2012 Presidential election

An absolutely massive weekend for France, and while the election result may have come as little surprise, its magnitude cannot be diminished.

It marks a turning point, and it will have implications on the French music scene as much as it will have an impact on every area of life in the Republic.

Things will settle, and it remains to be seen if change will be as radical as some expect or as fundamental as some fear. It should be remembered that the  result was actually quite close, it was no landslide, and Hollande will face a huge amount of social and political inertia.

Although the same could be said for Sarkozy and his right-wing predecessors. Each came to office with a promise of shaking the country up in a similar way to Margaret Thatcher in the UK. All failed in this ambition, and although each did manage to pass many an unpopular piece of legislation, the core Republican values were not transformed into an Anglo-Saxon free-market free for all.

A couple of other thoughts about the campaign. It was possible for an outsider - non native French speaker located outside France as I am - to folllow it like never before. Twitter and Facebook brought comment and developments in a minute-by-minute basis, opinion came from blogs and news sites - special credit to France 24 - and video could be quickly caught up with on YouTube.

A real success in new media coverage of the election.

But this certainly wasn't the picture on the traditional broadcast media. Again, the UK media followed the usual line of ignoring it completely until the first round of the election, then focusing on the National Front's vote. Their scripts were already written, and the narrative would be about another chapter in the rise of the European right, missing the significance of a Socialist president

We are always better informed about the US elections than we ever are about the French elections.

 I would guess that just about anyone in the UK asked to 'name the president' would answer 'Obama' before thinking to ask 'Which president?...'

And on the National Front vote, although disappointed to see them getting any popular support, it was heartening to see them completely collapse under any political pressure. Had Le Pen reciprocated to Sarkozy's disgusting overtures the political map of the country could be very different, with potentially a UMP president indebted to the FN. But the fascists fell apart under pressure due no doubt to a fatal combination of arrogance and stupidity.

But it's time for optimism and looking ahead at hopefully better times.

Apologies if this blog reads like one of the many political blogs that haunt the internet today. It's a music blog, but music doesn't exist in a vacuum and political circumstances shape music and the music of France is no different in that it is part of a wider political and cultural environment.

If nothing else, Carla Bruni will have more time to focus on her musical career.