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WWE SmackDown is a professional wrestling television program for World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE). As of 2010update it airs on MyNetworkTV in the United States as WWE Friday Night SmackDown. The show’s name is also used to refer to the SmackDown brand, in which WWE employees are assigned to work and perform on that program; the other program and brand currently being Raw. It is currently the only television broadcast for the SmackDown brand, though at one point WWE Velocity also featured SmackDown branded wrestling.

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Refs must face the music for bad calls

Follow Martin Rogers on Twitter at @mrogersyahoo

JOHANNESBURG – Forget the millionaire superstars from the soccer’s biggest teams. It is the tournament referees who are the World Cup’s most coddled and protected species.

The sending off of Brazil’s Kaka on Sunday night in a 3-1 win over the Ivory Coast was merely the latest in a litany of atrocious decisions by the men in the middle to cast a shadow over the sport’s showpiece event.

Kaka was given a second yellow card by French referee Stephane Lannoy when the Ivory Coast’s Kader Keita was not looking where he was going and collided heavily with the Brazil midfielder. Kaka merely held his ground for the inevitable contact, and the incident in no way warranted a free kick, let alone a yellow card.

A serious mistake was made. Kaka should suit up for Brazil in its Group G finale against Portugal on Friday but instead he will be suspended due to Lannoy’s erroneous red card.

So what about the repercussions for Lannoy?

Well, let’s see. First of all, he gets a chaffeur-driven ride back to the luxury base where all the World Cup officials are cloistered, away from the prying eyes of the media, or God forbid, the public.

Then, if he fancies it on Monday, Lannoy can get a nice massage from an on-site physiotherapist and some restaurant-quality room service before – and this is the best bit – consulting a ready-and-waiting sports psychologist to help him handle the stress of his exertions on Sunday night.

At no point will he be held accountable. At no point will he have to explain his decisions. Not to Kaka. Not to the fans. Not even to FIFA.

Lannoy’s performance will be evaluated like all others – by the FIFA referees committee. The review may be expedited due to the glaring nature of his errors. Yet until he is either called to officiate another game or removed from the final shortlist of elite refs who will take charge of the all-important knockout games, he can remain in his happy little bubble.

And therein lies the biggest problem with the World Cup.

Human error is part of sports and with FIFA having taken the decision to steer clear of video replay, it is inevitable. But this is the World Cup, the best of the best. Except for the men in charge.

Just two days after the United States had what would have been an invaluable victory stripped away by Mali official Koman Coulibaly, Lannoy messed up. Not once but twice.

First, he allowed Luis Fabiano to clearly handle the ball en route to scoring a spectacular goal that put Brazil up 2-0 on its way to a comfortable victory at Soccer City. Then, with time running out, he found himself in an obstructed position and misread the collision between Keita and Kaka. Ivory Coast head coach Sven-Goran Eriksson claimed that Brazil “shouldn’t complain, they got a goal for free and it changed everything.”

There is no foolproof solution to this, but if FIFA, as it insists, is truly interested in making sure its referees are up to international standard it has to stop treating them like children. Referees should be made available to questions from reporters after each game, so that the fans who have spent good money to come to the tournament or given their time to watch it on television can get some answers for why their team was gypped.

What we should be talking about is the brilliance of Brazil, which with two goals from Fabiano and one from Elano, produced the best display of this World Cup so far. We shouldn’t be talking about a Frenchman who works as a video games distributor when he is not taking charge of real life matches beamed around the world.

And he shouldn’t be talking to his psychologist tomorrow. He should be talking to us.

2010 World Cup Kickoff Concert: The Highlights
By Christopher John Farley

The 2010 FIFA Official World Cup Kickoff Concert began with a parade of percussionists and ended with an all-star jam of musicians. The event, held at Orlando Stadium in Johannesburg/Soweto, South Africa, featured an international cast of high-profile musicians including Shakira, Black Eyed Peas, South African trumpeter Hugh Masekela, Benin’s Angelique Kidjo, Malian singer and guitarist Vieux Farka Touré, Amadou & Mariam, Alicia Keys, and John Legend.

Masekela helped open the concert by playing “Grazing in the Grass,” a surprisingly mellow number to begin a massive concert with a global audience. But it’s an instrumental tune with punch–it reached No. 1 on the  Billboard charts in 1968 and still charms audiences today.

Masekela was joined by Lira singing “Pata Pata,” a song made famous by the late South African vocal superstar Miriam Makeba. “Pata Pata is a dance they used to do down Johannesburg way!” Lira declared.

