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Royals did not push for Lorde to sing at World Series

Recording artist Lorde performs at the Austin City Limits music festival on Oct. 12.
(Ashley Landis / EPA)
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It would be the perfect pairing of sports and pop culture: Lorde singing “Royals” at Game 1 of the Kansas City Royals’ first World Series game in 29 years.

The inspiration for the hit song, after all, was the singer seeing a picture of Kansas City’s greatest player, George Brett, in his Royals jersey.

However, when the Royals provided Major League Baseball with their list of proposed World Series entertainers, Lorde was not among them, said Kevin Uhlich, the Royals’ senior vice president of business operations.

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“It’s a great song,” Uhlich said. “I’m not so sure those lyrics are exactly what we wanted.”

You could see where the Royals would not be too thrilled about sellout crowds shouting out: “We’ll never be royals. ... We crave a different kind of buzz.”

An MLB spokesman said Monday the league had “no plans at the moment for Lorde to be here at any point.”

Lorde might not have been available anyway, since the New Zealand singer ended her U.S tour on Oct. 12. In the meantime, her song has triggered a radio war between stations in San Francisco (no “Royals”) and Kansas City (more “Royals”).

Lorde did meet Brett in April, before her concert in Las Vegas. As far as Uhlich knows, Lorde never has been to Kauffman Stadium.

Twitter: @BillShaikin

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