posted on January 17, 2005 08:16:54 AM new
THE PROVINCE
Latest News
Song too risque for school
TALENT SHOW: Principal vetoes girls' 'suggestive' performance
Ethan Baron
The Province
Sunday, January 16, 2005
A Vancouver mom has filed a complaint with the school board after her daughter's talent-show dance group was told they couldn't perform to a popular radio song.
The Grade 7 girls spent 12 hours polishing their routine to "Lady Marmalade" only to have their Kerrisdale Elementary principal shut them down.
"I was excited for them. They were looking good. They were gleaming and smiling," said Kiara Hunter, a former B.C. Lions cheerleader who helped her daughter, Destinee, and six friends choreograph the routine to the Grammy-winning song by Christina Aguilera, Lil' Kim, Pink and Mya.
"This song is a very innocent song," said Hunter. "It's censorship. It's infuriating, as a parent. What are they going to do, burn books now?"
At particular issue was the song's chorus in French: "Voulez vous coucher avec moi?"
It translates to "Will you go to bed with me?"
"It was really discouraging for all of us, because we worked so hard," Destinee said.
Performer Kelsey Devine said, "All the songs on the radio now, you can't find one that doesn't have swearing on it. All the songs are inappropriate to principals. Our parents were all OK with us doing it to this song."
Other parents may not have been so pleased to see the 12-year-old girls dancing to a song about a prostitute from the PG-13 movie Moulin Rouge, said principal Carol Andison.
"They are lovely girls. It's a really great tune. It's just not appropriate for an elementary school talent show," Andison said.
"This talent show will be viewed from kindergarten to Grade 7. In elementary school, we're G-rated. The song's got several things in it that are very suggestive. I consulted with my [parent advisory committee] chair, and many teachers, and we decided it was just not on.
"It might be the popular culture, but I have a lot of children to consider from all walks of life. There were parents here when it was brought up and they were just appalled that it was even considered."
French-immersion students right down to Grade 1 would be hearing the "voulez vous" chorus, Andison noted.
Among the suggestive lyrics was "Gotta get wet, are you ready yet?" Andison said.
Hunter said Andison downloaded the wrong song version from the Internet and the girls' version does not contain that phrase.
She admitted the lyrics do say, "We independent women, some mistake us for whores," and refers to "bad-ass chicks." But such language pales in comparison to the sex education her son received at Kerrisdale Elementary when he was in Grade 7 two years ago, when an instructor demonstrated condom use on a sex toy, Hunter said.
"They're saying, 'Don't dance to voulez vous, but here's a dildo and check it out.'"
Countered Andison: "This has got nothing to do with sex education. This [song] is about a hooker."
For the Jan. 27 show, the girls have changed their music to "Diamonds Are a Girl's Best Friend."
"We'll practically have to redo all of our performance," Destinee said
posted on January 17, 2005 09:42:40 AM new
Well DUH!
Didn't any of them realize those lyrics were going to cause trouble? What were they THINKING? They WEREN'T THINKING. You know why? Because they're 12 year olds. Obviously there wasn't any parental involvement.
"Hunter said Andison downloaded the wrong song version from the Internet"
... And they are music pirates and thieves too!
"This has got nothing to do with sex education. This [song] is about a hooker."
Followed by:
'changed their music to "Diamonds Are a Girl's Best Friend." '
Umm. Different era, same problem. That's an improvement? Carol Channing has to be the worlds oldest, ugliest prostitute!
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