Shakira Another Britney Spears

Many think Shakira has changed her image to fit the portrait of an American Girl. Her beautiful black hair and dark skin changed as soon as she achieved real stardom, after Pies Descalzos became a hit. Now she can be seen sporting blonde braided hair with very light skin.

Before I go on, I want to clarify that these transitions are perfectly normal with any rock or pop star. As a star, it is impossible to appeal to everyone. By going more pop Shakira has lost older crowds but gained teenage fans by the dozen. Shakira isn't the only Latina gaining criticism. On Late Night With Conan O'Brien (An American Late Night Show), the host showed a series a pictures, starting with a pitchfork, shovel, rake, and then a picture of Christina Aguilera. The relation? According to the Conan O'Brian, each picture is more and more likely to be mistaken for a ho. Personally I agree with him. If you have seen Christina's earlier pictures, she looks like a beautiful, talented young lady.

Now all of this, though it might seem a little un-classy at times, shouldn't effect the music. Right?

All of this is a ploy to get the attention of potential fans. Also, it diverts the attention. If you notice during concerts, pop stars have revealing clothing, backup singers, lights, and dance moves. The crowd is so distracted by these things, if the artist misses a note, it will go undetected. In a modern day studio, there are so many gizmos and gadgets they can take Joe Blow of the street and make him sound good. In music today, we are missing the most important quality in an artist - their voice.

Now I'm not saying that Shakira has no talent, she is very talented. Anyone that can write their own songs and the age of 8 and sing them as well as she can is definitely talented, and I wouldn't spend this much time on a fan site if she wasn't.

Britney Spears, an American Pop Super Star, is notorious for lip sinking during concerts. Some of this is due to the fact she is so busy dancing and the rest is that she might get nervous and miss a note. Shakira would never sink down to lip sinking in a concert. Would she?

Tour Anfibio, in the Dominican Republic. Thousands of fans pay a month's salary to go see Shakira. During the concert, technical problems were numerous and the concert let out early. But the most disturbing thing is that during the performance, there was a tape of her singing in the background. This makes her no better than Britney Spears.

While this is only an isolated incident and I think Shakira has learned her lesson from it, it still is a cause for concern. When a talented singer like Shakira thinks its all right to only half perform by lip sinking in front of a poverty-stricken crowd, it just goes to show that the world's standards for music are constantly being tested and lowered by the new generation of music

Article by Nick T. 

More Articles