AM Foreign World Cup: Grand Finale

[Stephan]

About a year and a half after I started to get the ball rolling on this project, and we are now down to the final two. Jacques Brel may be the favorite to win after his total domination of my previous game (the Underrated Albums Poll), but I reckon 'underdog' Mulatu Astatke is a very strong contender indeed. It's been a blast to present this game, thanks to everyone who's been voting over the past 18 months!

Bracket 8.1
Mulatu Astatke - Yèkèrmo sèw
Jacques Brel - Vesoul

[Henrik]

I vote for Mulatu Astatke - Yèkèrmo sèw. A unique piece of music. Jacques Brel is a unique and amazing artist but he would have needed "Ne me quitte pas" to win this for me.

Although I have only participated with brief comments and sometimes even missed to vote, this has been my favourite game ever. So many discoveries! Thanks Stephan and all the fantastic nominators!

I hope we will do something similar again soon. Maybe scale it down a bit, but I can't wait to nominate some more great foreign songs that I've discovered during the last year!

[Miguel]

For a long time, in my country a certain kind of singer-songwriters like Jacques Brel were considered a "bummer" for many pop and rock fans. Fortunately, this has changed significantly in recent years, but there remains a lot of prejudice against singers like Brel.

I think I didn't share these prejudices, but the truth is that when I was twenty, more or less, I didn't pay much attention to certain artists.... until in a TV show with live performances from the sixties and seventies I saw this clip that left me completely stunned.

Before, I had heard other songs by Jacques Brel (among them, Ne me quitte pas, obviously), but this memorable performance of Vesoul made ​​me to be interested in one of the greatest composers and performers of the last century. I can't think of a better example to try to convince those who believe that Brel is boring, that listen to this song, with its hilarious lyrics, its irresistible melody, and the accompaniment of extraordinary musicians, especially the accordionist Marcel Azzola.

Finally, thanks, Stepahan, for your excelent work. And thank you very much to all those who have participated in this game, and especially to my fellow countryman Honorio, whose comments are among the most exciting ever written on this site.

[Dan]

The duration of the Foreign World Cup was a whole 18 months, yet I can't believe it's over. It's been an immensely valuable experience - I feel like I've learnt quite a lot about world music through this game. It was great to engage with these wonderful songs and to share the experience with those who participated.

I guess it's fitting that my vote in this final goes to my favourite non-Anglophone artist. I never used to pay too much attention to "Vesoul" but now I love it. Brel's energetic, passionate performance is superb. And that accordion!

Thanks again, Stephan, and thanks to everyone who nominated songs.

I will miss this game.

"But let me say it loud: I'm horizontal and I'm proud!"
-Honorio Barranco

Bracket 8.1
Mulatu Astatke - Yèkèrmo sèw
Jacques Brel - Vesoul

[jamieW]

My vote (by the smallest of margins) is for:

Jacques Brel - Vesoul

A special thanks to Stephan for navigating this wonderful experience. I also wanted to thank Honorio, Henrik, Nicolas, Dan, and everyone else for all of their enlightening comments and information about these great songs.

Looking back over my voting, my biggest regret is that I never voted for “Mou Pei Na.” I’ll never understand why it took so long for this delightful, life-affirming Cambodian song to grow on me. Since my wife is from Laos, it also reminds me of the Asian music we listened to in live performances at the Temple, which brings back a lot of great memories.

Since this has been my favorite of all the games/polls in this forum, it’s been hard for me to accept that it’s over. Therefore, I spent the day listening to my favorite songs from the World Cup. In alphabetical order (since it’s so hard to rank them), these are the 30 I've enjoyed the most:

