[UPDATE: This afternoon's launch confirmed the official market track is indeed a cover of Jesus Jones' "Right Here, Right Now", by local band The Feelers.The song will feature in a main advertisement, supported by four 15- second spots urging f
[UPDATE: This afternoon's launch confirmed the official market track is indeed a cover of Jesus Jones' "Right Here, Right Now", by local band The Feelers.
The song will feature in a main advertisement, supported by four 15- second spots urging fans to pre-register to buy tickets.
The Rugby World Cup 2011 chief executive Martin Sneddon said he signed off on the song choice at the recommendation of Clemenger BBDO, the agency responsible for the ads.
The spots will feature stars including Jonah Lomu, Valerie Vili and Jeremy "Newsboy" Wells.
If you don't happen to like the Jesus Jones ditty (listen to it via the link below), you're out of luck. Expect it to be on high rotate in the 18 months til World Cup kick off.
Ticket details were also announced.]
Rumours have swirled around the internet this morning that the official song of the Rugby World Cup has been chosen - and that it is a cover of Jesus Jones’ “Right Here, Right Now” by New Zealand band The Feelers.
(See Jesus Jones' original video for the song on YouTube here.)
According to net scuttlebutt, The Feelers/Jesus Jones' combo pipped two other contenders: Evermore covering Republica's "Ready to Go" and an Op Shop version of Blur's "Song 2".
The official song is due to be unveiled at 3pm today at Auckland's Sky City, along with a broader marketing campaign and other World Cup details. Prime minister John Key and International Rugby Board officials will be on hand.
Jesus Jones - a UKband that peaked in the late 1980s/early 1990s, mashing synth-pop with rock - originally penned the track to celebrate the Berlin Wall coming down.
More recently, 2008 US presidential hopeful Hillary Clinton adopted the original version of "Right Here, Right Now" as her campaign theme during the primaries.
Many people commenting online found proto-pub rockers The Feelers a strange match for the moody 1990 anthem.
Rugby World Cup Ltd spokesman Mike Jaspers told NBR he could not “confirm or deny” the speculation.
Mr Jaspers did say that the song would not be the official anthem (which has long been the Shirley Bassey-esque “The World in Union” ) but the official marketing track, used in the campaign to sell tickets.
The first TV commercials in the campaign will kick off tonight, backed up by radio, print and online ads.
Rugby World Cup Ltd is hoping to see about 1 million of the 1.7 million tickets domestically.
Mr Jaspers said the campaign soundtracked by The Feelers an as yet unannounced band would be New Zealand only in terms of media buy, but would reach further afield via a website.
