Shakira

Shakira Isabel Mebarak Ripoll, born in Barranquilla, Colombia on February 2 1977, known simply as Shakira (meaning "Woman of Grace" in Arabic), is an internationally famous singer and songwriter.

Current album

It was announced April 8 2005 that Shakira would be releasing two albums this year. Fijación Oral 1, a Spanish-language album, was released first in Ireland on 3 June 2005, the rest of the EU on 6 June and then on June 7 in the U.S.A, 2005, and Oral Fixation 2, an English-language album, is scheduled to hit store shelves in November. The first single off Fijación Oral 1, La Tortura (The Torture), features Spanish pop-star Alejandro Sanz.

Related Topics:
April 8 - Fijación Oral 1 - 3 June - EU - 6 June - June 7 - U.S.A - Oral Fixation 2 - November - La Tortura - Alejandro Sanz

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The April 26 episode of MTV's "Making the Video" showed behind-the-scenes clips of "La Tortura" and ended with the premiere of the video. This was notably the first time the show had been aired entirely in Spanish (with English subtitles).

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As the launch of Shakira's second English Language album, Oral Fixation Vol. 2 nears, short clips of two songs from the new album, Don't Bother - the first single, and How Do You Do? are now available in many musical stream outlets.

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It has been confirmed that Don't Bother will be distributed electronically by SonyBMG to radio stations in the United States and other locations on October 11th 2005. Online music stores such as iTunes are expected to have the single for download before it hits the shops, a strategy which proved successful in the marketing campaign for La Tortura.

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Charts

The video for La Tortura made its debut on Total Request Live (TRL) at number nine, and was the first Spanish music video ever to be included in the countdown. It reached a peak of number four on the countdown, pushing the record even further.

Related Topics:
La Tortura - Total Request Live - Spanish - Music video

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Fijación Oral 1 was simultaneously released in all of Latin America and charted at number one in almost all of its countries. It debuted at number four on the Billboard 200 and is currently the best-selling Spanish first-week sales album (180K), breaking Ricky Martin's self-titled album (#12 , selling 63K). It was also well-received in non-Spanish speaking countries like Germany, where it reached number one, and Austria, at number three.

Related Topics:
Fijación Oral 1 - Billboard 200 - Ricky Martin - Self-titled - Germany - Austria

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The album also has made history in Europe reaching #2 for several weeks with the single La Tortura staying in the Top 10 singles for a while.

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Also, Shakira's "La Tortura" achieved some success on the MTV Top 20 and VH1 Top 20 Countdown.

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Shakira, who performed at the 2005 MTV Video Music Awards in Miami, Florida on August 28, 2005, was nominated for three MTV Video Music Awards: "Best Female Video", "Best Dance Video", and "Viewers Choice" for her smash "La Tortura". Her VMA performance made history as being the first performance on the VMAs ever that was completely in Spanish.

Related Topics:
Miami, Florida - August 28 - 2005

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Shakira is now nominated for 6 MTV Latin America awards (2005). The awards will be held in Mexico City on October 20, 2005.

Related Topics:
Mexico City - October 20

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