Sunday’s World Cup final between Italy and France in Berlin, Germany, will be more than a match to decide the world’s best football team. It will be a party, a celebration for all the citizens of our planet to revel in.
“We don’t want a rigid, serious ceremony but instead want to show that Germany is a country where you can dance and celebrate,” said Dieter Brell, the man who developed the concept of the World Cup’s closing ceremony. “I think it’s time to ignite that flame.”
As the quadrennial tournament concludes, Colombian pop singer Shakira will perform her hit “Hips Don’t Lie” during an 11-minute long ceremony while veteran group Il Divo sings the official World Cup anthem, “The Time of Our Lives.”
Because no activity is permitted on the pitch (what those crazy Europeans call a field) prior to the match itself, Shakira’s gyrating will occur on the terrace at the Marathon Gate end of the Olympic stadium. Around 400 actors will be on hand masquerading around the stage as a wild horde of fans to help increase the atmosphere in the stadium.
Shakira can’t get the fans excited on her own? We beg to differ. Those hips — and the Gossip — most certainly do not lie or stretch the truth.
Oh yeah, that’s real nice. Her performance will be choreographed by Doug Jack, the man responsible for the closing ceremony at the 2006 Winter Olympics in Torino, Italy, earlier this year. Apart from Shakira, famed Spanish tenor Placido Domingo will take the stage at halftime for a performance of “Willkommen bei uns”, a song written by his son, Placido Domingo, Jr.
The unhealthy opera star and avid football fan has attended every World Cup final since 1982.