abnormal. A New Zealand city steeped in the successes of Celine Dion

“It bothers us.” Residents of a town in New Zealand have been suffering for several months from an unusual scourge: nightly loudspeaker competitions between motorists, who have a penchant for Celine Dion songs, says Anita Baker, mayor of Porirua, a town with a population of 60,000. , people “can no longer sleep.”

Voice battles have become a trend in New Zealand for several years. The goal of each participant is to saturate the sound of others with his own voice, through ultra-powerful audio systems. Many styles are “sung”, but Celine Dion has had a huge hit. in Local media the offer, One user explains that you need “clear” music with “trebles” and “simple bass.” »

Noisy battles

Porirua people cannot listen to his songs like My heart will go on And It all comes down to nowEspecially since the “battles” sometimes continue until two in the morning, as the mayor confirms. Randomly, during the week or on weekends, competitors park their cars with their engines running, blast their music at the top of their lungs and change positions frequently to avoid the police. “This happens in our city centre, which is in a basin, so the noise spreads like a drum to all the suburbs,” Ms Baker explains.

According to the elected official, the “fights” began in November 2022, when local rugby fans celebrated the performance of the Samoa Islands in the Rugby League World Cup, where the Pacific nation reached the final.

Many complaints

Anita Baker has already received several complaints from frustrated residents, and this is one of them Petition It is now circulating online to put an end to the discord. The mayor says she is determined to find a solution with the police: “We don’t want people to flee our city because of the noise.”