This time for Africa!
The Shakira Effect
I’m on tonight; my hips don’t lie, and I am going to stop here.
Introduction
If you are around BSG a lot, especially if you have been here since the very first singing competition, none of this information will come as a big shock to you. However, sometimes you just need a little reminder. I also have statistics—who doesn’t love statistics? I will even put them in a list because you all know I love a good list around here. So here it is: the big secret that isn’t a secret—the way to achieve success.
The Shakira Effect
As you can guess by the name of this article and this heading, we are talking about Shakira. Some people have truly taken to heart the fact that Smoke and I are both Shakira fans, but some still haven’t learned this. It goes deep, and I am here to truly impress upon you all how much success people have had performing Shakira songs, and why, if you haven’t picked a song yet, you might want to consider Shakira. So let’s look at the breakdown.
The History
Lets Wind the clock back to 2022 and the very first singing competition: in this first round, we only had a single category and just 19 entries. Of those 19, a single person was brave enough to take on Shakira. And guess what? Naday was rewarded with first place. After just one singing competition, Shakira had a 100% success rate.
Later that same year, we arrived at the second singing competition. Sadly, we had zero Shakira entries. This made Smoke and me sad but kept the 100% success rate alive. The third singing competition gave us our second Shakira entry. This one was in the bad category, and while it didn’t take first place, fourth place meant Shakira still had a 100% success rate in taking home a cash prize.
The fourth singing competition rolled around, and a new category apparently energized the Shakira entries. This time we got three entries, and the Shakira reign was impressive once again. Second place in the good category meant that for the third time, a Shakira song had taken home a cash prize. There was another first place with a win in the bad category, and our first unplaced Shakira entry in the duet category.
Coming back around, the fifth competition saw another three covers, and again, we had two more cash prizes. First in the bad category as well as first in the bad duet category both went to Shakira covers. While our third Shakira entry for this competition and eighth overall became just our second Shakira song not to win a cash prize.
Quick note before I move on: I am aware that “Blurry,” the winner of the bad category in the fifth singing competition, is listed as singing a Paramore song. But as we all know, the short track was a simple cover for him to enter with Shakira without us knowing what was coming. So I will absolutely still count it in my list of Shakira covers.
The Stats
• Number of Shakira entries: 8
• First place wins: 4 (50%)
• Second place or lower: 2 (25%)
• Unplaced: 2 (25%)
• Cash prize total: 6 (75%)
• Good category: 2 (one first and one second place)
• Bad category: 4 (2 first, 1 fourth, and 1 unplaced)
• Duets: 2 (one first and one unplaced)
And the Point?
Why do I have to have a point? Maybe I just wanted to make a list while listening to Shakira. Fine, I will give you a point: Smoke and I are both Shakira fans, and dammit, if you are unsure what you are going to sing, think about Shakira. The fact is, if you want to appeal to us both, do something we can both relate to—something that will bring us joy and happiness.
If you are a good singer, be careful with Shakira. Stay in your lane and make sure you pick something that suits your voice. If you can’t do any song justice, don’t sing it, that isn’t going to help you place no matter how much we love Shakira.
If you are a bad singer, just pick a tough Shakira song and have some fun. Though this is a fun article about Shakira, the reason she works so good in the bad category is due to how hard it is to sing like her and sound good. Maybe that is something for everyone to think about, even if you don’t want to sing shakira.
TL;DR
-Sing more Shakira songs, all of you!
Conclusion
At the time of posting, you have a little under a month to enter the sixth BSG Singing Competition. So pick those songs, warm up those voices, and get ready for something big.
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