Shakira Releases New Single in Spanish

MADRID – Colombian singer Shakira released on Wednesday “Chantaje” (Blackmail), her first Spanish-language single in two years, which features her compatriot Maluma. The song has already reached number one in the iTunes charts in Spain.

With “Chantaje,” the Colombian star, who is in the process of recording her next album in Spanish, released her first single in Spanish since “La La La” in 2014, dedicated to the World Cup in Brazil, reported Sony Music.

This song, written and produced by Shakira and Maluma, along with Kevin Jimenez, Chan “El Genio” and Kenai, will be accompanied by a music video to be shot in Barcelona under the direction of Jaume De La Iguana.

The new single comes after Shakira’s recent collaboration with Carlos Vives in “La bicicleta,” which continues to be at the top of the sales charts worldwide after its success in Colombia and Spain.

The Colombian, who throughout her career has sold over 60 million copies worldwide, and whose career has been recognized with several Grammys, Latin Grammys, World Music Awards, American Music Awards and Billboard Music Awards, is the only artist from South America to have reached number one in the United States.

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Shakira Celebrates Her Adorable Dad's 85th Birthday with Sweet Family Photos

Warning: extreme cuteness ahead.

Colombian singing sensation Shakira's dad William turned 85 on Tuesday, so naturally she celebrated the milestone with a series of adorable family photos on social media.

"Happy birthday Papi," the singer wrote in Spanish alongside a sweet Instagram photo (above) of her and her father smiling for the camera. Shakira signed the message with her nickname, "Shak."

The 39-year-old Grammy winner posted a second photo of them two of them, this time joined by her mother. "Thank you all for your warm messages full of beautiful wishes for my dad on his birthday!" she captioned the family photo in Spanish. We can see where she gets her good genes—he doesn't look a day over 65!

The "La Bicicleta" singer, whose full name is Shakira Isabel Mebarak Ripoll, was raised in Barranquilla, Colombia, and is the youngest of her father's eight children.

Happy birthday, William! We hope you see plenty more years ahead of you.

Melbourne's 10 days of bliss for book fiends

Melbourne Writers Festival provides 10 days of opportunity. Opportunity to encounter fresh voices and their work; see writers whose work you already love; get your grey matter working as you encounter big ideas from speakers from home and overseas; and enjoy a community of writers and readers.

The festival is, to coin a phrase, bliss for book fiends.

Canadian author Yann Martel is guest speaker at two Melbourne Writers Festival events. Photo: Eddie Safarik

For more than 30 years, it has excited book lovers. "It's for everyone who reads," says director Lisa Dempster, "and three decades in, we're proud to continue to bring the best writers and thinkers from around the world to this wonderful city." 

The theme of the 2016 chapter is "identity", a topic everyone will at some stage and to some varying degree have pondered.

Lionel Shriver, author of We Need to Talk About Kevin, discusses gender at this year's festival. 

"We're looking forward to unpacking what that means, from the personal to the political," Dempster says. Panels will range from the question of citizenship to issues surrounding gender and the influence of families, as writers and thinkers explore what makes us who we are.

 "We've got so many great speakers from so many different backgrounds, and we can't wait for them to share their thought-provoking experiences and insights. We've got something for everyone," Dempster says.

Just have a look at the names who will be popping up at Fed Square between August 26 and September 4. Best-selling authors from overseas such as Yann Martel and Lionel Shriver, along with Geoff Dyer, Angela Flournoy, A.C. Grayling, Eimear McBride and Alexei Sayle, to mention just a few. 

Australian guests include Bob Carr, Maxine Beneba Clarke, Richard Flanagan, Helen Garner, Emily Maguire, Henry Reynolds, Anne Summers, Lindsay Tanner, Gillian Triggs, Christos Tsiolkas and Charlotte Wood.

Maxine Beneba Clarke will give the festival opening address. 

As a bonus, a handful of Feminist Writers Festival events make up a mini festival within the festival as a host of speakers including Yassmin Abdel-Magied, Shakira Hussein and Anne Summers consider feminism as it relates to aspects of writing. 

The popular Schools Program will feature new Australian Children's Laureate Leigh Hobbs, along with David Levithan, John Marsden, Meg Rosoff and comedian Magda Szubanski.

English comedian Alexei Sayle discusses his new work, Thatcher Stole My Trousers, at the festival. Photo: Peter Rae

The literary celebration kicks off with an opening address by the provocative Maxine Beneba Clarke, whose new memoir The Hate Raceis released soon. Opening night will include the presentation of the Miles Franklin Literary Award.

The festival concludes 10 days later when Lionel Shriver (We Need to Talk About Kevin) gets to grips with questions of gender.

Life of Pi author Yann Martel headlines two key events. On August 28 he discusses his new work The High Mountains of Portugal. Can books help our lives? Can they influence the people who make the big decisions that affect us all? Martel and Anna Funder (All that I Am) think so and on August 27 will discuss the books they think world leaders should be reading for our benefit. No pressure on them to come up with the right titles!

