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Trivia
Birth name: Shakira Isabel Mebarak Ripoll
Date of birth: 2 February 1977
Place of birth: Barranquilla, Colombia
Nickname: Shaki
Height: 5' 2" (1.57 m)
Shakira was born in Barranquilla, Colombia to a Colombian mother, Nidia del Carmen Ripoll Torrado and an American born father of Lebanese descent, William Mebarak
Chadid.
Is of Colombian and Lebanese and Macedonian heritage.
Shakira, means "grateful" in Arabic, is named after her grandmother.
Announced engagement to Antonio de la Rua, son of the present President
of Argentina. [March 2001]
Is the youngest of eight siblings.
Shakira is Arabic for "grateful" or "full of grace."
Named her album "Laundry Service" because when she is in love
she feels "clean and fresh"
Shakira began writing and composing music at the age of eight. One of her first songs was called "Tus Gafas Oscuras" (Your Dark Glasses), which was about her father's grief over his son who had died in a car accident.
At the age of ten, Shakira tried out for her school choir, but she was not taken because her voice was "too strong."
Has an IQ of 140!
Fluent in Portuguese, Italian, and English, in addition to Spanish and
Arabic
Magia (Magic) was Shakira's debut album, recorded with Sony Colombia in 1991, when she was 15.
Shakira is well-known for her dancing in various music videos. The moves are based on the art of belly dancing, a part of her Lebanese heritage, which Shakira says she learned as a young teen to overcome her shyness.
The intense training has afforded her a fluidity in her body movement most seen in the video to her hit "La
Tortura".
In an MTV interview, she said people told her she never moved her chest when dancing, so she danced with her chest (as well as her usual belly dancing moves) in the videos for "La Tortura" and "Hips Don't Lie".
She has had several belly dance choreographers, including award-winning Bellydance Superstar Bozenka.
As her MTV 'The Making of...' special entales, she worked with Jamie King for the choreography, but ended up creating most of it herself.
The album did not fare well commercially, selling less than one thousand copies. After Magia, Shakira released Peligro (Danger) in 1993.
The album was better received than Magia, but Shakira decided to take a hiatus from recording so that she could graduate from high school.
Hates to wear jewelry.
Her Lebanese grandmother taught her the art of Arabian Belly Dancing so
she can stay true to her middle eastern roots
Has perfect pitch (the ability to recognize any note upon hearing it or
sing any note without prior to hearing it)
Her manager for Latin America, Patricia Tellez, the woman who helped her
go from being local artist to Grammy-winning global artist, died of a
heart attack in Bogota on 17 August 2004.
Ranked #9 in Stuff magazine's "102 Sexiest Women in the World"
(2002).
She likes chocolate balls.
Father's name is William Mebarak Chadid and mother's name is Nidia del
Carmen Ripolli Torrado.
Her mother is half Colombian and half Italian and her father is American
with Lebanese and Macedonian ancestry.
She has 5 half brothers Alberto, Edward, Moises, Tonino and Robin and 3
half sisters Ana, Lucy and Patricia.
Steven Spielberg offered her the role of Elena Montero in The Mask of
Zorro (1998) back when he was originally in talks to direct it. But, she
turned the offer down because she felt that not only was she a bad
actress, but her English wasn't good enough.
When she was two years old her oldest half-brother died in an accident
while he was riding a motorcycle and a drunk man hit him with his car.
Her oldest half-sister Lucy is a surgeon, Alberto, her half-brother, is
a lawyer, Moises is the third child, Tonino is the fourth child and the
closest to Shakira, having worked many years as her road manager. Then
is Patricia who lives in Spain, she is a special education teacher, and
finally there is Antonio and Edward, the youngest who lives in Miami.
The first English song she wrote was Objection, from the album Laundry
Service.
She loves to eat corozos, a little Colombian fruit that is sweet-sour.
Lost her suitcase with all her songs from Donde Estan Los Ladrones in an
airport in Bogota Colombia. This happened a couple of months before she
walked into the recording studio to begin on that album.
Mattel put out several Barbie dolls inspired by Shakira and her look.
