Q 01/05

In which Colombian city was Shakira born?

A) Bogotá

B) Barranquilla

C) Medellín

D) Cartagena

Answer · why

B) Barranquilla

The Caribbean port has honoured her with a six-tonne sculpture in 2006 and a 21-foot bronze statue in 2023.

Q 02/05

Shakira's father is of which ancestry, a heritage she credits for her belly dancing?

A) Greek

B) Lebanese

C) Turkish

D) Syrian

Answer · why

B) Lebanese

Her mother is of Catalan Colombian descent; she learned to belly dance, she says, by trying to flip a coin with her stomach.

Q 03/05

Why was the young Shakira rejected from her school choir?

A) She could not read music

B) Her vibrato was too strong

C) She was too short for the risers

D) She kept dancing mid-song

Answer · why

B) Her vibrato was too strong

Classmates told her she sounded like a goat; she was also often sent out of class for hyperactivity.

Q 04/05

What prize did a ten-year-old Shakira win in a local TV talent contest?

A) A bicycle

B) A guitar

C) A record deal

D) A trip to Bogotá

Answer · why

A) A bicycle

She had regained confidence after the choir rejection; by 13 she had been signed by Sony Music Colombia for three albums.

Q 05/05

What was Shakira's first song, written at age eight, called?

A) La Rosa de Cristal

B) Magia

C) Gafas Oscuras

D) Sueños

Answer · why

C) Gafas Oscuras

'Dark Glasses' was inspired by her father, who wore them for years to hide his grief after her half-brother's death.