Jump to content
Sign in to follow this  
fykeylicious

Shakira

Recommended Posts

Shakira Performs Concert to Build School

By Simon Perry and Stephen M. Silverman

 

Shakira is giving back to her Colombian hometown of Barranquilla: She'll perform a concert there on Nov. 15, and use the proceeds to build an arts school for 1,800 children forced from their homes by civil war.

 

The benefit performance is part of Shakira's "Oral Fixation" world tour, the Associated Press reports.

 

The planned art school will be funded by Shakira's foundation, Pies Descalzos (Spanish for "bare feet"), and will emphasize arts education, the foundation said in a statement. School Pies Descalzos will be in La Playa, a poor suburb of Barranquilla where 45 percent of the residents are minors – but only about half of them attend school, the AP reports.

 

According to the Pies Descalzos Web site, the foundation has already built one school, Barrio Las Americas, in Baranquilla, and estimates that the new school will cost $980,000.

 

Shakira started the foundation when she was just 18, after her first hit record. "As soon as I harvested that success, I created that foundation," she told PEOPLE last year. "Now it's really growing and has tangible results. It is as important as my musical career."

 

On Pies Descalzos's work, she told PEOPLE, "We are building schools in remote places and have designed this program that combines food and education. Food is an incentive to promote education, so parents send their kids to school.

 

"Most of the kids (in the schools) belong to displaced families because of the inner war between the right and the left wing's armed groups. And the kids are caught in the crossfire. It's a catastrophe. I believe strongly in education being the key to solve many of the problems we have in Colombia. It is the root of the problems – the needs of millions of kids are not being attended to."

 

Tickets for the Barranquilla benefit will sell at prices starting at less than $7, compared to $200 and more for tickets to Shakira's two other Colombian concerts, in Bogota and the southern city of Cali.

 

In Mexico on Thursday Shakira – who last month was nominated for five Latin Grammy awards in the U.S. – won five prizes at the Premios Oye! music award ceremony.

 

Source: people.com

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

She gives a really googd performace.

Believe me --Those Hips really DON'T lie!!

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

GOOD VIBRATIONS

 

Colombian sensation Shakira swiveled her way to victory Thursday night at the Latin Grammy Awards held at New York's Madison Square Gardens. The singer, who kicked off the show with a performance of her song "La Tortura," picked up five trophies, including album of the year.

 

Posted Image

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

So, there's more to her than those truthful hips......

 

Shakira's Hips to Stop Child Labor

 

 

 

While shaking her money maker in Santiago, she took some time to free children from the ranks of child labor. Shakira met with Chile's President Michelle Bachelet during her tour stop to talk about the program Chile is designing to put an end to child labor. The government is aiming to have rid itself of the use of children as work horses by the year 2010.

 

Following the meeting with President Bachelet Shakira went out on a balcony and waved at the people like a sexy Evita. She spoke with some newspaper stating that she "she supported the scheme" and was happy to help. Being a big part of UNICEF and a child labor activist through her foundation 'Pies Descalzos' it is an issue close to her heart.

 

Damn do-gooders are making the rest of us look bad.

 

Shakira gets political [sky News]

 

Written by Cara Harrington

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Shakira Shakes Hips For The Good of All Mankind

 

 

USA Today reports that Shakira is starting a charitable foundation with a respected author.

 

Shakira joined with fellow Colombian and Nobel Prize laureate Gabriel Garcia Marquez on Tuesday to launch a star-studded foundation to fight child poverty in Latin America.

Backed by the two Colombians and other luminaries of entertainment and finance, the Latin America in Solidarity Action -- whose Spanish acronym is ALAS, or "wings" -- took flight with a promise to tackle poverty that kills 350,000 children each year in the region.

 

"We all have to do our part to fight against inequality," Shakira said in a news release issued prior to the launching ceremony at the National Theater.

 

"Latin America has some devastating statistics," added Garcia, citing the 350,000 children under 5 who die from causes linked to poverty, and the 40 million minors who work in the street.

 

Other musicians supporting the effort include Ruben Blades, Juanes, Ricky Martin, the rock group Mana, Aleks Syntek, David Bisbal and Alejandro Sanz.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

GETTING HER 'FIX'

 

Shakira rocks the mic – and a very toned tummy! – at the launch of her Oral Fixation tour in Hamburg, Germany, on Thursday.

