Shakira News

(7/25/02, 3 p.m. ET) -- Colombian singer Shakira will be featured in a national Pepsi television ad titled "Sound Check," which will feature her original rendition of the Pepsi song, "The Joy Of Pepsi." The performance-style spot opens with Shakira rehearsing for an upcoming concert when she suddenly finds herself rescuing an overzealous young fan from the grips of security guards.

This is the second consecutive year that Shakira will be featured in Pepsi advertising. The new commercial, which was taped in both English and Spanish, will begin airing this week in on Univision and Telemundo, and on English-language television networks in early August. The singer will also be featured in radio and print ads, as well as on in-store merchandising materials.

Shakira was recently nominated for four 2002 MTV Video Music Awards--including best female video, best dance video, best pop video, and best cinematography--for "Whenever, Wherever" from her triple-platinum album, Laundry Service.

In related news, Pepsi's other singing soda slinger, Britney Spears, will be featured in a special concert broadcast in more than 2,600 Wal-Mart stores around the country on Saturday (July 27). One hour of concert footage from Spears's recent tour will be available only on Wal-Mart's in-store televisions, or customers may listen to the concert on in-store radio. The exclusive Wal-Mart TV concert broadcast is scheduled to begin at 7 p.m. local time. Spears's most recent Pepsi television ad was tied into the movie Austin Powers In Goldmember, and it co-starred Mike Myers as Austin Powers.

-- Jason Gelman, New York

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