Richard Flanagan will deliver his first public lecture in his capacity as the inaugural Boisbouvier Founding Chair of Australian Literature at the University of Melbourne, delving into the heart of things by asking "Does writing matter?".

Enigmatic English musician P.J. Harvey will appear with collaborator Seamus Murphy to discuss and present The Hollow of the Hand, a record of photographs and poetry that emerged from journeys to several countries. 

Also from Britain comes a very different performer, Alexei Sayle, actor, writer and memoirist who will discuss the relationship between politics and comedy in his country during the 1980s and the time of Margaret Thatcher's ascendancy.

The full program is at mwf.com.au.

Shakira’s Trainer Reveals Why Following Fitness Models on Instagram is Dangerous

More and more people are looking towards social media as a source of motivation and inspiration to further their fitness goals, but not all trainers and health experts are happy about it.

It’s no secret that female fitness models are making millions of dollars on Instagram by promoting supplements, selling their workout guides and having fans subscribe to their websites. While social media is fostering a community that is conscientious of fitness, a trainer and health expert believes there may be dangerous consequences.

Anna Kaiser, a celebrity trainer and co-host of ABC’s “My Diet is Better Than Yours,” believes people may be misguided and putting themselves at risk by working out out without real-life guidance or safety warnings. Kaiser, founder and CEO of her fitness brand AKTInMotion, told Business Insider:

“That’s my only problem on social media — most of the trainers are personalities. They’re not educated in fitness, and you don’t actually get to interact with any of the people. They’re just going off of pictures and videos, and … could end up hurting yourself for years with injuries that will affect you for years down the road.”

Kaiser has an extensive list of celebrity clients including Sarah Jessica Parker, Shakira, Kelly Ripa and Sofia Vergara.

For those who are unable to get access to her studio, Kaiser offers a streaming membership. She continued:

“I would just warn people against following a personality or someone who looks great in a bikini and really seek out someone who knows what they’re doing, and that’s the general feeling in the fitness community today.”

Though Kaiser admits there are advantages in reaching the masses if you’re a fitness trainer, she urges people to be aware that sometimes the emphasis is more on appearances rather than it is on fitness.

“Social media is getting more people interested in fitness, but it’s also not fitness. It’s frustrating to see how important a social media following is in the world of fitness and business because people who have bikini shots and, you know, sexy pictures of themselves have a lot more followers on social media than someone who’s try to really do it well and maintain integrity.”

In November of last year, Essena O’Neill, a former Instagram model stirred a debate when she deleted her account and denounced social media after revealing the truth behind her seemingly perfect pictures.

Lahore ‘con artist’ sticks to Shakira’s concert

LAHORE: The Colombian origin singer Shakira is an international acclaimed singer who’s 2010 FIFA World Cup, "Waka Waka (This Time for Africa)", went viral and became biggest-selling World Cup song. She is going to be in the city this weekend, claims a young man Wahaj who has made a facebook page for the event. He in all probability is a con artiste and plans to extort a lot of money from people. 

The Shakira live in concert in Lahore on May 29 facebook page has been up for some days. The venue of the concert has not been mentioned. The price of the entry passes is shown on the facebook page. The pass price starts from Rs 6,000 to Rs 20,000.

The apparently okayed event is new form of cybercrime to lure the young people and party-goers in their trap in which they demand money through different means of money transfer, and guess this time the fraud is being occurred through Easypaisa money transfer.

Wahaj talking to The Nation maintained that the event will be held as per schedule. But there is so much secrecy around the event. He is not ready to disclose the venue of concert. “Those who will send money to us through easypaisa should keep the receipt of the money transfer. They will be given tickets at the venue and that is why we have advised them to come early when the venue is disclosed,” Wahaj said.

On a query about how were they able to contact the international artiste, he said he met her manager named Abraham in Dubai sometime back. The first ever performance of Shakira in Pakistan has been done by BizBash event planner, which The Nation checked and found out that it does not exist. On the facebook page there is no mention of any address. None of the links found on the page lead to any information about the organizers. Only Wahaj’s cell no 0324 1489057 has been given for communication.

The event management company BizBash has no official website although they claimed they are associated with the BizBash Media whose official website introduces the company as “BizBash is North America’s number 1 source of ideas, news, and resources for event and meeting professionals”, but no links or relevancy to its off-shoot company in Pakistan found anywhere on the website.

Wahaj told the scribe to send money on the CNIC number 31205-6774215-3. He also claimed that over 700 tickets have been sold. On a query as to whether he had got permission from City District Government and police. He claimed he had the security certificate but could not explain where from he had got it. Infuriated he told this scribe that he was blocking him from his cell phone. There was no communication with Wahaj after that.

In a similar fraud case recently, Indian singer Arjit Singh had denied the speculations to a Facebook event that claimed a live concert in Islamabad this month.