Kidjo and Legend performed a spirited version of Curtis Mayfield’s “Move On Up.”

Also during the show, Keys offered up a cover of “Too Late for Mama,” a hit by the late South African pop singer Brenda Fassie.

Joseph S. Blatter, president of FIFA, told the crowd “FIFA is very proud to be in South Africa….Football is not only a game. Football is connecting people.”

Jacob Zuma, the president of South Africa, said that “South Africa is very happy to host the 2010 FIFA World Cup.” He noted that it was the first time that the championship had been hosted on the continent of Africa. He asked South Africans to show goodwill to their guests throughout the tournament. “Africa is showing the world that it is capable of handling any matter of the world like all other regions,” he said.

Later in the concert Black Eyed Peas ran through their hits, including “Where is the Love?” “Boom Boom Pow,” and “I Gotta Feeling” and Shakira sang her global smash “Hips Don’t Lie,” all the while giving shout-outs to Africa and her native Colombia. “No fighting!” she declared, and blew kisses to the crowd. She also performed her official world cup song, “Waka Waka (This Time For Africa).”

South African Nobel Peace laureate Desmond Tutu came out, dressed in a green and gold striped hat and scarf. “I’m dreaming. Wake me up!” he said, and he danced around the stage. ““Africa is the cradle of humanity. So we welcome you home…we are all Africans!” He also paid tribute to former South African president Nelson Mandela for helping to bring the World Cup to the country, and introduced a short film about him.

The night ended with a stage-packing jam, as many of the night’s musicians returned to sing “Everyday People,” a 1968 soul song by Sly & the Family Stone. Members of the Black Eyed Peas stalked the stage, Shakira and Fergie hugged, and Masekela blew his horn. The night was over but the World Cup had just begun.

You can leave your thoughts about the World Cup kickoff concert in the comments.

Check out Canadian singer Sarah McLachlan performing two new songs here.

Weezer Release Song For US World Cup Soccer Team

Weezer released an unofficial theme song for the United States’ FIFA World Cup soccer team on Friday (June 11), a day before the U.S. took on England in the round robin part of the tournament.

“Represent” began streaming on Radio Weezer at 9 a.m. PT on Friday, and will be available as a free download on iTunes for a week beginning at midnight.

Here’s the song:

Weezer frontman Rivers Cuomo is a huge soccer fan, and this isn’t the first time he’s written a tune in support of the U.S. team. He wrote one in 2006, dubbed “My Day Is Coming.” He plotted Weezer’s 2002 World Cup tour around that year’s World Cup games, and the “Photograph” video features him playing soccer. He also watches England’s Premiere League and Major League Soccer games.

The U.S. meets England on Saturday for the first time in a World Cup match since 1950, when the U.S. won 1-0 against the then stronger English team.

Of course, there’s a tradition of artists releasing official and unofficial theme songs for particular teams. England has its own song this year, “Shout,” which has been done by Dizzee Rascal and James Corden. Is Weezer’s tune better than this one?

There have also been tons of World Cup songs released throughout the history of the tournament. Some, like New Order’s “World In Motion” — England’s official theme song in 1990 — are great, while others, like the Village People’s “Far Away In America” theme for the 1994 German team, are downright rubbish.

Let’s compare:

Back in 1998, some genius had the idea to get the Spice Girls in on a godawful tune called “(How Does It Feel) To Be On Top Of The World” with a collection of musicians dubbed England United. I’m blaming this for England’s poor showing that year. U2 drummer Larry Mullen, Jr. wrote a song for Ireland’s 1990 World Cup team – the first time ever they had qualified for the tourney: K’Naan’s “Wavin’ Flag” is Coca-Cola’s official promotional anthem for this year’s World Cup. Most of us reading this know what that one sounds like, so we’ll leave it alone here.

Then, of course, there’s the official songs for World Cup tournaments themselves. There have been some huge stinkers over the last few years, beginning with Ricky Martin’s “The Cup Of Life,” which was the official song for the 1998 World Cup in France.

Anastasia’s “Boom” was the official song for the 2002 tournament, and Il Divo’s godawful “The Time Of Our Lives” was the 2006 theme song.

