IMAGINE SEEING 60 Japanese baton-twirlers doing the can can to I'll Tell me Mashortly after being told baton-twirling "is a very serious sport". You would most likely laugh.
The song was the theme tune of the 29th World Baton-twirling Championships and fourth International Cup which came to an end at the University of Limerick sports arena yesterday.
The song was popular among the crowds present, with the competition judges even doing some Irish dancing to it at one stage.
Its purpose? To raise excitement among the crowd before each event.
Fun aside, baton-twirling really is a serious sport, with 800 competitors from 22 countries, including Australia, Brazil, Canada, Slovenia, the Netherlands, Japan, Switzerland and the United States, competing at the event in Limerick.
Yesterday saw the freestyle and teams finals take place, with Japan taking gold in every category. The teams final featured six teams - Japan, the US, France, Italy, Catalonia and Belgium - battling it out for the title.
The Japanese team, made up of five women and three men, performed its routine to a rather spooky version of John Lennon's Imagine, taking gold for the 16th consecutive year, with the US and France coming in second and third respectively.
The French team, which is renowned for its artistic expression, received a huge reception from the crowd, while its supporters were equally artistic, dressed in blue, white and red curly wigs, flags and facepaint.
The atmosphere was fun and boisterous, spurred on by Canada and England chanting "It's quiet on the other side" at each other from opposite sides of the arena.
The most popular participants in the competition were the Japanese senior men, who had to be escorted to the dressing rooms by security after being mobbed by fans.
The three men, Keisuke Komada, Shuichi Kawazu and Toshimichi Sasaki all performed their routines for a second time after the teams final by special request of the audience.
The men received a standing ovation.
It was Toshimichi Sasaki's 21st world championships. He began performing in the competition aged seven.
Sarah Sexton, a member of the Irish baton-twirling team, and co-owner of the Northern Star Twirlers club in Dublin, says "broken noses" are the most common injury at the event, with broken fingers coming in a close second.
Each team performing in the finals suffered at least one dropped baton, but according to Ms Sexton, who has been twirling batons for 19 years, it is rare for a team not to experience a baton drop.
The competition winners for each category were led out by Irish dancers in full regalia, with Queen's We Are the Champions being accompanied by swaying arms in the crowd following the presentation of medals in each category.
Brother and sister David and Sophie Doyne were the only Irish competitors to achieve a placed result at the event.
They took 19th and 20th place respectively in the freestyle baton-twirling competition.
Japan took the bronze, silver and gold medals in the men's and women's junior and senior freestyle competitions, as well as the gold medal in the team event.
By the end of the competition, everyone knew the Japanese national anthem by heart, which, thankfully, is a good one as the audience had to stand for it countless times.
Baton-twirling moves include solo twirls, two baton-twirls, three baton-twirls, illusions and exchanges, with batons being thrown 15 metres into the air.
The baton-twirlers are marked for technical merit (their type of tricks and the difficulty of the moves) and their artistic expression (how they perform to the music).