 

Posted Image

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

All AP News

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Beyonce Nominated for 6 BET Awards

 

Beyonce earned a leading six nominations Wednesday for the 2007 BET Awards, including nominations for top female R&B artist, video for "Irreplaceable" and duets with Jay-Z on "Deja Vu" and "Upgrade U."

 

"Dreamgirls" Oscar winner Jennifer Hudson, R&B singer Ciara, hip-hop's Akon and the group Gnarls Barkley all had three nominations.

 

The Black Entertainment Television Awards in music, television, film and sports will be presented June 26. Mo'Nique is slated to host the show on cable's BET Network from the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles. Performers include 50 Cent and T.I.

 

Diana Ross will be honored with BET's Lifetime Achievement Award and Don Cheadle will be given the Humanitarian Award for his efforts at ending genocide in Darfur.

 

The list of nominees include:

 

Male Hip Hop: Diddy, Jay-Z, Lil Wayne, Ludacris, T.I.

 

Collaboration: Akon featuring Snoop Dogg, "I Wanna Love You"; Beyonce featuring Jay-Z, "Deja Vu"; Beyonce featuring Jay-Z, "Upgrade U"; Diddy featuring Keyshia Cole, "Last Night"; Ludacris featuring Mary J. Blige, "Runaway Love."

 

Female R&B: Beyonce, Mary J. Blige, Ciara, Jennifer Hudson, Corinne Bailey Rae.

 

Male R&B: Akon, John Legend, Gerald Levert, Ne-Yo, Robin Thicke.

 

Group: Gnarls Barkley, Mary Mary, Outkast, Pretty Ricky, Three Six Mafia.

 

New Artist: Lupe Fiasco, Gnarls Barkley, Jennifer Hudson, MIMS, Corinne Bailey Rae.

 

Gospel Artist: Shirley Caesar, Kirk Franklin, Fred Hammond, Dave Hollister, Mary Mary.

 

Video of the Year: Akon featuring Snoop Dogg, "I Wanna Love You"; Beyonce, "Irreplaceable"; Beyonce & Shakira, "Beautiful Liar"; Ciara, "Like a Boy"; Gnarls Barkley, "Crazy."

 

Actress: Tichina Arnold, Angela Bassett, Jennifer Hudson, Kerry Washington, Chandra Wilson.

 

Actor: Idris Elba, Jamie Foxx, Eddie Murphy, Will Smith, Forest Whitaker.

 

Female Athlete: Swin Cash, Tamika Catchings, Gail Devers, Lisa Leslie, Serena Williams.

 

Male Athlete: Reggie Bush, LeBron James, Floyd Mayweather Jr., Dwyane Wade, Tiger Woods.

 

BET J Cool Like That award: Gerald Levert, Brian McKnight, Eric Roberson, Musiq Soulchild, Elisabeth Withers.

 

BET Choice award: Beyonce, "Irreplaceable"; Birdman & Lil Wayne, "Stuntin' Like My Daddy"; Bow Wow featuring Chris Brown, "Shortie Like Mine"; Ciara, "Because of You"; Robin Thicke, "Lost Without You"; UNK "Walk It Out."

 

___

 

On the Net:

 

http://www.bet.com/

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

All AP News

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Sexiness a Must for Today's Lady Singers

 

She was an "amazing talent," a young singer with a wonderful voice who wrote beautiful songs. But she was no beauty, plus flat-chested and overweight to boot.

 

Remembering the aspiring star, music executive Jody Gerson still feels terrible about thinking: "She's never going to get signed, even though she's fabulous."

 

Gerson might feel even worse after Wednesday night's exit of the matronly Melinda Doolittle from "American Idol." In today's music industry, Plain Janes need not apply. Sex appeal was once considered a bonus for a woman; now it's practically a requirement.

 

Doolittle and the heavyset, gap-toothed LaKisha Jones were widely considered this season's most talented "Idol" contestants. Yet both were eliminated from the final four in favor of Blake Lewis, who makes the teen girls swoon, and the long-locked, 17-year-old looker Jordin Sparks.

 

A quick check of the Billboard Top 40 turns up a list of candidates for "America's Top Model": Avril Lavigne, blonde stunner Carrie Underwood; tomboyish but sexy Ciara, fashionista Gwen Stefani and hip-swiveling Shakira (on a song featuring bootylicious Beyonce).

