Shakira considering doing songs in Arabic

Colombian pop singer Shakira said Saturday she would one day like to sing pop songs, if not an entire album, in Arabic.

The native Spanish speaker, who also has global hits in English, was speaking at a news conference in Morocco, where she was headlining the Mawazine World Rhythms music festival.

"It would be a challenge to do an album in Arabic. I would first have to learn Arabic," she said. "I am completely open to that experience. ... At some point I would love that to happen in my life."

Born in Colombia of Syrian origin, Shakira said she grew up listening to the Arab world's premier divas of the 20th century, Egyptian Umm Kalthum and Lebanese Fairuz.

Shakira often uses eastern dance, also known as belly dancing, in her acts, and her hit Spanish language single "Ojas Asi" relies heavily on a Middle Eastern melody. Her eastern origins and musical influences have made her popular throughout the Middle East.

She admitted, however, that she only speaks a few words of Arabic, including "ateeni boosa" or give me a kiss, provoking laughter among the mostly Moroccan crowd of journalists.

Morocco's 10th-annual Mawazine festival of world music concluded Saturday after eight days of music that saw bands from 60 countries, including Kanye West, Lionel Ritchie, Egypt's Amr Diab and Senegal's Youssou N'Dour.

Source:http://www.ctv.ca/CTVNews/Entertainment/20110528/shakira-considering-arabic-tunes-110528/

Barca squad to celebrate with Shakira

Barcelona's players will go to a Shakira concert in Barcelona on Sunday to celebrate their Champions League victory, the Colombian pop star's boyfriend, Barcelona defender Gerard Pique, said on Twitter.

"Champions!! Champions!! thank you so much!!" Pique wrote on his Twitter account Saturday after a thilling 3-1 win over Manchester United in London's Wembley Stadium.

"Tomorrow at Barcelona and then the players will go to @shakira concert in the Olympic Stadium!!"

The 24-year-old Pique, a former Manchester United player, met the singer last year while shooting the video to her song "Waka Waka (This Time for Africa)" -- the official track of the 2010 World Cup in South Africa, which was won by Spain.

In January Shakira, 34, announced the end of her 11-year relationship with Argentine lawyer Antonio de la Rua and shortly after gossip magazines began speculating that she was dating Pique.

The singer confirmed her romantic relationship with the Spanish international footballer in March through a message posted on her Twitter account that was accompanied by a photo of the smiling pair.

Shakira, a four-time Grammy award winner, is playing in Barcelona on Sunday as part of her "Sale el sol (The sun is coming out)" tour, which takes her to a string of Spanish venues including Madrid on June 3.


Source:http://www.fijilive.com/sports/news/2011/05/29/21482.Fijilive

Shakira Bumps Oprah Off Twitter Top 10 List

At last, there is one thing that Oprah is not dominating! It seems as though Shakira bumped Oprah off the Twitter top 10 list this week.

Here’s the list:
Lady Gaga (10,307,549 followers)
Justin Bieber (9,849,628)
Barack Obama (8,169,294)
Britney Spears (7,940,896)
Kim Kardashian (7,578,928)
Katy Perry (7,451,618)
Ashton Kutcher (6,803,738)
Ellen DeGeneres (6,712,058)
Taylor Swift (6,475,026)
Shakira (6,156,469)

Oprah Winfrey came in at 11th with 5,856,790 followers.

You’d think with all the attention surrounding her final shows that Oprah would climb in followers. Maybe her demographic isn’t vested in the twitter world, though. Most of her fans are older woman, so I’ll give her some slack. Well, congrads to Shakira for beating out Oprah – doesn’t happen very often.

Source:http://www.andpop.com/2011/05/25/shakira-bumps-oprah-off-twitter-top-10-list/