Shakira

Columbia’s Golden Girl Shakira has proven herself as a singer, songwriter and performer par exellence. As we wondered, what or who is Shakira’s muse as a songwriter she revealed,

“Shakira: I always felt a calling. Like there was some invisible hand behind me pushing me to write, dance, do things. When I was a child, I had the illusion of becoming a scientist, a writer, and a dancer. All three things combined! I remember doing my first poems at the age of four on everything that would surround me. I wrote one to my mom. It was called “The Rose of Crystal.” It was full of fantasy and daydreams. But I didn’t feel clearly that I wanted to be a musician. I started writing my first songs when I was 8 years old. I think my career as a songwriter started my career as a singer.”

Songwriter or Singer… Shakira is just unbeatable!

We all know who Shakira is… but lets ask Shakira as to who is this woman called Shakira and what does she think of her.

“Sometimes I feel that Shakira is an old woman trapped in the body of a 24-year-old girl. Sometimes I feel that there’s a baby inside me that hasn’t grown up yet. So Shakira can be a very confusing character!”

She seems to be full on energy, but when asked why she feels like an old woman inside, Shakira says,

“Sometimes I feel full of theories. I don’t necessarily go through the experience of something, because I’ve already decided what the results are going to be. I don’t go out too much at night. I don’t visit too many clubs. I like to go out sometimes and just observe how people behave. When I was 15 years old I preferred dancing to watching. Now I’m on the other side.”

Thats all a part of growing older Shakira

2006 has been a very good year of Shakira. She had released her CD ‘Fijación Oral Vol. 1/Oral Fixation Vol. 2′ this year and her hit single ‘Hips Don’t Lie’ from the album has been the chart topper with the number one ranking everywhere including Latin America, United Kingdom, USA, Australia, Spain and other European countries.

It was also a very good year for her in terms of Awards and Achievements.She won the Grammy Award for Best Latin Rock/Alternative Album, Latin Grammy Award for Album of the Year, Latin Grammy Award for Record of the Year, Latin Grammy Award for Song of the Year, Latin Grammy Award for Best Female Vocal Pop Album and Latin Grammy Award for Best Engineered Album.

She also set up a charitable organization called ALAS that would be solving the problem of education in the underprivileged Latin American Children.

The people of Columbia also honored her with a 15 feet tall statue erected in her hometown Columbia.

The coming year, 2007 also looks bright, as Shakira has been nominated for the “Grammy Award for Best Pop Collaboration with Vocals” for her single Hips Don’t Lie that features Wyclef Jean too.

Way to go Shakira!

Shakira has been the reigning queen of the Latin Pop Industry and is making her presence felt in the English Pop market too. The success of her album and her tours to all the important countries of Latin America has made her huge, really huge…and that might have obviously put a lot of pressure on her. She might be working hard to live up to the expectations.

“I’m always trying to escape from the pressure of expectation. But the biggest pressure is from the people who want this record to be done in 15 days! That kind of pressure can turn into an aggression against your work. But I’m a perfectionist without remedy. I’m not making detergent here; I’m making music. You can’t put a knife to the neck of sensibility,” says Shakira.

Indeed!

Ever since Shakira crossed over to English pop from Spanish, she has achieved many accolades and won over many fans.

When she decided to switch to English, she didnt want the other songwriters to write for her because she thought that would hamper the spirit of her songs in Spanish.

“Writing in English was a major challenge. I didn’t want other songwriters to write for me. I wanted to preserve the spirit of my songs in Spanish. I am the same Shakira in English as I am in Spanish.”

But she seems to have taken the challenge of writing her songs in English in the right spirit…and the results that we see are fantabulous!

“It’s a very interesting process to write in English because all my literary resources come from Spanish, … I must confess that I felt really handicapped, creatively, when I accepted the proposal to sing in English. … I thought that I would encounter more difficulties, but everything has come together.”

Indeed!

She admirably represents Hispanics all over the world as she tours the globe and she was given the keys to the city of Miami as an honor.

“It is a great pleasure and honor to bestow this recognition on an artist who broke all records by selling out five concerts at American Airlines Arena and one who so well represents all Latinos all over the world,” said Mayor Manny Diaz during the Wednesday afternoon key-presentation ceremony.

“I remember how, years ago, I had the intuition that Miami would be a great city in my artistic success,” Shakira said while accepting the honor. She said she shared the recognition “especially with the artistic community of Miami, which rises early for work and of which I am proud to form part.”

But I wonder what she is gonna do with key!

Shakira has shaken her hips and squeezed into our hearts for sure… her looks, her groovy moves made my heart go pit pat at least!!!! N trust me, coz I identify with her as when I say that…

Alright, I just meant to say that I, like her hips, DON”T LIE

But every good force needs to be strongly channellized in order to reach its target… and Shakira’s in-comprehendible lyrics had to be driven into every home to drive her to success!!!!

One such force which helped her as an entrant into the industry was 3, the mobile media company… it was her videos which flashed on every multimedia mobile handset and 3 was more or less responsible for that! And it’s not just her… 3 has already been instrumental in helping artists such as Chamillionaire, Gnarls Barklay and James Blunt too feature in the list of celebs who got famous with the help of 3…

Time you gave them some credit Shakira…

P.S. this is NOT an advertlog (in the lines of an advertorial people….)!

In the industry when women need an excuse to shed clothes sometimes in the name of art or sometimes in public interest (I meant something like PETA by that folks…:P )

Shakira really admires the people who dare bare all for the love of art.

She says, “I admire a person who, for the love of art, is able to take off their clothes in front of a camera. But I’m not capable, I’m too cowardly for that.”

Though it would be no less a treat to watch hot-bod Shakira bare all on screen…but she is better off with her clothes on…She looks prettier that way and dignified too.

Oki people the rumors doing the round from quite a few days are that Shakira is gonna debut in “Dare to Love Me,” which tells the story of Argentine tango singer Carlos Gardel’s life, have been rubbished a few hours ago by her PR agencies…

But the good news is that she is gonna debut on the silver screen, but in another flick… The film in which the Colombian was supposedly going to act is about the life of popular tango singer Carlos Gardel… any idea who that dude was (or is)???

Anyways, it’s a $10 Million venture and will surely have Shakira baby shakin her ass well (ain’t that all we care for??? :P)… and this one’s surely true, coz her public relations agency, Rogers and Cowan, certainly don’t lie

Shakira has been winning it big nowadays… after those 4 Grammies, she’s been painting the town red!!! And more than anything, it’s her talk to the media about her personality and why she’s Shakira and not anyone else….

The best part was when she retorted out loud saying that she is NOT Britney Spears… “My videos represent the artist in me very well, but not the kind of woman I am.” Says Shakira…

The Latino babe also added that being blonde and having a guy is the only similarity between her Spears… also adding in that though her videos seem raunchy and erotic, she simply doesn’t want to expose more than her belly in them… “I admire people who can do nudes for the love of art,” says Shakira “But I can’t.” says Shakira. And the reason she gives is that her mom has advised her not to show any more than her waist…

Though the ‘Momma’s baby’ part is arguable, we still love Shakira for whatever she is… after all, it’s not just her HIPS that DON’T LIE