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Popworldcupjustice: Algeria vs Russia

  • June 26, 2014
  • Brad O'Mance

worldcupthing2header

ALGERIA V RUSSIA

Guest referee: Richard Dawson — Music writer

Algeria32 'Kassaman'

[youtube]jEydMJeOF9w[/youtube]

“Bear with me one this one, it does have some redeeming features. Just look at the lyrics when trans­lated from their native Algerian; "We are soldiers fighting for the truth, And we have been fighting for inde­pend­ence". This is pretty much the Jordin Sparks ‘Battlefield’ of its time. Then there’s that military beat. As demon­strated by Destiny’s Child ‘Lose My Breath’, it's a proven fact that every song that makes use of marching band is a corker. That’s two good bits… That cymbal clash at 1.02 is nice isn’t it? It also made me realise that there are not nearly enough of those in pop music full stop (#cym­bal­gate). All in all, it’s the national anthem equi­val­ent of a Cheryl Cole album — a few nice elements but a bit of a mess when it’s all put together."

Russia32 Aleksey Goman & Ruslan Alehno — 'State Anthem of the Russian Federation'

“Here we have a pair of Narodniy Artist champs (and some other bloke) with a rendition of the snappily-titled Russian national anthem, ‘The State Anthem of the Russian Federation’. Sporting a lovely blonde mullet, the first guy seems quite into it; lots of popstar eyebrow action and endearing looks at his fellow per­formers (hopefully not too endearing, they are in Russia after all). Side fringe then takes over, complete with full ‘Céline-hand’. Not too sure about that, at least do the fist­clench if you’re going to attempt it. Then baldie hops in for the last bit, looking like he’s just wandered out of an afternoon meeting at an estate agents. All in all, you have to admit it’s a bold move to cover the national anthem. Imagine Joe McElderry and Olly Murs doing a camper than Christmas, balls to the wall version of ‘God Save The Queen’. Actually don’t, it would be too amazing."

Richard's full time score:

Algeria 2 — Russia 3

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Now you can vote for your own favourite.

[poll id="60"]

Next up: Brazil vs Chile

  • Aleksey Goman and Ruslan Alehno
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Further reading
  • 1
    New Music Monday: Griff's Black Hole is super, and massive
  • 2
    New Music Friday: Let's kick off 2021 with some KLF
  • 3
    The Top 45 Singles Of 2020
  • 4
    New Music Friday: Mae Muller doesn't want to be dependent
  • 5
    New Music Friday: There's a big one from Royal & The Serpent
  • 6
    New Music Friday: Baby Queen takes the throne
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