Shakira performs at the UN in honor of Pope Francis

Shakira performed for Pope Francis at the UN today (Friday), Shakira - Imagine (Live at the UN's General Assembly 2015):

The text at her YouTube channel says, "Shakira, before the Pope at the UN in NYC, dedicates her performance of John Lennon's Imagine to Aylan and Galip Kurdi and all the children turned refugees due to the Syrian war / Shakira, frente al Papa en la ONU, dedica su actuación a los hermanos Aylan y Galip Kurdi y a los niños refugiados por la guerra."

I can't quite tell from the reports I've seen, but it seems as though the Pope may have left the Assembly hall before she sang. (Shakira le canta 'Imagine' al Papa en la ONU El Periódico 25.09.2015)

Also on Shakira's agenda was meeting with the attorneys of her former boyfriend Antonio de la Rúa to try to settle a lawsuit in which De la Rúa is demanding a portion of her earnings from the time they were together. (Shakira viaja a Nueva York para ver al Papa y arreglar cuentas con su ex El Espectador 24.09.2015)

I don't see Shakira in the following video herself, although she has very publicly expressed her solidarity with it. (Shakira, Santana, y Gloria Estefan cantarán contra Donald Trump El Espectador/EFE 24.09.2015)

It's a video made in solidarity with American immigrants and American-born Latinos against the racist, xenophobic, God-hating immigrant-bashing being practiced by Donald Trump and the supporters of his white-trash bigotry, Video musical "Todos Somos Mexicanos" Univision Noticias 09/21/2015:

Some news just doesn't surprise me

Shakira Wins 'Sexiest Curves' Award From Victoria's Secret by Michael Lopez Huffington Post 09/15/2013

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Shakira and Blake Shelton on "The Voice"

Shakira and Blake Shelton, both currently coaches on The Voice, do a duet on Need You Now:

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Shakira at the Summit of the Americas (Cumbre de las Américas)

Cuba wasn't invited to the Summit of the Americas this weekend. But Shakira Mebarak was. She gave a talk in Spanish of roughly 20 minutes about her main social cause, early childhood education.

Discurso de Shakira en la Cumbre de las Américas 04/13/2012:



She also sang the Colombian national hymn there (Shakira canta Himno Nacional de Colombia YouTube date 04/14/2012):



In her speech, she explicitly endorses the concept advocated by management-theory guru Michael Porter of established "shared value" as the goal of corporations. (Creating Shared Value Harvard Business Review Jan 2011) It's scarcely a radical notion, but in Porter's version it explicitly rejects maximizing profits as a corporate goal.

So it's blasphemy against the contemporary theology of the Great God Free Market.

At around 2:55, the video shows one member of the audience who seems to be literally squirming at her statement on the need for more "social investment". She goes on to ask, "I ask myself, Why don't we take this immence opportunity that we have in our hands to fight poverty?"

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Shakira

Shakira doing my favorite song from her Sale el Sol album, "Antes de las Seis":



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More of Shakira at Rock in Rio (Madrid) 2010

Gordita, a duet with Rene of the group Calle 13:



Gitana:



"Hips Don't Lie", with a slow intro:



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Shakira Mubarak, "Sale el Sol"

From her appearance in Madrid at the annual Rock in Rio event, 2010. This song, "Sale el Sol", is one from her upcoming album:



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What Shakira says

Not that I ever need an excuse to watch Shakira's videos. But this is the most explicit stand I ever recall her taking on a particular political issue. And this woman really is smart. She also knows the American Constitution better than any of the Tea Party clowns that I've heard so far.



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Shakira Mebarak at Oxford Union

Shakira Mebarak - yes, the "hips don't lie" Shakira - spoke on Monday at the prestigious Oxford Union, as reported on her Web site: Shakira, Invitada de Honor Disertó en la Universidad de Oxford 12/07/09. Her topic was the democratization of education. She was there in her capacity as a UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador and in particular in her role as an advocate for children's education via her Fundación Pies Descalzos, which has build schools for children in her native Colombia.

She also mentioned another topic: "Así es como quiero que la juventud del año 2060 nos vea: que nuestra misión por la paz global consistió en enviar 30,000 educadores a Afganistán y no 30,000 soldados." (This is the way I want young people of the year 2060 to see us: that our mission for global peace consisted in sending 30,000 educators to Afghanistan and not 30,000 soldiers.)

Amen to that!

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Shakira Mebarak on Mercedes Sosa

Mercedes Sosa and Shakira

The Colombian superstar Shakira Mebarak posted this note on her Facebook page paying tribute to the Argentine singer and pro-democracy human rights activist Mercedes Sosa, who passed away Sunday (today) at age 74. I notice that she signed the note "Shakira Mebarak" and not just Shakira; in most of her publicity she uses the single name. The text of her note:

Mercedes fue la voz más grande y tuvo el más grande corazón para el que sufre. Fue la voz de sus hermanos de la tierra que elevó el canto del dolor y la justicia.

