Falmouth Middle School French teacher Michelle Fournier, left with fellow French teacher Amber Burks in front of the song bracket. Fournier began the competition in 2017. Sophie Burchell/The Forecaster

Throughout March, many people closely follow bracket competitions. However, instead of a basketball team, in a classroom in Falmouth and over 7,000 other classrooms around the world, the winner was the French-Moroccan singer Ouidad and her song, “Quitte.”

“Manie Musicale,” or “Music Mania” in French, is a bracket competition in which students predict which French language songs will win a series of popularity competitions, much like the basketball phenomena of March Madness.

Starting with 16 songs in French, students lock in predictions about which songs will be most popular, voting each week on their favorite as two songs go head to head. The favored song advances, and the students with the most accurate brackets rack up the most points.

“It’s like our favorite month for the entire French year,” said Falmouth eighth grader Maggie Pratt, 13.

Falmouth Middle School French teacher Michelle Fournier and York Middle School French teacher Stephanie Carbonneau started Manie Musicale in 2017, inspired by a similar competition for Spanish songs.

“We were like, ‘There’s not one that’s French … why don’t we just make one?’” said Fournier.

The first year, only Falmouth and York middle school French classes participated. The next year, Fournier and Carbonneau presented the curriculum at a language teacher’s conference.

“We said, ‘Hey, here’s your lesson plan for Monday. Have your students fill out a bracket. We start voting on Wednesday, join us.’ And so we had a few people, and then it just grew and grew and grew,” said Fournier.

A map of all the schools participating in Manie Musicale this year. Contributed photo by Manie Musicale

Through more presentations and word of mouth, participation grew exponentially and far beyond Maine. This year, 7,068 schools are participating in Manie Musicale in all 50 states of the U.S. and in 35 countries. Across the globe, 864,929 French students between elementary school and university fill out brackets and vote on which songs will advance.

“I think next year we might hit a million students,” said Fournier.

“It’s quite amazing, because it just keeps getting better every year, and we try to add more layers and add some excitement,” she said.

Now a certified nonprofit, Manie Musicale is run by Fournier and Carbonneau  with a team of volunteer French teachers. The curriculum is free for schools and teachers to use, and teachers share lesson plans they made related to the material, create videos that reveal winners incorporating student art and photos, and design prizes for students to win throughout the competition.

In addition to exposure to music in French, the competition advances students’ grammar, vocabulary and knowledge of the cultures of the French language. For the bracket, Fournier and volunteers select recently released songs from artists around the world, from Guinea to Belgium. They include songs with a diversity of themes, genres and levels of popularity.

Musicians themselves have taken notice of Manie Musicale. Smaller artists pay attention to upticks of 200,000 viewers on their songs, gain critical new audiences in 35 countries, and sometimes send in videos thanking the students for their support. After his songs won multiple years at Manie Musicale, the popular Congolese artist Gims even hosted a special meet-and-greet for teachers and students participating in Manie Musicale before a concert in New York last fall.

“We even have artists now who write to us and say, ‘How do we get in?’ We’re not agents, we’re teachers,” said Fournier.

Falmouth Middle School students said they look forward to the return of Manie Musicale each March and the release of the new competition songs. Eighth graders even have the privilege of helping Fournier choose which songs might go in the lineup for over half a million other students.

“You really get a window into French culture. (In) other assignments (when) we’re not doing Manie Musicale, I feel like you’re just looking, you’re not really experiencing,” said Pratt, who plans to continue taking French in high school next year.

Students said they pick up on pronunciation, slang and what is “cool” in contemporary French language culture when listening to the songs, while also inadvertently practicing their French.

“We all look forward to it because it’s fun, but we’re actually still learning words and we don’t even realize it. You’re like, ‘Wait, now I know more words.’ (It) tricked us into learning!” said Eva Howison, 13.

Eighth grade French students at Falmouth Middle School watch the reveal video for which song wins this round of the bracket competition. Sophie Burchell/The Forecaster

This excitement in classrooms extends past the northern border. In Ontario, Canada, Terri-Ann Gawthroupe teaches middle school French at East Garafraxa Public School. She began incorporating Manie Musicale in her classrooms in 2018, and has brought it to three schools in the area. In Ontario, students are required to take French from Grades 4 through 8.

“(French class) has kind of a bad rap, because everyone’s like, ‘Oh, you know, we have to take it.’ And they all kind of hate it. And this has been … a complete game changer,” said Gawthroupe. “Just top to bottom, they’re into it.”

“I just did a reveal with the one group, and they’re holding each other’s hands. They’re on the edge of their seats. They’re totally invested in whether their song is winning,” she said.

In addition to excitement about the results, Gawthroupe and Fournier both noted the connection that the competition brings, from listening to multicultural artists to knowing that other French students worldwide are sharing this experience.

“This is about opening up windows and doors to other cultures,” said Gawthroupe.

“In the current political environment and all of the division in the world, it’s so beautiful when students and teachers come together over music,” said Fournier.

Upset alert! Fournier points out a close match in the Manie Musicale bracket. Sophie Burchell / The Forecaster

“Even though we’re fighting about which song is the best, it’s just such a nice piece of community and a connection, which is really special,” she said.

The top song to win the bracket is scheduled to be revealed on April 9 this year, finalizing both which student in the class had the best bracket and which French-speaking artist had the most fans. In Falmouth and other schools worldwide, French students across grades will gather to see the exciting results unveiled. Fournier said she is sure the students will be spirited, as it has been in the past.

“They’re singing along, and they’re banging on desks, it’s a cool thing,” said Fournier.

“I feel really lucky as a teacher to get to do this,” she said.