Her album 'Fijacion Oral Vol.1' is #1 on the Billboard Latin Albums
Chart in September 2005.
Attended La Ensenanza School in Barranquilla.
Her English language album 'Oral Fixation 2' will be released in
November 2005.
Lists John Lennon as her #1 musical influence.
Her cousin is fashion designer and Miss Colombia 2006 Valerie Dominguez
Tarud.
Ranked as #76 in FHM's "100 Sexiest Women in the World 2005"
special supplement. (2005).
In 2000, Shakira started dating Antonio de la Rúa, the son of then president of Argentina Fernando de la Rúa, a romance that made headline news throughout Latin America. In March of 2001, he proposed to her.
During Fernando De la Rúa's presidency, the economy of Argentina collapsed, leading to the subsequently violent December 2001 riots; in response to the turmoil, Tower Records decided to no longer sell Shakira's albums
in Argentina as Antonio was directly involved in the management of his father's administration. De la Rúa and Shakira remain engaged, with future plans to marry.
Was featured as #15 in Maxim Magazine's "Hot 100 of 2002"
supplement. (2002)
Has homes in the Bahamas and Miami.
Shakira was the most nominated artist of the year for this year's MTV Video Music Awards '06.
Her seven nominations were for "Hips Don't Lie", including Video of the Year and Best Female Video.
She was attached to play Mimi in a television mini series based on the
Broadway musical, with Neil Patrick Harris as Mark Cohen, Wilson Cruz as
Angel, and Rikki Lee Travolta as Roger Davis, but the rights were pulled
in order for Chris Columbus to make a film adaptation using much of the
original Broadway cast.
Her recording of "La Tortura" was a #1 hit in many countries,
most of them in Europe.
She won only one award for Choreography. Shakira also performed "Hips Don't Lie" to the dance moves of popular Indian Choreographer Farah Khan. The award show was held on August 31st 2006 in Radio City Music Hall.
"Hips Don't Lie" instantly soared to the top of the charts in
many countries and has been at the very top for many months. It has won
countless awards and is currently being performed all over the world
along with Wyclef Jean.
This year 2006, Shakira and Alejandro Sanz have been working together again, this time the duet is called "Te lo Agradezco pero No" and it's featured on Alejandro Sanz' new album.
Also, Shakira has announced her two new singles, "Illegal" featuring Carlos Santana and "La Pared".
Before the release of Shakira's second English album Oral Fixation Vol. 2, she appeared at the 2005 MTV Europe Music Awards in Lisbon, Portugal and she was nominated in the category of "Best Female", which she won to great shock since she had outmatched the international popularity of other artists such as
Gwen
Stefani.
On April 27, 2006 she received 6 Latin Billboard Awards. The awards included Female Latin Pop Album of the Year for Fijacion Oral Vol. 1 and Hot Latin Song of the Year for La Tortura. She was also honored with the Spirit of Hope Award for her foundation Pies Descalzos.
Shakira performed Oral Fixation Vol. 2's lead single "Don't Bother" with a car on stage following her win. Shakira's second English album Oral Fixation Vol. 2 was released on November 29, 2005 in North America and Australia, and also at this time in Continental Europe.
While "Don't Bother" was warmly received by music critics as the album's lead single, it failed to peak within the U.S. top forty.
The second single "Hips Don't Lie" (featuring Wyclef Jean) became her first single to reach number one on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 and UK Singles Chart.
On March 28, 2006, she re-released Oral Fixation Vol. 2 in the U.S. and released it June 19, 2006.
On April 3, 2006, Shakira was honored at an United Nations ceremony because she created the Pies Descalzos Foundation, a charity that helps to protect children from violence in Colombia. At the event she said: "Let's not forget that at the end of this day when we all go home, 960 children will have died in Latin America."
In June 2006, Shakira started her biggest tour ever, called the Oral Fixation Tour, which will last until the summer of 2007.
On July 30th 2006 Hips Don't Lie was her most recent number one, and consequently, the last ever song played on the legendary British programme Top of the Pops, seeing the track jump back from number three to the number one spot again, after spending seven weeks on the chart.
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