Artista conmovedora y admirada primera en la lucha solidaria.

Sufrió el exilio dando ejemplo de coraje y volvió con naturalidad a su sitio de elegida.

Nos deja la sencillez de su gesto y de su danza y la luz de su palabra y de su afecto.

Su canto era la idea: no repetía estrofas sino que transmitía el pensamiento hondo del verso y de la música.

Cantó a su gente y su tierra americana, pero su canto universal fue oído en todo el mundo.

La voz de Mercedes resonaba en el corazón como un abrazo.

Fue un honor cantar con ella. Lo hizo tan fácil, como una hermana mayor en el canto y en la causa de los niños.

"¿Nada quedará de mi paso aquí en la tierra? Al menos versos, al menos cantos", decía el ancestro mexicano. Mercedes deja el mundo lleno de sus cantos, poblado de sus versos.

Somos más buenos después de haberla conocido.
Nos mostró que la canción puede ser una enseñanza.

Shakira Mebarak

Mercedes Sosa 1973

My translation (I tend to go for the literal meaning and can't pretend to capture the grace of Shakira's Spanish prose):

Mercedes was the greatest voice and had the biggest heart for those who suffer. She was the voice of her brothers and sister of the earth, who raised the song of pain and justice.

A moving artist and admired above all in the solidarity of struggle.

She suffered exile, giving an example of courage, and returned naturally to her chosen place. [She was exiled during the brutal military dictatorship of 1976-83 but returned to Argentina in 1982.]

She left us the simplicity of her gesture and of her dance and the light of her word and of her feelings.

Her song was the idea: don't repeat strophes without transmitting the inner thought of the verse and of the music.

She sang to her people and to her American land, but her universal song was heard in all the world.

Mercedes' voice resonates in the heart like an embrace.

It was an honor to sing with her. She made it so easy, like an older sister in the song and in the cause of the children.

"Will nothing remain of my through through here on the earth. At least verses, at least songs", said the Mexican ancestor. Mercedes left the world full of her song, populated by her verses.

We are better after having known her.
She showed us that a song can be an education.

Additional articles on Mercedes Sosa:

Mercedes Sosa My Space page

Emotivo adiós a "La Negra" Sosa en el Congreso Clarín (Argentina) 04.10.2009

Mucho más que una cantante extraordinaria Clarín (Argentina) 04.10.2009

Argentine singer Mercedes Sosa, 'voice of Latin America,' dies at 74 CNN 10/04/09

Argentine folk legend Mercedes Sosa dead at 74 Dawn (Pakistan) 04.10.2009

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Shakira Mebarak's lycanthropy video

Now we know why the werewolf lifestyle is attractive to some people:

Shakira - New Music - More Music Videos

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Shakira with famous American

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Shakira Mebarak on Michael Jackson's passing

Shakira posted this on her Facebook page 06/27/09:

Michael Jackson was the King of artistic genius, of dance, of innovation and fantasy. He reinvented the pop genre and found a new way to articulate music through images that will last forever. Of his voice Frank Sinatra once said that he was "the only singer I've seen who was better than me." With his death, the King is transformed into a Legend for all time. My profound sympathy to his family, fans and loved ones.

Shakira

Michael Jackson fue sin duda el rey de la genialidad artística, del movimiento, de la innovación y la fantasía. Él reinventó el género de la música Pop y encontró una nueva forma de articular la música con las imágenes que será recordada para siempre. Por su calidad de voz, Frank Sinatra lo definió como "el único cantante que he visto mejor que yo". Con su muerte, el Rey se transforma en una Leyenda para todos los tiempos. Mi cariño va a toda su familia, fans y a todos sus seres queridos.

Shakira

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We Are One Concert

Even Colombia's Shakira Mebarak showed up!

It sounds like the "We Are One" concert on the National Mall on Sunday was quite an event.

I had a hard time finding early video clips. MTV.com has a few short ones, 'We Are One' Inaugural Concert: Highlights. Here's the MTV clip of Usher, Stevie Wonder and Shakira singing "Higher Ground".

MTV's Be The Change: Live From The Inaugural - Celebrity News

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Shakira's New Year's Eve

Well, it's too late to a get a visa and probably a flight. Unless you've got some serious connections.

But Shakira is doing a New Year's Eve show this year at the Emirates Palace Hotel in Abu Dhabi (United Arab Emirates).


According to this article, Shakira's Arab fixation by Kelly Crane Gulf News 12/23/08, she's going to do some singing in Arabic.