 

The only two in the Top 40 who might not be considered perfect 10s: Pink, who is still svelte and appealing; and multiplatinum Grammy-winner Kelly Clarkson, who got her break only through winning the democratically elected "American Idol."

 

When asked whether a female with so-so looks and sex appeal could get a record deal, Gretchen Wilson quickly replied: "They can't."

 

"I believe that very few will get through and they better be amazing," Wilson said in an interview. "The music is not about just music anymore, it's about the look, the 'it' factor if you will ... it's marketing."

 

True, looks have always been a part of the music business: Diana Ross played a model in the movie "Mahogany," Marianne Faithfull was considered a beauty, Tina Turner's legs were part of her sex appeal, Olivia Newton-John was the lovely girl-next-door and Stevie Nicks rocked teenage boys with more than just her guitar.

 

But there also were stars like wild-haired, pudgy Janis Joplin and Barbra Streisand, who challenged beauty standards with her protruding nose. Even curvy Aretha Franklin was known mainly for her one-of-a-kind voice.

 

Today, it's hard to find a singer larger than a size 6 and without a sexy look all of which are played up with sensuous videos, modeling spreads and provocative magazine covers. Lavigne, who once scoffed at singers who stripped for the cameras, fronts the new issue of Blender topless save for a strategically placed banner that reads "Hell Yeah, I'm Hot!"

 

The hit reality show "Pussycat Dolls Present: The Search for the Next Doll" is a striking example. In finding a replacement for current lead doll, stunner Nicole Scherzinger, the judging panel which included the cosmetically enhanced rapper Lil' Kim did talk about vocal qualities. But while a few contestants had strong voices, all were taut, toned and sexy, and the focus was more on their dancing and overall desirability. Which is to be expected from the group responsible for the anthem "Don't Cha" (as in, "don't cha wish your girlfriend was hot like me?").

 

Even singers who are heralded for their talent are gorgeous, like Alicia Keys, Corinne Bailey Rae or Norah Jones. And while critically acclaimed Amy Winehouse may not win any beauty contests, her songs have a raw sexuality that give her that "it" factor.

 

Dolly Parton, whose buxom figure sometimes overshadowed her talent as a songwriter and singer, said being "a good looking woman certainly can't hurt you any if you're trying to make it."

 

"But I would like to believe that true and great and pure talent will rise above whatever else," the country legend said in an interview. "But certainly in music these days, the better you look, the more apt you're going to get a contract.

 

"It's a damn pity, though, that people have to judge real talent on looks."

 

Gerson says the way female artists look reflects our society, where women are constantly judged on their appearance and oversexualized. But she also says it reflects the way we listen to music these days or don't listen.

 

"They have to look hot and sexy in these videos," says Gerson, who is credited with helping discover Alicia Keys, among others, and is now executive vice president of the U.S. Creative division of EMI Music Publishing.

 

"In the days of Aretha Franklin, people saw Aretha maybe a couple of times a year," she said, "but you listened to a record without a visual. You didn't watch it. Everything today, you watch it."

 

Gerson also agrees with Wilson about the marketing factor. With dwindling profits and budgets, record labels try to maximize artist exposure with clothing deals, cosmetic contracts, movie roles and modeling gigs.

 

"How many endorsements does Beyonce have? Do you think it's because she's the most talented person on earth or do you think it's because she's gorgeous? I think she's talented but she's also gorgeous," Gerson says. "I think you need the whole package."

 

And that notion, according to Wilson, "totally sucks."

 

"My favorite singers in the world were Patsy Cline and Loretta Lynn, and Patsy was a large woman, and Loretta she was never some kind of a supermodel, but they were the greatest female voices in country music, and they changed lives and they made a difference," says Wilson, who, although considered sexy, feels she doesn't fit today's beauty standards.

 

Where are the Patsy Clines of today? More often than not on smaller, underground labels, which put more of a premium on talent. And with the devolution of today's music industry, Gerson says, small labels may be the best path to success for a woman who doesn't look like a mold of a Barbie doll.

 

So how would Gerson advise the flat-chested, overweight, amazingly talented singer to chase her dream? Put out her own music and promote herself on the Web.

 

"As far as we've come as women," Gerson asked, "where are we really?"

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Shakira Is Happy With Her Small Boobs

 

Latina superstar Shakira is finally comfortable with her body, after years of anxiety over the size of her breasts. The 31-year-old singer confesses she used to hate her small boobs and she once joked they could be "confused with mountains" in her breakthrough single Whenever, Wherever.

