Rio breathes a Latin air before Shakira’s megashow
“The city breathes Shakira,” enthuses Levi Tavares, a Brazilian fan of the singer for greater than twenty years.
Under the steerage of dancer Christian Bazano, Brazilians and international vacationers in swimsuits or sportswear try, below a scorching solar, to breed the well-known stomach dance of their idol.
Behind them stands a monumental stage of 1,345 sq. meters, the place Shakira – staying since Wednesday on the well-known Copacabana Palace in entrance of the seashore – will give her free live performance on Saturday between 9:45 p.m. native and midnight (00:45 to 03:00 GMT).
Organizers anticipate greater than two million spectators, after Lady Gaga’s 2.1 million in 2025 and Madonna’s 1.6 million in 2024, who inaugurated this annual occasion, in response to figures from the mayor’s workplace.
This fever for one of many largest stars of Spanish-speaking America is an occasion for Brazil: the most important nation in Latin America, the one one which speaks Portuguese, has traditionally disdained international music, even Latin and in Spanish.
“Serious thing”
In 2024, Brazilian music genres occupied 84% of Spotify’s Top 50 Brazil.
But the nation is step by step opening as much as Latin American music that makes your complete planet dance.
He not too long ago fell below the charms of Puerto Rican reggaeton singer Bad Bunny, who rocked the Super Bowl halftime within the United States and shortly after appeared in Sao Paulo with two full stadiums.
Shakira, who speaks Portuguese and has collaborated with Brazilian pop star Anitta, was a pioneer within the conquest of Brazil.
Becoming a world determine within the 2000s with songs like “Hips don’t lie”, she carried out a number of occasions on this nation and gained many followers.
Among them, Ana Rosemary de Oliveira, 70, who proudly wears an outfit impressed by the artist’s stage costumes.
“To pay tribute to the diva, our wolf, Shakira,” he explains, alluding to the nickname given to the singer since her tune “She wolf.”
De Oliveira handed on her fanaticism to her granddaughter Thainara Vieira Gonçalves, 30, who has adopted Shakira for nearly 20 years.
“I stood at hotel doors, I camped the day before to be near the stage, I traveled following her and I also got a tattoo of her,” says the younger lady.
She and her grandmother spent 4,000 reais (about $800) on room and board for Saturday’s live performance.
For the mayor’s workplace, which organizes the present along with the corporate Bonus Track, this free annual occasion types a profitable technique to spice up tourism: Rio obtained 2.1 million international vacationers in 2025, a document quantity.
With Shakira, the native authorities expects an financial motion of 800 million reais (about 160 million {dollars}).
“In Rio de Janeiro, partying is serious,” Mayor Eduardo Cavaliere proclaimed at a press convention on Wednesday.
“Bridge”
Although Shakira posters have flourished all through the town and fabric luggage or followers remind us that the singer will quickly be the queen of Copacabana, some don’t appear very enthusiastic.
In Saara, a enormous widespread advertising and marketing space in Rio’s historic heart, some retailers say the furor has not but translated into gross sales.
“We still need to sell,” says Michelle Cruz, who bought simply a few t-shirts with Shakira’s picture.
According to the official Brazilian tourism company, air reservations grew by greater than 80% in comparison with 2024 for this week. Visitors come primarily from the American continent: Argentina, Chile, Colombia, the United States and Uruguay.
For Jouzeffer Fernandes Pereira, president of Shakira’s Brazilian fan membership, Saturday’s success is assured as a result of the singer performs a distinctive position: “She serves as a bridge between Brazil and the culture of other Latin American countries.”
© 2026 AFP
