By Nick Weader, Class of ’27 – Staff Reporter

Dans cette partie de l’année, il est temps pour tous les élèves français d’écouter la musique française. Oh, wait. You wanted the English version. Sorry. 

For all you non-French speakers, the above means, “In this part of the year, it is time for all the French students to listen to French music.”

All French students around the world, that is. 

For the last seven years, two French teachers in Maine, Stephanie Carbonneau and Michelle Fournier, have been proctoring a French music takeoff of March Madness – Manie Musicale. Sixteen songs sung mostly or fully in French are selected to go head to head as students from around the world vote for the best French song. 

Sharon Public Schools has enrolled students in Manie Musicale since 2020. This year has had the largest international participation, with more than 6,000 schools across the world, and over 675,000 students from 37 countries.  

“It’s an amazing source of French music,” SHS freshman Sophia Lurye said. 

“It allows kids to put what they’ve learned from class to a real-world application,” added Aubrie Lavalee, a freshman who has participated in the event for the last four years. 

It’s even fun for the teachers. “I adore Manie Musicale,” said Madame Schechter, who teaches at SHS. “It’s a fantastic way to get students interested in French culture.”

Indeed it is. The songs selected cover a vast array of genres, from rap and hip hop to pop and indie. The artists are from a variety of French-speaking countries, like France, Côte D’Ivoire, Canada and Cameroon. 

Songs from French-speaking countries around the world have been chosen to compete against each other. The artists have even been known to send in videos to improve their chances of winning. Many artists at this point are returning artists, such as two-time winner Black M, who has joined forces with 2022 finalist Amir. Also, Gims has returned for the 5th time with his song “Horizon”. 

New competitors are frequent in the early stages of Manie Musicale. This year, there are a few newcomers such as Nuit Incolore with his song “Depasse”, Mika with his hit song “C’est la Vie”, Les Maryann, a alternative rock group from Quebec with their song “Tu es la,” among others. 

For two days, students vote for the song they like best. There are eight opening round matchups, then four second round matchups, two semi final matchups, and a final vote. Votes are Monday-Tuesday, Wednesday-Thursday, and Friday-Saturday. Sunday is a day used for tallying votes. In total, Manie Musicale takes about 30 days for voting, and just over a month total. Voting ends on April 9 this year.

If you are looking for a fun way to listen to some new music, then Manie Musicale may be for you! Ask a French teacher for info on how to create a bracket. It’s also a fun way to compete against your friends, by creating brackets against them.

Whatever way you may enjoy, there’s always fun in Manie Musicale.