Everything That Is Right With Euro 2008: Mr. Boombastic

At first I was hugely skeptical. I mean, the Euros are a pretty big deal. Not only that but they’re, you know, European. (Feel free to send that brilliant revelation right there to the awards committees.) However, the more time passed, the more I realized this is an absolute stroke of genius move from the movers and shakers up at the top of the UEFA pyramid. They’ve nominated one Shaggy to provide much of the soundtrack to the games. That’s right, Mr. Boombastic himself is in the house.

Alright, I wasn’t completely honest about the time passing thing; it actually took 30 seconds of the Mr. Boombastic video to swing me in favor of this move. Why? I have no idea. The song is fantastically absurd and it brings me back to the junior high days when stuff like this flew for reasons no analyst in the world could ever unearth. I’m sure Shaggy would be happy to know he had such a positive impact on my formative years.

From the official website:

The reggae star, famed for such hits as Oh Carolina and Mr Boombastic, attended an event in Berne today marking 100 days until the finals as well as the launch of euro2008.com. Shaggy teamed up with tournament mascots Trix and Flix to record their anthem, Like A Superstar, to help fans get in the party mood for UEFA EURO 2008™.

I am absolutely outraged at this statement. How in the world could they possibly omit the opus that is “It Wasn’t Me“? That song is one of the crowning achievements in the last 25 years of music and a wise lesson for the young’uns in the crowd. (I still think Zidane should’ve used that as his defense.)

All in all, despite being a Jamaican-born American, it comes down to one question: Do you want your European Championships with or without a side of Mr. Boombastic?

As if that’s really a question.