Judging from the Youtube feed, I didn't miss much.
I had no idea who Shakira was (still don't really), but she's a very young-looking singer. She was born in 1977, so she's apparently 43 - she really does NOT look it. She gathered some criticism for some tongue-wagging (not nearly as explicit as Mili's), hip-shaking, and questionable lyrics.
But, when you view the video above, she looks positively virginal, compared to J-Lo. Her routine was frankly raunchy, involved MUCH body-touching, and had very little actual singing and dancing. At the end, both women dance a routine together, but Shakira is clearly a superior dancer, as well as more graceful. Shakira is actually a musician, playing guitar and writing her own songs.
J-Lo's performance involved a stripper pole (?) and she apparently had some sort of scabies or lice infestation, as she couldn't stop scratching/touching herself throughout her routine. Near the end, she appears garbed in a feathered, reversible flag vest, Puerto Rico on one side, USA on the other. Much of her performance was in Spanish. I can actually understand that with Shakira, as she was born in Columbia, and is very popular with the Hispanic crowd.
J-Lo, on the other hand, was born in the Bronx. Her parents, native Puerto Ricans, stressed the importance of speaking English (practically child abuse!). Her acting work is variable, from OK to truly lousy. She is a regular on the "See Me!" gossip circuit of TV and magazines, where she opines on world politics, the importance of family, and other such trendy topics.
For years we had a neighborhood mediterranean restaurant that had belly dancers on after 9 pm. They were way better. Oh, and they asked for tips by shaking their hips in your face to make sure you deposited 10 bucks in their costume, somewhere.
ReplyDeleteI actually have known many people of Arabic descent. The belly-dancing moves don't bother me; it is traditional in their culture.
ReplyDeleteShakira is part Lebanese, so...I have little problem with that part of the performance.
The crotch-grabbing and G-string, however...