Aleksandar Šišić - Ćhelipe
Amadou & Mariam - Je pense à toi
Ananda Shankar - Dancing Drums
Anouar Brahem - Vague / E la Nave Va
Astor Piazzolla - Oblivion
Atalyja - Gervele
Benjamin Biolay - Brandt Rhapsodie
Bonga - Mona Ki Ngi Xica
Dengue Fever - Genjer Genjer
Geoffrey Gurrumul Yunupingu- Wiyathul
Goblin – Suspiria
Goran Bregovic - Mesecina
Gustavo Santaolalla - De ushuaia a la quiaca
Jacques Brel - Vesoul
Joan Manuel Serrat - Mediterraneo
Jorge Ben - Taj Mahal
Le Mystère des Voix Bulgares - Pritouritze Planinata
Melingo - Corazòn y Hueso
Mercedes Sosa - Alfonsina y el mar
Mulatu Astatke - Yèkèrmo sèw
Paco de Lucía - Entre dos aguas
Rachid Taha - Ya Rayah
Ravi Shankar - Rāga Simhendra-Madhyamam
Rokia Traoré - Dounia
Ros Sereysothea – Superstar
Shigeru Umebayashi - Yumeji's Theme
Sinn Sisamouth, Ros Sereysothea, Pan Ron and Dara Dam Chan - Mou Pei Na
Tokyo Jihen - Kurumaya-san
Various Artists - Hudjan Mas (Golden Rain)
Violeta Parra - Gracias a la Vida

May we do this again sometime soon!

[Zorg]

While I have just listened to the final two songs and found them both to be extraordinary, I'm not going to vote. Really, I'm not worthy.

But hopefully soon a day will come where I have absolutely nothing to do and I'll go through the AM Foreign World Cup and be transported around the world.

[sonofsamiam]

My vote goes to Mulatu Astatke - Yèkèrmo sèw.

[Honorio]

This is the end, my only friend, the end…
On November 5 of 2011 Stephan opened the Nomination Round of the AM Foreign World Cup. I initially had my doubts about if a brilliant idea like this one could work in the context of our forum. But after this year and a half I can say that this was an absolute success despite having dropped slightly at the end of Round 1 and beginning of Round 2 (when we lose some voters). And it was one of the games I enjoyed the most (the 1900-1949 Poll and the 1960s Poll hold a special place in my heart and probably will stay on the #1 of beloved games for a long time). But this year and half of travelling around a world of music has been a truly inspiring experience. Apart of enjoying a lot every week of the game (excellent nominations everyone!) it made me go more deeply into the catalogues of some awesome musicians like the ones I pointed on the Special Edition, names like Toumani Diabaté, Antônio Carlos Jobim, Ástor Piazzolla or Fela Kuti.
Many many thanks Miguel for your kind words about my comments, I loved your comment about "Vesoul" too (it's true that Brel was an icon for the Spanish singer songwriters of the 60s-70s but it was generally ignored during the 80s-90s) and I'm really glad that one of your nominations got serious chances to win the game. Many thanks Dan for quoting my comment to SavoyBG, this game made us much more horizontal, it opened a lot our music horizons (like your excellent post about classical music will do to some of us, you can expect some comments from me during the week). And of course many thanks to Stephan for having this great idea and hosting this Poll so brilliantly and to all the people who participated. I got a list of all the people (and times) that participated on the poll, I could post it but I will do it only after the end, my only friend, the end.


Bracket 8.1
Mulatu Astatke - Yèkèrmo Sèw (Ethiopia, 1974)
Jacques Brel - Vesoul (Belgium, 1968)
My vote goes to Grand Jacques but let me say I'm not too happy with it. First of all I'm not too comfortable voting for a European song on a world music poll, I would have liked an African or American song winning the game (we had so many gems from this part of the world during the game!). And I'm not happy voting against Astatke, moreover when I voted for "Yèkèrmo Sèw" on every one of the 7 previous ocasions this song faced another one while I did not voted for "Vesoul" when it fronted Paco de Lucía, Georges Brassens and even another Brel tune, "Les bourgeois." I even stated many times that there are at least 5 other Brel songs that I would chose over "Vesoul." So I listened carefully again both songs. And I surrendered. Again. Brel, toujours Brel.

[Stephan]

It would definitely not have been the same without you Honorio!

[Honorio]

Many thanks Stephan!

[Merlo]

Mulatu Astatke - Yèkèrmo sèw, what a great track, sounds like an Ethiopian James Brown! Fantastic competition. So much great music.

[HRS]

First of all, Congratulations to Stephan and all the usual suspects that made this so entertaining to read through the last 3 months I was able to check it -- It made me a Fela Kuti fan!

