Q 01/05

In which Colombian city was Shakira born?

A) Bogotá

B) Barranquilla

C) Santa Marta

D) Cartagena

Answer · why

B) Barranquilla

Barranquilla unveiled a 21-foot bronze statue of her in December 2023, frozen in her trademark hip swivel.

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

Lebanese roots came through her father; at four she heard a doumbek drum in a Middle Eastern restaurant and climbed onto a table to dance.

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

Her vibrato was too strong, the music teacher said, and she was told she sounded like a goat; at ten she entered a local TV talent contest anyway and ...

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

A bicycle was first prize; she then toured mining towns with a song-and-dance troupe, and by 13 Sony had signed her for three albums.

Q 05/05

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

A) La Rosa de Cristal

B) Esta Noche Voy Contigo

C) Tus Gafas Oscuras

D) Sueños

Answer · why

C) Tus Gafas Oscuras

Tus Gafas Oscuras ('Your Dark Glasses') was about her father, who wore them constantly in mourning for a son killed in a motorcycle crash; La Rosa de ...