During their concert in Bucharest, Coldplay invited a Romanian manele singer to perform. From what I understand, the band’s representatives selected the Romanian artist after seeing a video of him that had garnered several million views. This isn’t an isolated gesture but part of a well-orchestrated campaign through which the artist supports various performers, aiming to promote an anti-racist message.
While I fully support the anti-racist message, I’m not a fan of the seemingly superficial manner in which the artist was chosen. “Trending” is neither synonymous with talent nor performance. In the digital age, if we didn’t already know this, we should have learned it from the Kardashians.
Though musical tastes are subjective, as a listener of all genres, in my opinion, the manele singer selected by Coldplay is quite talentless.
What Happened at the Coldplay Concert Is Not About manele. It Is About Racism.
No, you are not racist because you don’t like manele. You are racist because you do not accept the artistic performance of a Romani person.
But above all, it is about tens of thousands of people who bought tickets to a show without understanding what it was about. When you don’t understand that the artist is offering you a dual experience, as communicated, of entertainment and an anti-racist message, it means you don’t know what you bought.
We can only conclude that many people at the Coldplay concert bought tickets because they liked the light show the artist offers in his concerts. “Honey, did you see the lights at this concert? Look how beautiful it looks on YouTube. Let’s go too.” With the anti-racist message, Chris Martin tried to enlighten their minds as well. In Romania, he did not succeed.
The next day, to the embarrassment of Romanians, lead singer Chris Martin mocked those who had booed the previous day, inviting the attendees of the second show to boo even louder for five seconds. Instead of applauding, the crowd, in their ignorance and racism, booed.
This is the first time I’ve heard of this manele singer. There are certainly many manele singers far better than him. Ultimately, it doesn’t even matter anymore.
Romanians who are sad that they didn’t get a chance to boo Chris Martin in Bucharest shouldn’t despair. By voting for SoSoaca in the European Parliament, they still have a chance to have her boo him on their behalf. Romanians dislike SoSoaca just as much as they dislike manele.
Coldplay taught Romanians two things: that they are racist and stupid, and that trending matters more than value.