Here's hope that some users that didn't make the first time around because of external factors-- ahem: myself and zorg, so far -- won't have to wait four whole years to another cup!

And I just love the horizontal quote!
It made me search for its original context -- I was #TeamHonorio all the way through; Also, that poignant comment took me to the Old Forum discussion of the vertical vs horizontal idea -- so entertaining, people actually coming into terms and feeling bad about being horizontal -- and, damn, 2009 sounds like it endend a decade and half ago -- and my comments on that thread sure didn't help that poor year seem any younger.

Well, I wanna travel the world too and I hope it'll be soon! Meanwhile, I'll be jamming in the 80s (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JVuuatjHGnY)

[Moonbeam]

Thank you for organizing this, Stephan! I wish I would have participated throughout, because I always have enjoyed it when I have.

My vote goes to:

Mulatu Astatke - Yèkèrmo sèw

It's got a bit of funk, a bit of jazz, a tinge of psychedelia, and a whole lot of mystery. A worthy champion, I'd say!

[nicolas]

Hard choice... I'll have to do a couple more listening battles before making my final choice.

Anyway I must tell you that this gime was one of my very favorites of all the Am games;

Yes we have to play it again, in a new format ??

We sould decide that altogether

[Stephan]

I'm definitely planning to bring this game back given the love many people have for it. I'd say we enjoy this game a little more and in a couple of weeks start brainstorming about how we can make AMFWC 2.0 even better.

I was thinking we should perhaps post our top 10 favorite songs next week (or favorite new discoveries?) and see if the same songs would still end up near the top.

[Honorio]

Sounds good. What about a Top 10 of songs not originally nominated by us?

[Miguel]

Brel was an icon for the Spanish singer songwriters of the 60s-70s but it was generally ignored during the 80s-90s

Well, at least some appreciated the French chanson. The album title by Loquillo y Los Trogloditas released in 1988, Morir en primavera (To Die in Spring) and the song of the same title, alluded to the verses of one of my favourite songs of Brel, Le moribond:

Adieu l'Émile je vais mourir
C'est dur of mourir au printemps, tu sais

(Farewell Emile, I'm going to die
It's hard to die in spring, you know)

This album also included a cover of Brassens, La mauvaise reputation, with lyrics in Spanish that Paco Ibáñez did in the sixties.

[Honorio]

Yes, that's true, Loquillo was the first artist from the "movida" times vindicating the chanson

[DaveC]

My vote goes to:

Mulatu Astatke - Yèkèrmo sèw

Although I have come to like Versoul very much so this wasn't an easy choice.

Thanks Stephan for running this and all those who nominated songs. Thanks also to Honario for providing so much interesting background information.

The Top 10 idea sounds most appealing. To do it justice, it would be good to have a little time to properly listen to some of the songs which went out in the first couple of rounds. So it would help if we had two or three weeks to consider our selections.

[Henry]

My vote is for Mulatu Astatke - Yèkèrmo sèw. This song has some wonderful moments and was enjoyable on first listen and I look forward to repeated listens as it seems to be a very strong grower

Jacques Brel - Vesoul
Brel's vocal are impressive, but not my favorite. I was a bit surprised to see the capo place so highly on the guitar.

[Poliuks]

I missed the semifinals due to lack of Internet connection, but, after all, my prefered songs won in each bracket.

Bracket 8.1
Mulatu Astatke - Yèkèrmo sèw
Jacques Brel - Vesoul

Thank you, Stephan, for running this; I haven't been participating since the very beginning, but regardless it was a pleasure and an opportunity to find some great songs to be included in my all - time list. Looking forward to the next competition!

[Kingoftonga]

What a tremendous journey! It's been fun. My vote goes to:

Mulatu Astatke - Yèkèrmo sèw

[nicolas]

I realize I haven't voted yet !!

My vote finally goes to :

Jacques Brel - Vesoul

Strange to vote, in this Foreign World Cup, for a song in my own langage against another one from a continent that's so dear to me, but "Vesoul" and I go waaay back. "Yèkèrmo Sew" is now in my top 100 of all time though.