And of course, there’s this year’s theme, Shakira’s “Waka Waka (Time For Africa).” It kind of makes them look pathetic in comparison, even though it’s still not very good:

You can see Weezer performing in support of last year’s Raditude here:

June 11 Elizabeth, IN @ Horseshoe Southern Indiana
June 12 Manchester, TN @ Great Stage Park (Bonnaroo Music And Arts Festival)
July 9 Minneapolis, MN @ Basilica Block Party
July 10 Sarnia, ON @ Centennial Park (Rogers Sarnia Bayfest)
July 11 Canadaigua, NY @ GMAC
July 15 Mashantucket, CT @ Foxwoods
July 16 Brooklyn, NY @ Williamsburg Waterfront East River State Park
July 18 Ottawa, ON @ Lebreton Flats (Cisco Ottawa Bluesfest)
July 22 St. John’s, NL @ Mile One Centre
July 24 Halifax, NS @ Halifax Commons (Halifax Rocks)
July 29 Paso Robles, CA @ Paso Robles Event Center
July 31 Columbus, OH @ Celeste Center
Aug. 1 Montreal, QC @ Parc Jean-Drapeau (Osheaga Music And Arts Festival)
Aug. 14 Council Bluffs, IA @ Westfair Amphitheatre
Aug. 15 Commerce City, CO @ Dick’s Sporting Goods Park (Mile High Music Festival)
Aug. 21 Del Mar, CA @ Del Mar Raceway
Aug. 28 Leeds, England @ Bramham Park (Leeds Festival)
Aug. 29 Reading, England @ Richfield Avenue (Reading Festival)
Sept. 1 Allentown, PA @ TBA
Sept. 4 Edmonton, AB @ Northlands Park (Sonic Boom Festival)
Sept. 18 Phoenix, AZ @ X103.9 Fall Frenzy Festival

Black Eyed Peas Play World Cup Concert

11/06/2010

The Black Eyed Peas have played a concert in South Africa to launch the 2010 FIFA World Cup.

The hip-hop group, consisting of will.i.am, apl.de.ap, Fergie and Taboo, performed a medley of their hits on a huge stage at Soweto’s Orlando Stadium. The 40,000-seat arena was filled to capacity, with former South African President Nelson Mandela and activist Desmond Tutu rubbing shoulders with local residents.

Fergie was thrilled to meet iconic freedom fighter Mandela. She was nervous before they were introduced, but says she quickly calmed down when the 91-year-old started “flirting” with her. She says she “flirted back” and will remember their banter for the rest of her life.

“It was one of the best moments of my life,” she revealed.

Desmond Tutu was visibly thrilled to be at the event, and took to the podium to welcome the world’s soccer fans to Africa.

“We welcome you all. For Africa is the cradle of humanity, so we welcome you home,” he said.

Shakira came onstage after the Black Eyed Peas, showing off her toned figure in a skimpy animal print outfit. She performed Waka Waka-ed, the anthem of the world cup.

R&B singer Alicia Keys took to the stage next, followed by Colombian rocker Juanes.

Sly and the Family Stone closed the concert with their hit Everyday People, which they belted out as fireworks went off over the stadium.

The soccer world cup begins today.

Kick-Off Celebration Concert rocks Soweto

Soweto township, site of the World Cup’s opening game, rocked on Thursday to some of the biggest names in music.

Colombian popstar Shakira, Somali-born rapper K’naan and U.S. soul singer Alicia Keys entertained a country feverish with anticipation hours before kick-off.

Tens of thousands of people braved temperatures below 10 degrees in Johannesburg to attend a star-studded inaugural World Cup gig in Orlando Stadium, where K’naan stole the show with his football anthem Wavin’ Flag.

Long after he had left the stage, the crowd was still chanting “oh, oh, oh.” “South Africa is rocking, South Africa is cool,” President Jacob Zuma told the 34,000 people who packed the venue on the eve of Friday’s opening match between South Africa and Mexico in nearby Soccer City stadium.

Many came wrapped in the colours of the South African jersey or flag. DPA even spotted a rainbow mohawk, mixed in among the Stetsons and sombreros of some visiting fans from the United States and Mexico.

“Africa is the cradle of humanity,” said Archbishop Desmond Tutu, who wore a yellow national jersey, scarf and hat on stage, performing one of his trademark jigs as he spoke. “We welcome you home. We are all Africans!” A visibly exhausted Danny Jordaan, chief executive of the local World Cup organizing committee, kept repeating: “The waiting is over, the waiting is over.” Mr. Zuma, who opened the show with Sepp Blatter President of World Cup organizing body FIFA, said that by hosting the World Cup Africa was showing the world it is “capable of handling any matter of the world.” Soul singer Lira, a Soweto native, kickstarted the evening with Pata Pata, the trademark song of the late singer Miriam Makeba, South Africa’s “Mama Africa,” accompanied by Makeba’s ex-husband, jazz trumpeter Hugh Masekela.