 

Colombian Shakira says, "I used to worry about my breast size, but I've finally accepted myself for who I am. Besides, a big butt is more important in Latin culture."

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Shakira Denies Sex Tape Prank

 

 

A sex video April Fool's Day prank involving pop collaborators Shakira and Alejandro Sanz has been exposed as a hoax by the singers' publicists.

 

Bogus Internet reports suggested the stars and Shakira's boyfriend, Antonio de la Rua, were caught on film enjoying a threesome, but representatives for Sanz and Shakira insist there is no sex tape.

 

PeopleEnEspanol.com claims the rumour got started when Argentine DJ Javier Ceriani commented on a little Internet report on his Zona Cero radio show.

 

He said, "It's been said... there is a private video recorded on a yacht, one that could implicate Alejandro Sanz, Shakira and Antonio de la Rua."

 

He suggested the tape was in the hands of the courts.

 

In a joint statement, the singers' representatives say, "This is a false rumor. This is totally absurd any way you look at it. There is no possibility that such a video exists. It is a baseless and malicious rumor."

 

Sanz and Shakira teamed up on the song "La Tortura" and appeared together in the tune's steamy video.

 

Source: starpulse

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Shakira praises British Prime Minister Gordon Brown

 

Associated Press

 

LONDON - George Clooney. Angelina Jolie. Shakira.

 

Not a red carpet lineup, but a roll call of celebrities the sometimes dour British Prime Minister Gordon Brown has recruited to inject glamour into his appeals to help the developing world.

 

Brown joined a telephone conference Monday with Shakira, praising the Colombian pop sensation for taking an inspirational role in work to provide a basic education for every child in the world.

 

The Grammy-winning singer, famed for her hit "Hips Don't Lie," is supporting a week of events to highlight the cause of education advocacy group the Global Campaign for Education.

 

She said the group is pressing world leaders to provide funding for primary education for 72 million young children who now miss out on schooling as a result of poverty.

 

The group also aims to generate support for some 226 million older children who miss out on classes because of a lack of access to schools, or because of truancy.

 

Brown is the world's "No. 1 champion of education," said the group's chairman, Gene Sperling, an ex-White House economic adviser to former President Clinton.

 

Shakira also praised Brown, who as British treasury chief in 2006 pledged $15 billion over 10 years for education in the developing world — the largest offer of aid from a Group of Eight industrialized nation.

 

"He is a man with wonderful intentions, he is very pro-active, he is working very hard for the issue of education," Shakira said, speaking from Washington on a conference call.

 

The 31-year-old singer said she had previously met Brown to discuss aid for education. "I could feel how passionate and enthusiastic he was about it," she said.

 

"She is inspiring people all over the world," Brown said, returning the singer's praise as he joined the call from London.

 

Brown has made work on meeting the Millennium Development Goals — a set of development standards on education, health, literacy and poverty — a key plank of his foreign policy.

 

Betraying his often gloomy demeanor, Brown regularly courts celebrities to lend backing to his campaigns.

 

He held talks with George Clooney earlier this month on violence in Darfur, has worked closely with Bono and Bob Geldof on aid for Africa, and chatted with Angelina Jolie in 2006 on education.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Shakira: 'I Want Lots Of Babies'

 

Shakira has revealed that she intends to have a large family.

 

The singer claimed that she wants to settle down and have children with fiancé Antonio de la Rua but ruled out marriage for the time being.

 

"The fact is I'm not very traditionalist. We live together as husband and wife, we don't need anything to make it official, especially not for the paparazzi or magazines. Why fix things that aren't broken?" she told The Sunday Times.

 

"But I do want to have lots of babies with him."

 

The star, who got engaged in 2001, added that de la Rua helps her keep her feet on the ground.

 

"I've been in the public eye for along time and I don't know any other way of living - it's everything I know," she said.

 

"My family and my friends remind me what's real, which helps, and Antonio - he is a wise man. If I get a bit silly he brings me back and reminds me who I am."

 

Shakira signed a "360-degree" deal with promoter Live Nation last year, rumoured to be worth up to £50 million.

 

Source: digitalspy.co.uk

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Shakira's Fat Teen Years

 

Shakira was a "plump" teenager.

 

The 'She Wolf' singer admits she has not always been in such good shape but has always been too preoccupied with her music to care about her looks.

