Song Choice at Russian Tennis Ace Trophy Presentation Raises Eyebrows – Deadline

best tennis player daniel medvedev on Sunday she claimed her first clay-court title by winning the Italian Open. As the Russian lifted the trophy at the award presentation, speakers in the stadium criticized the 1992 Pet Shop Boys dance hit. go westa rendition of the Village People song of the same name.

While a popular selection at sporting events, the Pet Shop Boys tune is a peculiar choice to mark Russia’s Medvedev’s victory.

First of all, the original Village People tune, and especially the cut down version of Pet Shop Boys with its intro, were made to resemble the anthem of the Soviet Union (now the Russian anthem using the same music).

In the aftermath of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Russian sports competitors, including tennis players, are not allowed to represent their country or carry the national flag, and the Russian anthem is not performed on any occasion.

Second, the song has a not-so-subtle message. While the Village People original is more about finding opportunity in the American West, the Pet Shop Boys version, which came out three years after the fall of the Berlin Wall, was clearly about the fall of communism in the Soviet Union and the former Soviet bloc. embrace western values ​​and way of life. The video for the song used images of the Statue of Liberty and many symbols of communism and Soviet landmarks, such as Red Square. (You can see it below)

The irony was not lost on some viewers watching the trophy presentation.