French students at St. Joseph Elementary School gathered on April 10 to celebrate the final results of Manie Musicale.
Manie Musicale is a global French music competition and runs like March Madness, but with songs instead of basketball teams.
The competition sees students fill out brackets and vote for their favourite French-language songs. This year, more than 870,000 students from 35 countries joined in.
“This is Manie Musicale. It’s a contest that happens coinciding with March Madness,” said French teacher Katie Mack. “It is a round-robin style competition between different French artists and music.”
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Students in Grades 6 and 7 listened to songs, studied lyrics and learned about each artist’s country of origin.
“We go over the lyrics, the meanings behind the songs,” said Mack. “They’ve been voting along with over 800,000 students now in 35 countries.”
Grade 6 student Lily said she enjoyed taking part.
“It’s been wonderful. I love Manie Musicale.”
Zoe, another student, said the best part was voting with friends.
“I get to learn new things,” she said. “I learned how to speak more French and I learned about new artists around the world.”
Meanwhile, this year’s winner was Dr. Yaro with the song Minimum ça, beating Gims’ Sois pas timide by just four per cent of the vote.
At St. Joseph, Gage M-C (6B) had a perfect bracket. Wrenton C (6A), Kelly A (6B), Sarah A (7A), and Olivia P (7B) also had top brackets.
Some students won fun awards. Sasha P (7B) and Roux P (6A) were “Most likely to sing along.”
Claire T (6A), Sasha P (7B), and Kelly A (6B) were “Most likely to debate which song is best.”
Sarah A (7A), Luxtyn B (7B), and Lucy G (6A) were “Most likely to listen to the playlist at home.”
Sophie, a Grade 7 student, said the songs meant a lot.
“Probably all the meanings behind all the songs and how much they made the songs mean to people,” said Sophie.
Mack said students have stayed excited, even after class.
“Their ‘For You’ pages are covered in French music,” she said, noting Saskatchewan and Alberta have limited resources when it comes to French.
“This allows them to see that and connect back to the rest of the country and the culture.”
Mack first joined Manie Musicale three years ago after hearing about it from another teacher.
“It is free with multiple resources for all teachers interested,” she said.
The program started in 2017 with only two French classes. However, now it includes more than 7,000 schools.
Michelle Fournier and Stephanie Carbonneau, two teachers from the U.S., created the contest. Volunteer French teachers now operate the non-profit organization.
Students at St. Joseph also got to meet two of the artists this year. They spoke on Zoom with YaniSs Odua and FNX, whose song One Love was a class favourite.
“It was great getting to connect not only with the artists but to see some of the other students and classrooms across the globe that are participating alongside us,” said Mack.
Students finished the unit with excitement and more confident in their French.
“This helps connect them back to the rest of the country and the rest of their culture,” said Mack.
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