Jennifer Lopez will perform at Thursday’s opening ceremony for the World Cup. The singer has apparently reversed an earlier decision to skip the São Paulo concert, resolving the unspecified “production issues” that had made her unable to appear.
“She will be there,” a spokesperson for Lopez told People magazine. “Jennifer has always wanted to participate in the World Cup opening ceremonies. We have been trying to work out scheduling and logistics. Any statements to the contrary were premature. Jennifer would not want to disappoint her fans or fans of fútbol.”
So long as everything goes ahead as hoped, Lopez will appear as part of the opening ceremony’s grand finale, performing the official song of the Brazil World Cup. Nine different songwriters contributed to We Are One (Ole Ola), which also features vocals by Pitbull and the Brazilian pop star Claudia Leitte. The track has been compared unfavourably to Waka Waka (This Time for Africa), Shakira’s anthem for the 2010 World Cup. That song reached No 1 in more than 20 countries, including tournament host South Africa. We Are One, in contrast, has yet to top the charts anywhere.
More than 600 performers have been rehearsing for the opening bash at São Paulo’s Arena Corinthians, including a cast of dancers, gymnasts, trampolinists, stilt-walkers and capoeira performers. The 25-minute show is “a tribute to Brazil and its treasures: nature, people, football”, its artistic director, Daphné Cornez, told fifa.com. Because it’s a daytime event, staged just before the hosts kick off against Croatia, organisers will focus on sets, choreography and “fantasy sequences”, they said, instead of “a lot of lighting or fireworks”.
The 20th Fifa World Cup is set to run from 12 June to 13 July
Source: TheGuardian