Thanks a million times for this game. You probably realized that the amount of world music in my decade poll lists has increased!! It's a fantastic way to broaden my musical horizons.
World and classical will be my genres of the year 2013.
I'm passing my teacher exams in a month, and I chose music as an option. In the music oral examination they play you a piece and you have to comment on it. In my last simulation test the teacher played me an Astor Piazzola song I didn't know but I recognized it was Piazzola and it was a fugue, she was impressed. So thanks to the Foreign WC and classical threads !!

[Stephan]

Including my vote for Mulatu, the winner is:



Bracket 8.1
Mulatu Astatke - Yèkèrmo sèw - 8
Jacques Brel - Vesoul - 6

Thanks for your votes everyone, it's been a blast. This has definitely been my favorite game in the forums, I've discovered so many great songs through it. It also ends at a fortunate time; my participation in the forums is likely going to decrease in the next weeks as I just got a job offer at the largest IT consultancy firm in the Netherlands, and they want me to start this Wednesday.

[nicolas]

congrats Stephan! Don't forget us now that you're an executive lol

I'm also happy that Africa won this game. What a wonderful continent!

[HRS]

That's a double congrats, then, Stephan!

[Miguel]

Mulatu Astatke - Yèkèrmo sèw - 8
Jacques Brel - Vesoul - 6

in the next weeks as I just got a job offer at the largest IT consultancy firm in the Netherlands, and they want me to start this Wednesday.

[Honorio]

Excellent results, I voted for Brel but I'm glad to see an African artist as a winner (and Mulatu deserves it). Many thanks Stephan for hosting the game so brilliantly and congratulations for your job. Great news!

Hope you don't mind but week after week I've been taking account of the people that had been voting on the game since the beginning. And after the Grand Finale these are the final results:
- 65 weeks: nicolas, Dan and Honorio (we were the only three that voted on each and every one of the 65 weeks)
- 62: Stephan
- 61: Miguel
- 57: Kingoftonga
- 53: Henrik
- 31: Michel
- 25: Jirin
- 23: jamieW
- 21: Greg, Poliuks
- 12: antonius
- 11: DaveC
- 8: Romain
- 6: Petri
- 5: Moonbeam
- 3: sonofsamiam, Henry
- 2: Zorg
- 1: Listyguy, Seanywack, Andre, Otisredding, cartoken, Merlo


And my Top 10 of songs not nominated by me. No surprises here, I've been raving about these songs throughout the game:
1. Elis Regina & Tom Jobim - Águas de Março (nominated by André, #126 on my all-time list)
2. Paco de Lucía - Entre dos aguas (nominated by nicolas, #189 on my all-time list)
3. Ryuichi Sakamoto - Merry Christmas, Mr. Lawrence (nominated by Miguel, #202 on my all-time list)
4. Ry Cooder - A Canción Mixteca (nominated by nicolas, #211 on my all-time list)
5. Cesária Évora - Sodade (nominated by antonius)
6. Ástor Piazzolla - Libertango (nominated by antonius)
7. Mulatu Astatke - Yèkèrmo Sèw (nominated by Henrik)
8. Anouar Brahem - Vague / E la Nave Va (nominated by Stephan)
9. Georges Brassens - La marine (nominated by nicolas)
10. Ravi Shankar - Rāga Simhendra-Madhyamam (nominated by Stephan)

[Henrik]

My favourite discoveries of this fantastic game:

During the nomination phase:
Ali Hassan Kuban – Habibi
Sinn Sisamouth... – Mou Pei Na
Shigeru Umebayashi – Yumeji's theme
Selda – Yaz Gazeteci Yaz
Solomon Linda - Mbube

During the voting phase:
Dengue Fever – Genjer Genjer
Richard Bona – Ekwa Mwato (Affirmation Of The Spirit)
Oliver Mtukudzi – Ndima Ndapedza
Ananda Shankar – Dancing Drums & Streets of Calcutta
Silvio Rodríguez – Ojalá
Romica Puceanu & Florea Cioaca - Era Zarzarii-nfloriti
Ros Sereysothea - Superstar
Astor Piazzolla - Oblivion


Edit: Now I can't wait to nominate Salah Ragab's "Egypt Strut" for a new game...!