Sawt Falasteen - World Cup blends soccer with global music stars

From world-famous artists performing at the opening ceremonies to an unprecedented Super Bowl-style halftime show during the final, here is what to expect.

- A musical opening -

The festivities begin on Wednesday, on the eve of the tournament, with concerts in Mexico City, Toronto, and Los Angeles that combine international superstars and major regional figures.

Big names include American pop singer Katy Perry, Canadian artist Alanis Morissette, US rapper Future, Brazilian urban pop figure Anitta, Thai K-pop icon Lisa, and Nigerian afrobeats star Rema.

They will perform alongside artists with strong home country followings, such as Mexican institution Los Angeles Azules Bollywood singer Nora Fatehi, and French rapper Vegedream.

"There's a concerted effort around the FIFA World Cup and their marketing team to leverage music as a through line to connect different audiences from around the world," said Clayton Durant, a music industry entrepreneur and New York University professor.

This initiative is not new: in 2021, the organization launched its FIFA Sound program, describing it as "a strategy to connect with audiences worldwide through shared passions of football and music."

- Grand finale -

The most striking event will be the halftime of the final, on July 19 at the MetLife Stadium in New Jersey.

For the first time, the show will feature a concert with three global headliners: American singer Madonna, Colombian star Shakira, and South Korean group BTS.

That lineup was conceived in the "spirit of trying to unite the whole world," said Hugh Evans, head of the NGO Global Citizen, which is producing the show.

Imagined by Chris Martin, the frontman of Coldplay, the halftime performance is designed to highlight "the best of humanity" and "all the things that unite us," Evans told AFP.

He said the amount spent on producing the event is comparable to the Super Bowl halftime show -- the final of the American football championship. That is somewhere between $10 and $20 million, according to sources.

The artists themselves will be performing for free.

The show is intended to support an education fund that FIFA -- regularly accused of putting financial profits first -- has set up with Global Citizen.

- Hit single? -

For the official World Cup song, FIFA turned to a safe bet: Shakira. She was behind "Waka Waka," the 2010 World Cup anthem that became a global sensation.

Her new track "Dai Dai," performed with Nigerian singer Burna Boy, blends Latin pop and afrobeats.

It appears on an official 18-track album that includes the electro group Major Lazer, reggaeton artist Daddy Yankee, and the Rolling Stones -- once again heavily mixing genres.

- Artist exposure -

The artists featured in these globally broadcast concerts stand to gain a great deal in visibility.

Durant said those performing will see "fans who have maybe never heard of them and really start to gain a ton of new attention and fandom and consumption on their music and their intellectual property."

The World Cup also creates opportunities for more seasoned musicians like Madonna, who at 67 has not had a major success since "Confessions on a Dance Floor" in 2005.

The July 19 concert represents a chance for her to rekindle the spark during the promotion of her new album "Confessions II," scheduled for release on July 3.

R.Shaban--SF-PST