The 2016 Sultan Mehmed Games: Closing Ceremony Pt.2

This should be read as a direct continuation of Part 1; http://watchitdie.blogspot.co.uk/2016/09/the-2016-sultan-mehmed-games-closing.html

With the protocol of the flag ceremony and the Parade of Nations out of the way the concert started getting into full swing giving us something of a musical tour of Brazil.

Nação Zumbi: The next act to appear were the Brazilian band Nação Zumbi. Formed in 1994 they were one of the pioneers of a type of Brazilian music called "Mangue Bit."

Hailing from the of Recife in the northeastern Brazilian state of Pernambuco on the Atlantic coast this type of music began as a counter-culture movement protesting against the political stagnation and environmental damage of the time. It blends traditional Brazilian musical styles such as Maracatu, Frevo, Coco and Forró with more western styles of music such as Rock, Hip Hop, Funk and Electronic.

The Mangue of the title refers to Recife's Mangrove forests. These are much talked about in Climate Change circles acting both to absorb Green House Gases (ghg) and protect coastal areas from flooding. In keeping with this environmental theme the stage setting and the video shown on the screen behind displayed all the rich types of flora and fauna native to that northeastern region of Brazil.

In their heavier moments Nação Zumbi made me think of US/Venezuelan/Jewish Punk Rap band "Downset." Particularly their environmental protest song; "Chemical Strangle."

Touching on the language barrier theme while searching for this on Youtube I discovered a video where a fan had put together a montage inspired by the lyrics. Unfortunately they'd got the lyrics almost completely wrong. I found it hilarious, if loud; https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tT2HqZcYbkQ

At more then one moment Nação Zumbi's guitarist lifted his instrument up to reveal the message "Fora Temer (Temer Out!)" written on the underside. Funnily enough Brazil's recently installed President Michel Temer did not make an appearance during this ceremony.

Due to the language barrier theme I personally would have gone with; "Va Temer" which translates as; "Go Temer." However you would have had to understand the nuance of the language to tell whether this was a call for Temer to leave or a sign of support. In the way that supporters have been shouting; ""Go Brazil!" throughout the games.

I suppose it might have worked for Italian speakers though.

Vanessa da Mata: Next to perform was Vanessa da Mata. However rather than taking to the stage she appeared at the opposite end of the arena and sung her way through the crowd in a light-up Smart Fabric dress before taking to the mini-stage in the centre of the arena.

Vanessa da Mata is from Brazil's central western state of Mato Grosso which borders Bolivia. According to Wikipedia on her maternal grandmother's side Vanessa da Mata is descended from the Xavante tribe of indigenous Brazilian Indians. However while acknowledging that she has indigenous ancestry she has denied a direct link to the Xavante tribe.

Having released seven albums and being extremely successful in both Brazil and Portugal she is probably most famous in the US for the 2007 duet "Boa Sorte/Good Luck" she did with US singer Ben Harper. That was included on the album; "Sim" which won a Latin Grammy for Best Brazilian Album. In this I think we got into the real reason why this ceremony was so focused on the issue of language.

If you follow any of the big US award shows - the Emmy's were aggressively scheduled against the ceremony - on social media such as Twitter you'll notice that most of the comments are in Spanish. These come from viewers in Spanish speaking Latin American nations.

In music there is the Latin Grammys to go alongside the Grammys specifically for this audience. However even there they need to make special categories from Brazilian acts who of course speak Portuguese. Not Spanish.

However I do remember being told by a Portuguese person in Portugal that most Portuguese people also speak Spanish because; "It's like a dumbed down version of Portuguese." 

At around 17:35 on 20/9/16 (UK date) I'll try and pick this up after dinner.

Edited at around 19:35 on 20/9/16 (UK date) to add;

Throughout her performance Vanessa da Mata kept urging people to get up and dance. This was obviously aimed at the Brazilians in the arena's cheap seats. However it did slightly give the impression that she didn't understand that for wheelchair users refusing to get up and dance isn't a sign of disdain. It's a somewhat irritating reality of everyday life.

This could well have been a little nod to the 2012 London Closing Ceremony where Coldplay performed. As part of their set they performed their song; "Paradise" which features the chorus; "Para. Para. Paradise." 

At the Para-Olympic games that did look a little bit like they were going up to a crowd of disabled people and just shouting; "Cripple! Cripple! Cripple!" right in their faces.

Céu: Next to perform - on the main stage - was Céu. As with seemingly all Brazilians she actually has about 17 names so it is perhaps unsurprising that she has shortened her full name - Maria do Céu Whitaker Poças to the simply stage name Céu.

Céu is originally for the city of São Paulo which is the capital of São Paulo state. This is just to the south-west of Rio de Janerio state where the games have been held. Strangely although São Paulo City is the state capital São Paulo state is also home to Brazil's capital city Brasilia. São Paulo City however continues to be Brazil's economic capital.

In terms of a political analysis there's not really much else I can say about Céu's performance. It sounded good though.

The Whang Youn Dai Award: The concert then took a break for a section of International Para-Olympic Committee (IPC) protocol. Starting with the presentation of the Whang Youn Dai Achievement Award.

Whang Youn Dai was a South Korean (Republic of Korea/RoK) woman who contracted Polio at the age of three. Despite being partially paralysed - particularly on one side of her body - she went on to qualify as a medical doctor and dedicated much of her life and career to the promotion of disability sport and the Para-Olympic movement.

At the 1988 Para-Olympic games held in Seoul - capital of her native RoK - the IPC introduced an award in her name for the male and female athletes who each; "best exemplify the spirit of the Games and inspire and excite the world" by being; "Someone who is fair, honest and is uncompromising in his or her values and prioritises the promotion of the Paralympic Movement above personal recognition." A shortlist of 6 (3 male, 3 female) is nominated by competitors with the winners being chosen by the IPC.

This year the award went to Tatyana McFadden of the USA and Ibrahim Al Hussein of - well it's complicated.

Ibrahim Al Hussein is originally from Syria. However after becoming a single, below knee amputee in a 2013 in a bomb blast he fled as an irregular migrant first to Turkey and then to Greece where he was granted refugee status. Unlike the ISIL games these games had no special refugee team. Instead Al Hussein competed under the banner of "Independent Athletes" as refugees have always done.

Particularly within the US Tatyana McFadden is probably one of the most famous disabled athletes currently competing and her story is equally famous.

Born with Spina Bifida in Saint Petersburg (then Leningrad) in what in 1989 was the Soviet Union McFadden was placed in an orphanage. Due to the collapsing Soviet Union having no resources to buy things like wheelchairs McFadden was forced to learn to walk on her hands before she was adopted by a US Diplomat who took her to live in Baltimore, Maryland, US.

McFadden now competes in both the Summer and Winter Para-Olympics.

During the most recent 2014 Winter games held in Sochi, Russia the way that McFadden's story was presented - particularly by the US team - was particularly obnoxious. She was very much presented as the poor little girl who'd been rescued from the evil and uncaring Russia by the the heroic and noble USA.

At the Sochi games McFadden was cheered on by both her birth mother and her adoptive mother. The way that they were referred to as; "Her two mothers" did seem to imply that they were some sort of lesbian couple. Rather missing the point of why the games had been awarded to Russia's gay capital in the first place gay-rights-for-gays was the stick the US seemed to very much enjoy beating Russia with during those games.

Seeing McFadden on stage alongside yet another mutilated refugee the now nearly six year long war against Syria all that bad attitude suddenly didn't seem quite so clever.

20:45 on 20/9/16 (UK date)