=related

[chonus]

Some of us would have liked to forget. lol

[wellingtonian]

Ok no this wins for worst anthem! I almost need a new ear drum after that. What ridiculous person thought making her sing would be a good idea?

[facethisbook]

Bring in the fail whale.

[coollbreezz]

If the anthem is a carry-over from the apartheid government, it should be abandoned and replaced as well as the apartheid era constitution. The South African government need to abandon all elements or leftover over the past government.

[Katboy]

"If the anthem is a carry-over from the apartheid government..."

If you can't be bothered to do the most basic research or make the simplest inference (i.e. that a song whose title is in an African language is unlikely to have been the national anthem in Apartheid times), then you should abandon the practice of making pompous comments. Try learning something before trying to sound learned.

BTW - the title/first two lines of the anthem are in Xhosa, and the other verses are in SA's four other most-spoken languages - Zulu, Sesotho, Afrikaans and English.

It took less than a minute to find this out using the wonder that is the internet.

[dvparrothead]

Perhaps you should learn more about the history of the song before you start making uninformed statements.

[samiamme]

anthem was song sung by many south africans in direct protest to apartheid which has been over since, oh I don't know....since NELSON MANDELA was president!

[afrographia]

LOL...You are hilariously uninformed! Other folks here will correct your way-off, totally had-your-h­ead-in-the­-sand comments, but I'm just sitting here cracking up over 1) Just how little you know about the song, South Africa, or even movies about South Africa; and 2) That you would have the thought that you should comment on a story without so much as a grain's worth of knowledge... LOL...I'm still crackin' up...sorry, I have no patience for folks who write the first thing that comes to their mind, without a quick wiki or google search or somethin'

[Billy Hell]

Well said coollbreezz.

[hopefull2008]

It's a beautiful anthem when it is sung properly .

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MFW7845XO3g

[afrographia]

Thanks...I've heard several versions over the years, but this one is nice to see. I miss Miriam Makeba. I saw her twice in concert: Once in San Francisco and again in NYC, in Central Park. Amazing!

[PhineasGage730]

Too much information...

[lionzion]

maybe next time, they should booked Roseanne..

[Two Cents]

. . . it was pretty god-awful.

[Bitsko]

It's got a nice beat, but you can't dance to it.

[Rharte]

"the South African Rugby Union has lodged a complaint with the French authorities over the anthem."

"However French officials hit back, saying they had not made the choice of Dumisani to sing the anthem, instead blaming the South African embassy"

"the embassy too is denying responsibility, and also accusing the French of hanging the South African flag the wrong way."

"Dumisani blamed the match organizers, who wanted to "sabotage" his performance with a "too old" microphone and a "too fast" orchestra. The plot thickens..."

This has to be the funniest story I've read on HP in a LONG while!!! No Hollywood script comes even close. LMAO!!!