Controversial moment at Coldplay gig in Bucharest:

The manele singer Babasha was invited on stage, on Wednesday evening, during the first Coldplay concert at the National Arena in Bucharest, when the audience started booing him. Babasha started getting booed by Coldplay fans as soon as he took the stage and started singing a song which is currently trending on YouTube.

Before inviting him on stage, the lead singer of the band Coldplay, Chris Martin, said that he chose him after hearing him perform these days on the street.

“I want to say something. When I landed yesterday, well, two days ago, I was wandering the streets and I heard this man singing, so beautifully, in the street. Then I looked at the music charts in Romania and I 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,” said Chris Martin.

The British band posted a video on their Instagram account on Wednesday of one of Lipscani’s street performers singing “Caruso” by Lucio Dalla.

The moment in the middle of the concert quickly went viral, and sparked a lot of comments from disgruntled spectators, who paid from EUR 200 to 400 to see Coldplay performing in Romania.

After the first moments of bewilderment, the crowd started whistling and booing more like a football match. The music stopped, the lights went out, and the concert resumed only after a few minutes.

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Babasha, real name Vlad Babașa, is originally from Bacău and is currently very popular on several audio streaming platforms.

“I could have lived without the manea. We have something more that represents us as Romanians and Romania. I’m sorry he got booed. He was not the one who was booed, but the tactics,” said a spectator for Digi24.

“I can’t say that the moment was appreciated by the world, but we tried to get over it. I don’t think it represents all of us, it wasn’t the right time”, said another one.

“Who wants to listen to a certain genre, go to that concert. I understand Coldplay’s attitude of integration, but it’s not to my taste. The public cannot be judged for acting honestly. They didn’t come for anything else, but for Coldplay,” some other person commented.

“Gorgeous, apart from the manele, it was extraordinary,” was another opinion.

“EMAGIC, you really made it the “concert of the year”! I don’t know who had the wonderful idea to bring such a valuable “Romanian” artist on the same stage as Coldplay, but save us another time! Maybe bring U2 and Leo from Rosiori with them,” reads another comment on Facebook.

“Dear EMAGIC, you should have told Chris Martin that it is not a good idea to have a maneleist sing on the same stage as Coldplay. Maybe Chris likes the way it sounds, maybe he thinks it’s exotic, but they had nothing to look for tonight. I have been to 4 Coldplay concerts in Europe, since 2008, and Chris Martin is one of the artists who is very attentive to the audience’s reactions, empathetic. His face fell when the whole stadium started booing and whistling. I think he has never experienced anything like this in his life. He didn’t understand anything and it took him about 3 songs to regroup. It is embarrassing for us, the Romanian public, and for Coldplay. Whatever the reason why the young man ended up on the same stage as Chris, this embarrassing, booing moment was not supposed to happen!“, said another person.

Manele is a controversial genre in Romania. Some are huge fans, but many are challenging it, and not for the music itself nor for it is mostly sung by the Roma community members, but for promoting a wrong mentality and lifestyle.

Babasha performed his song, “Pai naa” during the Coldplay concert. The lyrics that resonated on the National Arena sounded something like this: “Ooo, ooo, I like your eyes too much/ Ooo, ooo, what am I going to do with them/ Ooo, ooo, I think I’m pawning it/ Let me go get you ticket, I’m taking you somewhere secret…”

The band Coldplay is performing for the first time in Romania, with two gigs at National Arena, yesterday and today.

A similar moment took place during Madonna’s concert in Bucharest in 2009, when she mentioned about gypsies being discriminated in Eastern Europe, with spectators also booing her.

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