Shakira to headline World Cup closing ceremony
BERLIN (AP) – Shakira will headline the closing ceremony at the World Cup on Sunday.
The Colombian songstress will work her way down the stone stairs from the Marathon entrance of Berlin’s Olympic stadium with local musicians and dancers in a 10-minute performance prior to the final between France and Italy.
Californian choreographer Doug Jack, who has worked on opening and closing ceremonies at the last five Olympics, said the program aimed to bring the energy and enthusiasm from the Fan Mile – where hundreds of thousands have gathered to watch World Cup matches on giant TV screens – into the stadium.
The mixture of vibes from the Fan Mile and the Love Parade, the capital’s techno fest that drew 1.5 million to downtown Berlin at its peak in 1999, is something Jack said he wants to “bring into the arena and let go before the match.”
For Shakira, it’s a stop between gigs in Spain and Croatia.
Her single Hips Don’t Lie is second in Billboard’s Hot 100 behind Promiscuous by Canadian Nelly Furtado, whose Forca was anthem of the 2004 European championship.
The ceremony’s creative director, Dieter Brell, said the World Cup had given Germany a chance to express a new image around the globe.
“We want to show Germany as our generation sees it,” he said. “We’re trying to be modern with the image of Germany we’re presenting.
“We’re a country that can dance and party and knows how to have fun.”
Spanish tenor Placido Domingo will sing at halftime in the final, “so there’s a musical framework for what is happening on the pitch,” Brell said.
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