World Cup and Music Entertainment

It will be necessary to clear the difference between entertainment and sport. Entertainment is an art of amusement. It is usually done by performing. Reading the first part of this definition, one can argue that these entities are the same. Sport is not totally performed; it is governed by rules and regulations. If there is no goal that is set, the viewers cannot be entertained. The use of the word ‘entertained’ in the previous sentence is no mistake as any sport like football cannot grow for centuries if no form of amusement is attached. People can’t shy away from emotions. It is a major part of every human life. There is a need for pain, joy, anxiety and sport and entertainment has also become an everyday affair for the plea of emotions.

Sport is a wide area; so, this work will be limited to the game of football. Writing on sports as a whole requires vast research and critical analysis. Commercial Advertisement like the Nigeria Pepsi adverts in collaboration with some of the super Eagle’s Player alongside music artiste has really shown a strong sense of unity and support towards the game of football. Looking at the global scene, World cup soundtracks like ‘Colors’ by Jason Derulo and ‘live it up’ with Nicky Jam, Will Smith and Era Istrefi has given football viewers and players the assurance of a good football tournament.

Over the years, there have been diverse soundtracks in admiration of the FIFA world cups held in the different nations of the world. Different musical cultures have been earlier mashed up to create a greater voice like II Divo, Toni Braxton 2006 ‘Time of our lives’. At first look, this collaboration may not match together (opera-RnB) but it is proved to be one of World cup best songs ever. World cup moment has grown with the change of music. The 2014 World cup held in Brazil drew a familiar Afro Brazilian style by Jenifer Lopez, Claudia Leitte and Pitbull which was made a theme song but ‘We are one (Ole Ola)’ received negative reaction from Brazilians over its limited Brazilian vibe. Football fans around the world grooved to this song a lot that it peaked no.1 in three countries. Concerning the first soundtrack ever made for a Fifa world cup event is ‘El Rock del mundial’ in Chile 62. An effective anthem like ‘Waving flag’ by K’naan has been able to see a long life over the years having used for charity groups following the 2010 Haiti earthquake. Casual football fans who watched World cup in 1998 should be familiar with the hit song ‘Cup of life’ that was released in Spanish and English version and this 1998 anthem made him gain wider mainstream attention and further earning Grammy best latin pop category the following year. In 2010, South Africans relied so much with confidence in their Vuvuzela that it was almost banned from the stadium. This was a driving force in sport entertainment that moved the game forward Also, Mexican wave was made popular during the Mexico ’86 and this illusion of waves has raised high spirit in fans and the football players.

The 2018 Fifa World cup had its moment of joy, anger, and peace and there are so many other things tied up to its success. Football is an entertainment on its own and it has advanced itself in improving and adapting to other forms of entertainment.

By Ogunleye Oluwakorede

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Ogunleye Oluwakorede writes majorly on entertainment, history and socio-economic matters. He has previously released works like album reviews and content information. He is also a music critic and analyst particularly on Nigerian music entertainment.

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