Shakira’s free concert to light up Copacabana Beach in Rio de Janeiro
RIO DE JANEIRO (AP) — Colombian celebrity Shakira will give a free concert on Copacabana Beach in Rio de Janeiro On Saturday night time in an occasion that Brazilian officers anticipate to draw some 2 million folks to one of many world’s most iconic waterfronts.
The efficiency follows comparable exhibits by Madonna in 2024 and Lady Gaga final 12 months — additionally attended by big crowds that danced on the sprawling sands. For Shakira, it is a part of her ” Women Don’t Cry Anymore,” or “Women No Longer Cry,” world tour, named after her 2024 album.
The Latina pop star said in an interview with Brazil’s TV Globo that she expects the Copacabana concert to be the biggest of her career.
“For me it is a dream. I at all times dreamed of singing on this seaside, as a result of I believe it is a magical place,” she stated in Portuguese, including that she discovered the language earlier than English.
One of the primary locations the place Shakira grew to become profitable
When she first carried out in Brazil in the Nineties, she established a tremendous reference to the Brazilian public, in accordance to Felipe Maia, an ethnomusicologist pursuing a doctoral diploma on in style music and digital applied sciences at Paris Nanterre University.
That success in Brazil “has a lot to do with the fact that she comes from Colombia, a country whose culture has many similarities with Brazil,” Maia stated, including that Saturday’s efficiency “crowns the relationship she has had with Brazil for a very long time.”
Erica Monteiro, a 38-year-old accountant, stated she has listened to Shakira since childhood.
“For me she represents the strength of our Latino community,” Monteiro stated forward of the concert. “We’re treated as if we were inferior but in fact we have much more strength.”
By Saturday morning, crowds had began piling onto the seaside to discover a great place for the present. Street distributors bought sweetcorn and different Brazilian snacks, bottled water and caipirinhas, the favored Brazilian cocktail — but in addition rest room paper, deodorant and even luggage of sand for concert goers to stand on to get a greater view of the stage set up reverse Copacabana Palace, a historic luxurious resort.
Street vendor Simone Paula da Cunha arrived on the seaside on Friday night, hoping to promote all of the beer and water bottles she had purchased forward of the present — and make about $100 in all.
Despite his evident fatigue, da Cunha was excited on the prospect of seeing Shakira reside. “I remember her from when she still had black hair,” she stated. “I’m a huge fan of hers.”
DJs had been slated to begin acting on the seaside in the late afternoon. Shakira’s set is scheduled for 9:45 pm native time and is anticipated to final round two hours. After the efficiency, one other DJ will take to the stage — a brand new addition to preserve the crowds entertained and assist with an orderly exit, in accordance to metropolis officers.
An effort to enhance the town’s post-Carnival economic system
The free concert events are a part of City Hall’s try to enhance financial exercise after Carnival and New Years’ Eve festivities and earlier than the monthlong Saint John’s Day celebrations in June.
“For us, parties are serious business. Because parties generate jobs, income, development, and identity for the city,” Rio Mayor Eduardo Cavaliere stated on Wednesday as he introduced the town’s operational plan for the occasion. “Our investment in this show will give us a financial return 40 times greater,” he stated.
Shakira’s efficiency may generate round 777 million reais (round $155 million), in accordance to a research by City Hall and Riotur, the municipality’s tourism firm, thanks to the inflow of vacationers and money spent in eating places, motels and outlets.
More vacationers headed to Rio in the month of May in the years with exhibits — 2024 and 2025 — in contrast to 2023, in accordance to City Hall information. In 2024, the expansion was 34.2% on May 1, simply forward of the concert events, in contrast to the earlier 12 months. In 2025, the rise was 90.5% in contrast to 2023.
Ahead of Shakira’s efficiency, Airbnb stated in an April 22 assertion that it was seeing a rise in visitors anticipated to journey from totally different elements of BrazilLatin America and even European capitals comparable to Paris and London.
Wanderson Andrade, a 30-year-old architect, stated he flew in particularly for the present from the town of Goiana in central Brazil on Saturday and can fly again the next day.
“I tried to get tickets to see her in Brazil last year but I didn’t succeed,” stated Andrade, who’s first-ever tattoo is a wolf in honor of Shakira. “Today is a dream come true.”
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