Coldplay controversy: Why the band got booed in Romania
Coldplay and their musical guest were booed by fans onstage during their Romanian concert in Bucharest last Wednesday.
The band was performing at the city’s Arena Națională as part of their Music Of The Spheres world tour when they brought out Romanian singer Babasha.
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The 22-year-old singer performed a manele song, a genre of Romanian pop-folk that is highly controversial in the country, due to its often vulgar lyrics.
The young singer was booed loudly by the crowd, with some fans even leaving the venue as the band came out to join Chris Martin, despite tickets to see the band selling at high prices.
Dr. Elena Sirghi, Ph.D., Musicology and Ethnomusicology, explained why Manele is perceived as problematic: 'Manele is a very controversial topic, culturally, in Romania. They are perceived as a mainstream kitsch spinoff of traditional Romani music, specifically “lăutării'.
Coldplay frontman, Chris Martin, told the 50,000-strong crowd that he heard 'this man singing on the street so beautifully', upon arriving in the eastern European country two days prior.
Chris Martin of Coldplay. Pic: Shirlaine Forrest/WireImage
Digi24 reported that the Yellow singer told the audience: 'Then I looked at the music charts in Romania and was impressed because there are so many wonderful artists. Maybe you don’t understand what kind of people you have in Romania, it’s incredible.'
The band continued to sing along with Babasha, despite the loud booing.
Following his performance, the Romanian artist posted a video message on Instagram, to explain that Coldplay looked at the music charts and picked the singer out.
'They personally contacted my agents, I suddenly found myself in this situation, and I don’t know how many of you would have refused such an opportunity. Because we’re talking about a completely different level, and regardless of all the boos in the world, I still would have accepted because something like this is once in a lifetime,' he explained.
Babasha then reappeared for the band's second concert in the capital city on Thursday, where he received a much warmer reception from fans.
Coldplay is due to bring their tour to Ireland at the end of August, selling out four shows in Croke Park.
The band will be joined by Lucan native Aby Coulibaly, for their Dublin gigs.
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