The Official Song of the 2010 World Cup

[Zeppo]

Ladies and gentlemen, Shakira with "Waka Waka"!

WAKA WAKA - This Time for Africa - by Shakira - South Africa 2010 World Cup Official Song

[Zeppo]

Shakira's World Cup song isn't going over so great

With all the problems facing this summer's World Cup in South Africa, the last thing it needed was trouble over something as silly as the tournament's official anthem, but that's exactly what Shakira's "Waka Waka (This Time for Africa)" is causing among South Africans and many others who have endured it.

The song hit radio stations last week, with Johannesburg locals responding with comments like "It's horrible" and "How is Shakira going to sing the African part of it?" (My guess is with her voice, but a Speak & Spell could be a fun choice, too.)

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[HL]

I am hearing it for the first time. Sounds like a nice lively song. It fits the purpose.

Impossible to make everyone happy.

[Raggs]

Why not an African from the soil singing the theme tune ?

[Gamma]

for france it was ricky martin.....him not french..

[Mosiah]

maybe he should have been?!?

normally, i would prefer if they stick with someone from the host country. but realising that Jamaica will never host the WC, why should our great artists be excluded?!? Afterall, it is the WORLD Cup. And the soca artists can surely nice up the place for a minute.

[Zeppo]

South Africa musicians to play at World Cup opening

Jazz musician Hugh Masekela and other South African artists will play at the opening concert of the World Cup, football's governing body Fifa says.

The announcement comes after the initial line-up was criticised for ignoring local artists.

Mr Masekela and local groups such as Freshlyground and the Soweto Gospel Choir will join international stars at the event in Johannesburg on 10 June.

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[Zeppo]

Shakira Remixes African Hit for World Cup

As my colleague Celia Dugger reports, some South Africans were annoyed that a song by the Colombian singer Shakira was chosen as the official anthem of the 2010 World Cup, which begins in Johannesburg on June 11.

To fend off criticism, the organizers have pointed to the fact that the song, “Waka Waka (This Time for Africa),” is a collaboration between the Latin star and a South African band, Freshlyground.

For her part, Shakira Mebarak Ripoll has not invoked her credentials as a representative of the global meting pot — a Latina of Lebanese ancestry, she sings in both Spanish and English — but instead stressed the global nature of her effort to try to teach the world to dance the Waka Waka. She has a YouTube channel that encourages fans from every part of the planet to submit clips of themselves dancing to the song. Her official Web site points to video of recent “Waka Waka flash mobs” in Colombia and Venezuela and kids at a school she founded in her hometown performing their version.

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[Zeppo]

Here is Brazil's official song of the 2010 World Cup:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5xuRWYeZShw

[Zeppo]

Shakira performs the official song at the World Cup opening ceremony:

Shakira - Waka Waka LIVE Kick-Of World Cup 2010.06.10 HD