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Your support makes all the difference.Keen to continue their association with international soccer tournaments in the minds of the purchasing public, Puma is launching its very own European song contest that converts upbeat Eurovision Song Contest entries into raucous stadium chants.
The sportswear company, which is supplying gear for 6 of the 32 teams at the 2010 FIFA World Cup, are calling it the Hardchorus Song Contest, as groups of burly men belt out a Eurovision entry associated with their country of origin.
The Eurovision Song Contest for 2010 holds its semi-finals on May 25 and 27, and the final in Norway on May 29. Not coincidentally, May 29 is also the closing date for Hardchorus voting on Puma's YouTube channel.
While Adidas is the clothing company with FIFA World Cup sponsorship, other manufacturers such as Nike and Puma are jostling for attention with unofficial tie-ins such as this.
With a series of four videos, Puma improvises on the famous Dove toiletres campaign that featured ordinary women laid bare - though here, rough and ready male choirs are clad in branded threads.
"Allez Ola Olé" is the most on-topic tune, being not only France's official entry to the 2010 Eurovision Song Contest but also the World Cup theme to be used by one of the country's main broadcasters.
The English contingent bunch together outside a pub on a dingy day to sing, near shout, their national Eurovision song "That Sounds Good To Me," while a German crew accompanied by some particularly impressive beards opt to romp through their 1982 Eurovision winner "Ein bißchen Frieden," originally sung by a 17-year-old blond schoolgirl backed by guitar, strings and harp.
As for Italy, a group of sullen males stand assembled in a cafe-bar, silent for what should have been a rendition of "Fiumi di Parole," the last Eurovision entry before the country's most recent withdrawal from Eurovision in 1997.
The English, French, Italian and German entries can be voted for on Puma's YouTube channel.
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