Vuvuzela: The Buzzing Sound of the World Cup

This World Cup is being ruined and destroyed by these ridiculous horns. The TV atmosphere on each of the games I have watched to date has been nullified by the constant monotonous blare. I never thought I'd be considering not watching a World Cup but, like anyone else here in London who I've discussed this with, very little enjoyment is being had by those watching on TV. It surely isn't too late to stop this appalling noise before everyone gradually switches off. And they will.

The only way i can drown this noise out is by getting incredibly drunk, FIFA you are indirectly advocating alcoholism

The noise is spoiling the whole competition. Hopefully south africa go out out early and they all sod off home and take there bloody horns with them.

You can't even hear the footbal chants, the beautiful rhythms, not even the GOAL cheers, all you hear is the f*****g horns, F**k those vuvuzelas, this is OUTRAGEOUS!  

What the fuck is FIFA thinking????. They look like some minor league operation run by parents. If that happened at any NFL, NBA or NHL game the fans would be running for the exits all right. To grab their goddam tire irons and take care of that shit once and for all. Fucking unbelievable. Way to go S. Africa you dumbasses.

the humming sound accompanying World Cup broadcasts is unbearable and restricts my viewing to about 10 minutes tops. I don't blame the organizers and fans so much as I do the TV broadcasterws.  There must be a technology availble that would filter out this background noise without disrupting the broadcast.  A country that can put a man on the moon should be able to handle this minor problem. The fans there will just have to cope with noise with earplugs or whatever.

just mute the sound maybe? or do you need ears to watch the game?

The buzzing sound has made the games unwatchable. The South African fans are idiots. I hope the World Cup should never be played there again.

why don't the tv channels just increase the volume of their voices vs the recorded volume of the crowd? that way we can lower the sound on the tv and barely hear the buzz of the vuvuzelas and still be able to hear the voice of the commentators.

I'm not a typical die hard soccer fan but a loyal sports fan and follow international events like the World Cup!. The FIFA is a real "bush" organization if the image they want to project is the FIFA fan base needs to blow their brains out to enjoy the event. Really is this what the Prestigous World Cup wants the rest of the world to remember about the event?

So its ok for the rest of the world to play their drums, blow their trumpets and especially the Americans who think they own the fucking world and sit there in silence while the English can sing "The referee's a wanker", get over yourselves, deal with it and stop being a bunch of fucking stuck up cry babies. No one is making you watch the TV so turn it off if you are capable of getting off your fat arses and doing so (If you can't fin the remote).

I am so so sad this noise is RUINING the World Cup. The noise itself is bad enough, but even worse is that it COMPLETELY removes ALL crowd noise with it's ups and downs which means ZERO atmosphere and no feel for the game AT ALL. It is now like watching 4th division games in a tiny, very boring country, there might as well not be anybody there watching at all. It is truly like watching teams playing in an empty stadium. In fact that would be an improvement over the terrible noise. As for the commentators, at least the ones we get in Singapore add ZERO excitement or atmosphere. Their commentary sounds like they are bored to death already, no hint of excitement in their voices at all, even when there is a goal. WHAT IS GOING ON HERE?????

Personally being here in South Africa and watching game after game live at the few stadiums I have been to, (South Africa v Mexico, USA v England and Germany v Australia), I was impressed by how many AMERICANS AND ENGLISH & AUSTRALIANS had bought and were blowning their Vuvuzela's, NOT just the Aficans here but white western people from the countries represented by those complaining here on this post. Firstly, you dont need sound to "WATCH" a soccer game, you can turn it off or just press "MUTE" on your remote control. Secondly you blame FIFA when it is the REAL fans at these games buying the cheap plastic horns and blowing them, NOT just South Africans but people of all nationalities. I agree, to blame the fans is immature and quite frankly I really think they don't care what we think. technology DOES exist to take away and lower the background noise and to increase the commentating volume (It happens every other week in Formula One Racing for example, come to think of that any other motorsport), its called a closed microphone. On a final note makes me wonder how many people here complaining if given the chance to attend a live game, in person, all expenses paid would actually buy one themselves, the liars would say never but looking around South Africa right now seeing the different fans from different countries well what can I say... the numbers do not lie.

Those who suggest muting the sound so as not to hear those damn contraptions , fine but.............soccer is a slow game  to start with ( as compared to hockey let's say ) so imagine with no sound.Might as well turn off the tv and go fishing or something !

I understand your point MasterOf2010 (17:32 ).Maybe if you are watching the games live it becomes a whole different ball game , but try and listen to them on tv at this end of the world and you'll see that those vuvulalas , or whatever those damn things are called , are a real pain in the butt.If it's too late to ban them , the TV Networks should adjust their sound accordingly. I can't believe nobody has noticed already !

May all the tourists who have visited this beautiful country, take a vuvuzela back to their own countries!PROUDLY SOUTH AFRICAN

Don't hate the whole of South Africa, not all of us like soccer for one thing and the vuvuzelas for another. I hate them, can't stand them. I usually enjoy watching the World Cup, but I refuse to watch this one. I hate those things so fucking much. So sooo fucking much, I'd rather shove a pineapple up my ass than go to or watch one of these matches.

Trying to watch the Holland game now, cant even watch the game! all you hear is buzzzzzzzzzzzzz its a disgrace! Ban the fucking things! Cant see what the fun in it is at all!

The constant noise of the vuvuzela is totally ruining the World Cup. I wondered why I had found the matches so far to be boring and seemingly without incident. It's because the normal, ooh's and ahh's; sounds of disappointment and goal celebrations are just not there. It's all a monotone, football and vuvu's. Ban them now or people will always talk about this World Cup as being "the worst one ever".

Im not a mad football fan, but can certainly get caught up in the atmosphere of a exciting game. World Cup 2010 has had the atmosphere distroyed by awful drone of the horns, Please FIFA stop these awful noise, it is killing the world cup.

Sorry South Africa but this is turning into the most un-enjoyable world cup ever.  The teams may as well be playing in empty stadiums, there is absolutely no atmosphere. All you can hear is this bloody awful buzzing noise. Have now lost interest in this World Cup- such a shame!

The noise from this ghastly thing penetrates your skull and drives one to the brink of insanity. Even worse, it is being heard in virtually all the shopping malls throughout the country where innocent shoppers are forced to tolerate it for the sake of having to buy bread and milk or visit the atm. I hate these fucking things!!!!   

Such a shame!  I can't watch the games for any longer than a few minutes.  Totally agree with those who are making the point that the incessant buzzing NOISE has destroyed the ebb and flow of the game--a feature that adds so much excitement to the soccer/football games.  I'm surprised there has not been a greater BUZZ from the advertisers.  If I payed that kind of money for my product ad, I would certainly be hollering louder than those annyoying vuvazalias!  Wake up and do something about it FIFA!!!!

This noise is wrecking the World Cup - agree with everyone that is missing the roar of the crowd when anything happens. Too bad there's not some sort of hi-tech filter that could muffle the buzz. Traditional... I doubt it - they say they stupid horns have only been around for 10 years - no doubt someone has done a nice bit of marketing and is cashing in big time - well done dickhead.

Worst World Cup ever, the noise is intolerable.  Fuck the vuvuzelas and fuck FIFA for not banning them.  Oh, and fuck every idiot who shows up with one.