 

She said: "As a teenager I was plump but my appearance wasn't so important at that time. I focused much more on my music and song writing.

 

"I know that image in this profession is a matter of opinion. I think the external appearance in show business is important and over the years I've discovered my assets. Honestly, I've never seen myself as a goddess or sex symbol."

 

The 32-year-old Columbian singer now has more body confidence and is happy to show off her sexy figure in skimpy outfits.

 

She said: "We all have our insecurities but I used to have more of those days in my twenties. I found nothing satisfied me and I just wanted to hide from the world.

 

"You should always make the most of what you've got and I think I've tried my entire life to figure it out.

 

"I wouldn't have made a video like 'She Wolf' when I was younger, that's for sure. Now you never know what could happen with them."

 

While the singer is happy to bare her flesh professionally, she admits she prefers to cover up when she is out of the spotlight.

 

She told Germany's FHM magazine: "When I perform I feel free. But when I'm on the beach I don't run around topless or wobble with my hips. Perhaps it's difficult to understand but I'm kind of shy when it comes to my body."

 

Source monstersandcritics.com

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Singing 'Goat' Shakira

 

Shakira used to sing like a goat.

 

The 'She Wolf' songstress has revealed her musical talents went unnoticed when she was a teenager because her singing voice had an uncanny resemblance to the bleating of a goat.

 

She is quoted by website AbsoluteNow as saying: "I never made it to the school choir because the music teacher didn't like my voice. I was pretty sad. But he was probably right, I did have a voice a bit like a goat but my dad told me to never give up and to keep going and it's paid off."

 

As well as fine-tuning her vocal chords over the years, the 32-year-old beauty recently admitted she feels she has become sexier as she got older.

 

She said: "Ten years ago I was very traditional and very conservative. But people grow and change. I am in another moment in my life. I feel more like a woman today."

 

The blonde singer - who is engaged to entrepreneur Antonio de la Rua - also admitted she can't wait to start a family.

 

She explained: "About 15 years ago I used to dream about getting married, wearing the dress, inviting loads of people. Now I dream about procreating. I dream about growing old with the person I really love."

 

Source femalefirst

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Shakira's Guy Disguise

 

Shakira dressed like a man so she could go to university.

 

The 32-year-old singer took a break from making music and enrolled on a history course after releasing 2006 album 'Oral Fixation Vol. 2' in 2006 because she wanted to step out of the public spotlight for a while.

 

During her time as a student at UCLA (University of California, Los Angeles), the Columbian-born beauty dressed in disguise and changed her name to prevent people finding out her true identity.

 

She told The Guardian newspaper: "I needed a break from me. The universe is so broad, I cannot be at the centre of it. So I decided to go to the university and study history for a summer course, just to kind of switch gears, taste the student life.

 

"I used to wear a cap and a big backpack, I looked like a boy. I didn't get recognised. Some people looked at me very suspiciously, a few people asked me, but I told them my name was Isabelle.

 

"I would go to university over and over again if I could."

 

Shakira - who has an estimated fortune of £26 million after selling over 50 million albums worldwide - has also revealed she can't understand why she still loves making music after so many years.

 

The 'She Wolf' star explained: "I should care less. It has been 20 years, but I still care about my career. I care about the music. I'm not normal."

 

Source monstersandcritics.com

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Shakira: My Body Is Asking to Reproduce

 

Unlike most women, Shakira is willing to let her body go. In fact, the 5-foot-2 Colombian "She Wolf" singer, 32, says she's looking forward to it -- if it means she'll become a mom.

 

"My body feels like it is asking to reproduce, to have a huge belly and carry babies," she tells the new issue of Rolling Stone, on newsstands today. "My boyfriend is six feet tall, and sometimes I feel like I'm his keychain, a small thing."

 

But while the Grammy winner -- currently in a nine-year, monogamous relationship with investment banker Antonio de la Rua -- has long had a maternal instinct, don't expect her to walk down the aisle any time soon. It's something she says she'll never do.

 

"We live in a society that represses women's subconscious dreams," Shakira, who considers herself a die-hard feminist, says."You know, women have to make enormous efforts through life, much larger than men. We deal with so many pressure: the pressure of aesthetics, and how society wants us to deliver our performances as mothers, daughters and wives."

 

"It's funny how the papers want to see you married, and then they want to see you divorced," she continues. "Well, I won't do any of it."

 

Source Us Weekly

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
Sign in to follow this  

×