It won't be like her usual stage show though. She has to perform in a burka. (NOT!!)

There's some Arabic in her song, "Ojos Así", which is one of her standards. Here's a video of her performing it in Turkey in 2002. Without a burka:



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Shakira on Capitol Hill - now this is news

She was there advocating for the Global Campaign for Education. This NPR story, Shakira Lobbies Congress on Education for Poor 04/22/08, also has an audio link. See also Shakira brings education campaign to Menendez The Record 04/23/08; Shakira in Washington seeking US aid for universal education AFP 04/22/08; Embajadora de los niños sin educación El Tiempo 21.04.2008; Shakira visitó Congreso de E.U. El Tiempo 23.04.2008; La cantante Shakira promueve la educación infantil con el primer ministro británico El Mundo 23.04.2008.

This link is the site for an MP3 about the campaign, featuring Shakira and some lesser figures, like the British Prime Minister and the President of the World Bank.

Shakira is the chairwoman of Education Action Week, which is organized by the Global Campaign for Education. But her work on behalf of the poor is not a new passion. Thirteen years ago, she started the Barefoot Foundation, which aims to help impoverished Colombian children and those who have been displaced by violence.

"I grew up in a country where unfortunately education is sometimes seen as a luxury, as a privilege, and not as a human right," she says. "This always bothered me. So this is personal to me. In the developing world, people who are born poor will die poor, and that is because of the lack of opportunities, opportunities that come from education. Education can actually save lives."

Shakira says money is needed worldwide to hire qualified teachers; provide children with school meals, textbooks and uniforms; and abolish school fees.

Hey, if Shakira's for it, I'm a supporter, too!

Okay, she also supports the US-Colombia Free Trade Agreement and I'm not so thrilled about that. Not that I wouldn't love to discuss it with her.

Shakira is also an active supporter of la Fundación Alas (América Latina en Acción Solidaria) which aims at raising public consciousness of social problems in Latin America. See Vienen Shakira y Sabina Clarín 16.04.2008.

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Shakira, "La Despedida"

Here's a Las Vegas version of Shakira singing "La Despedida" without the voice-over interruption included in the video in the previous post.



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Shakira before she was a world star

Bummer news from Latin America: Venezuela and Ecuador are mobilizing their armies for a possible war with Colombia. Correa se une a Chávez y envía sus tropas a la frontera con Colombia El Mundo 03.03.08 Let's hope that doesn't happen.

But this post is about a happier subject, Colombia's greatest export, Shakira Isabel Mebarak Ripoll, better known as just Shakira.

This YouTube video is a segment from 20/20 that talks about her background and her early years in show business. The interviewer isn't exactly asking tough questions. But when do they ever on an entertainment segment? But that's fine because Shakira can be more substantive than many of our political pundits can manage, even without probing questions. There's even a "comeback" story involved!



This one was featured on AOL Latino today as one of a series of videos of famous singers before they got famous. She must be all of about 14 years old in this clip. But you can hear the power of her voice even then, although some of the high notes don't entirely hold together. The song is called "Sera el angel::



This is a clip of a very grown-up Shakira in torch singer mode doing a song called, "
Amor (Celos De Ti)".



And the following two videos features songs by Shakira from the Love in the Time of Colera sound track. The first one, "Hay Amores", is from a performance in Las Vegas. The second, "La Despedida", really just has the song with a picture of the album cover. But that's okay. I only like her for her music anyway.





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I believe this

From Brian Hiatt's interview with singer Wyclef Jean Rolling Stone 11/29/07 (12/13/07 issue):

[Hiatt:] Isn't it distracting if Shakira's hips are moving while you're trying to write a song?

[Jean:] Man, it is the biggest distraction in the world.

Shakira's first two records

Shakira - full name Shakira Isabel Mebarak Ripoll - made her first record in Colombia at age 13. She was a show business kid from early on. Here are the front and back covers of the first album, "Magia".


"Magia" is currently being offered on eBay at $999.95 starting bid, $1,500.00 for "buy it now".

From the front cover photo, I would not have recognized her. But on the back cover her face is similar enough to how she looks now to tell it's her.

She's much more recognizable in her second album, "Peligro", made when she was 15.


That one is currently being offered on eBay at $499.95 starting bid, $1,000.00 for "buy it now".

No, I'm not the one offering them for sale! And as much as I like her music, I'm not inclined to shell out $2,500 to get those two vinyl records. I haven't heard recordings of those songs. But they are reportedly not up to the quality of her later work, although I believe "Peligro" was quite successful in Colombia when it was released.

So, that's how she got her start as a singer. And the rest, of course, is history.

For some of her more recent work, you can check out this video of "Ojos Asi"



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