French Olympic champion Florent Manaudou in BBC transgender error

Ah the joys of the Internet.

The surprise winner of the 50 metres freestyle, Florent Manaudou, certainly appears to have something of a sexual orientation issue if you read the BBC's initial report on the race.

Florent Manaudou (screenshot TV5 Monde

 

Oh there's a photo of the strapping lad all right - all 1.99 metres of the 21-year-old giving what appears to be a cry of delight after winning in a time 21.34 seconds in a race that, if you blinked, seemed almost to be over before it had begun.

But then read a little further into the piece and that's when you discover that for the BBC, Manaudou - Florent that is - described as "the sister of former Olympic 400m freestyle champion Laure."

(screenshot from BBC site)

OK someone made a silly mistake and probably a person who knows little or nothing about sport - which 12 hours later still hadn't been corrected (perhaps it has by now).

But it brings a smile to the face and it's humbling that even an esteemed broadcaster such as the Beeb can make such a glaring blunder in its effort to be first and not necessarily the most accurate with the news.

Friday's French music break - Michel Berger, "Quelques mots d'amour"

Friday's French music break this week is from one of arguably France's most influential singer-songwriters, Michel Berger.

It's his 1980 single "Quelques mots d'amour".

Michel Berger (screenshot from "Paradis blanc" video)

With excellent timing TF1 broadcast a special tribute to Berger back in early June even though August 2 marked the 20th anniversary of the day Berger died from a heart attack aged just 44.

So much has been written about the man who for two decades shaped the French pop music scene as both a singer and a songwriter, and there's no need to repeat what can be found elsewhere at the press of a button.

(If you're interested, perhaps begin here in English or the official Michel Berger-France Gall site in French)

Berger had the talent, making his first recording at just 15, of someone who has been described as having "music as his mother tongue".



He played a vital role in the careers of, among others, France Gall, Françoise Hardy, Véronique Sanson and (he can be forgiven for one small error perhaps) the relaunch of Johnny Hallyday.

Berger co-wrote the musical Starmania, which was a huge success in France throughout the 1980s and as with much of his music, the songs live on as standards of French variety music.

As Radio France Internationale points out though, unlike other past greats such as Georges Brassens, Léo Ferré or Claude Nougaro, the songs of Berger aren't the preferred choice of contemporary covers versions or reworked into other musical genres.

http://www.rfimusique.com/actu-musique/chanson/20120801-michel-berger-vingt-ans-apres

The original versions remain by and large the ones everybody prefers; instantly recognisable to a huge number of people from the opening bars.

Well that's one interpretation of course. Another would be that they are perceived as being dated and don't lend themselves easily to being reworked into jazz, rock, folk, soul or RnB formats.

Whatever the case, ask any French person to name a Berger song and the chances are they'll come up with one - if not more - and probably be able to sing a few lines too.

And the list from which to choose a favourite is very, very long.

It includes "Paradis blanc",  "Le Groupie de pianiste", "Diego" and the list goes on and on.

Hard to choose, but here's "Quelques mots d'amour" as this week's Friday's French music break.

"Quelques mots d'amour"

Summer camp monitors from Gennevilliers - suspended and then reinstated

The case of four temporary instructors sacked and then reinstated by Jacques Bourgoin, the mayor of the town of Gennevilliers in the northwestern suburbs of Paris, is one that has made both the domestic and international news.

Jacques Bourgoin (screenshot from AFP video)

And you could be forgiven for believing that on the face of it, Bourgoin's decision appeared to be one that, in the words of the Conseil français du culte musulman (French council of the Moslem faith, CFCM) was "an attack on religious freedom".

After all the headlines such as "Sacked over Ramadan fast" or "French Moslem suspended in Ramadan fasting row" certainly gave that impression.

There's no doubt that Bourgoin's U-turn to reinstate the four men in an effort to "avoid controversy" was more than a little late as the damage had been done.

But looking at the background to the decision, you can see that while he undoubtedly mishandled what was after all a sensitive issue and one bound to "raise indignation" once it became part of the public domain, Bourgoin had the best interests of the children at heart

Briefly, the four men had been employed as monitors to accompany children from the town to a summer camp in southwestern France.

They were sacked on July 20, the first day of Ramadan, after inspectors paid a visit, discovered they were observing their fast and, "not respecting the terms of their contracts in a way which could have endangered the physical safety of the children for whom they were responsible."

In other words, as far as Bourgoin and Gennevilliers' councillors were concerned, by not eating or drinking the men couldn't carry out their jobs properly.

And Bourgoin surely had good reason and didn't want a case of history potentially repeating itself.

Because in 2009 during a similar summer camp involving children from the town, a monitor fell asleep behind the wheel of the minibus in which they were travelling, causing an accident and seriously injuring one child.

She - the monitor - too had been fasting.

Of course there's the valid argument put forward by the CFCM president Mohammed Moussaoui that worldwide, "Hundreds of millions of people fast during Ramadan every year without it having a detrimental effect on their ability to work."

But equally, Bourgoin had a moral and legal obligation to ensure the well-being of children in the council's care and simply didn't want to take the risk.

A tricky one - not helped by the way in which it was handled - or reported.