 Event page created on Facebook regarding the event that ‘first time ever in history of Pakistan Shakira is coming to for a live concert in Lahore Pakistan.

According to an estimate, allegedly 40 million fraud has been done by the event planner if he has sold 700 passes. Silver pass is for Rs 6000, silver couple Rs 10000, Gold pass Rs 10000, Gold couple Rs 15000, Platinum Rs 15000,Platinum couple pass for Rs 20000.

According Prevention of electronic crime act 2015 (Cyber Crime Bill) recently passed by National Assembly that up to three year imprisonment and a fine of up to Rs 0.5 million for creating a website for negative purposes.

Shakira reveals what she loves about Barça defender Pique

The Colombian singer reveals what it is about her partner which she likes the most

Gerard Pique and Shakira have been the focus of the media’s attention ever since the first rumour that they were going out, during the World Cup at South Africa in 2010. These days, they are parents to two children, Milan and Sasha, but they continue to generate interest. 

Shakira is currently promoting the Disney film ‘Zootopia’ and has given an interview to the magazine Love, during which she spoke about what she most likes about Pique. 

“He’s a really generous, trustworthy man. I know that I can always count on him. He takes care of the children and me (…) Since Milan was born he’s been changing nappies, playing with the kids (…) I’ve always admired him for his character and his enthusiasm for life, but also because he is a tender and gentle father,” the Colombian singer said. 

And her praise didn’t end there: “Gerard is a man with great charisma and he awakens many passions, starting with me. He lives without fear and he plays really hard, but that’s in his nature, too. He’s a really authentic guy and he has a great sense of humour,” she added. 

Shakira: 15 Things You Didn’t Know (Part 2)

We already brought you part one of our list of 15 things you probably did not know about Shakira, and now we’re back with part two! Check out eight more fascinating details about the singer and amazing dancer that you definitely (probably) did not know below. You might be surprised by what you find out!

Number Eight: She Loves Bollywood. Whether it’s movies or music, Shakira is a huge fan of the entire Bollywood scene. She loves it so much that she has incorporated some of the classic Bollywood dance moves into her performances.

Number Seven: She Gives Back. In 2010, Shakira was given a medal for her work with children. She was awarded the medal by the U.N. International Labor Organization.

Number Six: She Has a Lot of Awards. Among Shakira’s most impressive accomplishments are her 30 Billboard Latin Music Awards. She also has two Grammy awards and eight Latin Grammy awards.

Number Five: She Does Not Drink. Despite the fact that alcohol is all over, Shakira abstains completely. She doesn’t drink or smoke, and she does not even drink coffee. Considering what amazing shape she is in, maybe we should take a tip or seven from her!

Number Four: She Is a Cougar. Shakira is married to Spanish soccer player Gerard Pique, and she is actually 10 years older than he is! The couple is not married, but they have two sons together.

Number Three: She Has Experienced Major Loss in Her Life. When Shakira was just two years old, she lost her older half-brother when he was hit by a drunk driver on his motorcycle. She wrote her first song when she was eight years old, and it was about the grief her father experienced due to her half-brother’s death.

Number Two: Her First English Album Was Wildly Successful. Shakira’s album, titled Laundry Service, was her first album in English, but it went platinum four times. Shakira called the album Laundry Service because she loves feeling “clean and fresh.”

Number One: She Does Not Have any Tattoos. Though the cover for the singer’s album, Laundry Service, features her with a tattoo, she does not actually have any!

Espanyol fans troll Gerard Pique and Shakira (Picture)

Espanyol fans trolled Gerard Pique’s wife, Shakira, during Wednesday’s Copa del Rey match.

While Espanyol and FC Barcelona share the same city, they don’t seem to get along much. On Wednesday, the two teams met in the second leg of their Copa del Rey battle, with fans of Espanyol eager to let a certain FC Barcelona player know exactly how they feel about his wife.

Gerard Pique has been one of the best defenders on the planet over the past few years, but he will always be known as the husband of pop sensation, Shakira. The Colombian singer is one of the most famous musicians around the world, even if Espanyol supporters aren’t her biggest fan.

During Wednesday’s match at Estadi Cornellà-El Prat, fans of the home side held up an offensive banner insulting Shakira. English outlet, The Daily Mail, captured the following picture of the banner that read “Shakira es de todos”, which translates as “Shakira is everyone’s.”

Condemnation of the insensitive poster came quick, with the mayor of Barcelona slamming Espanyol supporters. According to Goal, Barcelona city mayor, Ada Colau, spoke to RAC1 and was not very pleased with Wednesday’s incident.

“To look at it damages your eyes,” she said. “I find it horrible.

“There are certain macho cultural values that can generate macho violence.”

The visitors ultimately won the match 2-0 and the aggregate series 6-1, with Pique sitting on the bench for the entire second leg. Espanyol could now face disciplinary action as a result of the offensive banner.