Some of the most memorable moments from last year’s French Open championships may have come not from singles champions Rafael Nadal and Justine Henin, but rather Arnaud Clement, Nathalie Dechy, Lleyton Hewitt, and even John McEnroe. They’ve taken place during the event’s infamous karaoke series filmed in one of the tournament’s laundry rooms, a feature that debuted last year and is back by popular demand.
So far this year, the short filmed pieces have included efforts from Rafael Nadal, Roger Federer, Novak Djokovic, and Tommy Robredo. The clips are making the rounds of TV networks around the globe as well on the internet at YouTube - see a sampling on Framed.
Nadal showed off his dancing skills in his rendition to “La Bamba,” singing in Spanish along with two sidekick laundry room attendants. The defending champion appeared to be as comfortable on the dance floor as on the tennis court.
That’s more than can be said of his rival Roger Federer, whose performance garnered a trademark “Oh my,” from famed television commentator Dick Enberg. The always graceful Federer may have no peers when it comes to winning matches, but if his ranking was based on his singing chops, he would be a mere pretender on the tour. At least his song selection was appropriate. Federer sang to Tina Turner’s 1989 hit, “Simply the Best.”
While Tatiana Golovin took top honors for her interpretation of “Barbie Girl” last year, it appears that lesser-known Frenchman Florent Serra, who gave a moving performance of R.Kelly’s “I Believe I Can Fly,” may take it this year. It was the equivalent of Fabrice Santoro's "My Heart will go on" from last year.
And another Frenchman, Gilles Simon, made headlines with a striptease to “Hot Stuff” by Donna Summer.
Rounding it out was an encore of “I Will Survive” by Novak Djokovic, who could not keep his shirt on or sing a note on key during the performance. He did manage a shouting fest similar to the one Svetlana Kuznetsova gave last year to the same song. Someone call Gloria Gaynor and urge her to protest.
While they don’t sing, cameo appearances by Richard Gasquet and Amelie Mauresmo are also part of the popular series.
Who knows what the judges from “American Idol” would make of it all...