U.S. hip hip outfit the Black Eyed Peas followed up with a thumping performance of their hit I Gotta Feeling (Tonight’s Gonna Be a Good Night).

It was a pregnant Alicia Keys, with an acoustic version of Empire State of Mind, K’naan, South African black rock group BLK JKS and Shakira who really electrified the crowd.

“This is one of the best shows I’ve seen in my life,” said Uciel Rodrigues, 29, from Mexico City, who had marked out hexagons in his shaved head and painted them the green, white and green of the Mexican flag.

Shakira, who wore a zebra-patterned top in a nod to her surroundings, and South African Afropop group Freshly Ground closed the concert with their official World Cup song Waka Waka (This Time for Africa).

The song was slammed when it was launched in April as “too Latino-sounding” for the first World Cup in Africa, but appears since to have grown on South Africans.

There was also a bit of grumbling in South Africa, initially, about the concert line-up. Local musicians complained there were too few local acts, forcing organizers to rummage for more home-grown talent at the last minute.

More than 10 of the main acts were African including at least six from the host country.

Proceeds from the gig, which was broadcast to millions worldwide, will be donated to a FIFA campaign to build 20 centres for football and social development in impoverished communities across Africa.

Keywords: 2010 World Cup

Thousands Rock Soweto at World Cup Concert

SOWETO, South Africa (Reuters) – Thousands of people rocked Orlando Stadium in South Africa’s biggest township on Thursday, singing in harmony at the official World Cup concert on the eve of the world’s most watched sporting event.

Concert-goers clapped and cheered amidst almost freezing temperatures as footballers, local musicians and international singing stars took to the stage, the first time such a music concert has been held as part of the World Cup opening events.

“This is great. This concert, the World Cup. When you drive down the road, you can feel it’s changing us…Sports and music are a universal language that everyone understands,” said 28-year-old Neo Baloyi.

U.S. group Black Eyed Peas kicked off the concert, which was broadcast live around the world, with their chart-topping hit “Where is the love.”

Other stars expected to perform include R Kelly, Alicia Keys, Angelique Kidjo and Vusi Mahlasela. Colombian pop star Shakira will sing the official World Cup anthem “Waka Waka (This time for Africa)” with local group Freshly Ground.

Children and the elderly alike waved South African flags and sang “Shosholoza,” the popular local tune sung mostly at soccer matches.

The scene in the 30,000 capacity stadium was reminiscent of 1995, when South Africa, recently free from decades of apartheid rule, won the rugby World Cup. The tournament was widely seen as uniting a country long divided along racial lines.

“This is history in the making. Only 15 years ago we were unsure of our identity, but here we stand as one nation. I’m very excited, I’m very happy to be here, I love the vibe,” said 44-year-old Vanitha Govender, who works for Standard Bank.

South African President Jacob Zuma and FIFA President Sepp Blatter also joined in on the party in Johannesburg’s Soweto township, calling for unity for the duration of the World Cup.

“Africa is showing the world that it is capable of holding any matter of the world like any other region. Africa is hosting this tournament, South Africa is just the stage,” said Zuma.

Black Eyed Peas, Alicia Keys and Shakira kick off World Cup festivities in …

The World Cup festivities begin tonight at 7pm UK time with a celebration concert starring the Black Eyed Peas and Alicia Keys.

Colombian star Shakira and South African band Freshly Ground will perform the official theme song, This Time for Africa.

Us singer John Legend and African musicians, including Amadou & Mariam and the Soweto Gospel Choir, will also entertain a global audience of billions from the 30,000-capacity Orlando Stadium in Soweto, Johannesburg.

Proceeds from the three-hour show will be donated to 20 Centres for 2010, the official World Cup charity, which aims to build 20 educa-tion and healthcare centres across Africa and provide football training for disadvantaged communities.

Music legend Hugh Masekela said: “As South Africans, we are proud to be hosting the first-ever World Cup on African soil.

“I am very humbled and flattered to be part of this event and am looking forward to the concert with great interest and excitement.”

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Last night, it was still unclear whether former president Nelson Mandela would attend the concert, which also features Vusi Mahlasela, a South African artist who performed at Mr Mandela’s inauguration in 1994.

But fans will hear the former leader at tomorrow’s opening ceremony in Soccer City, Johannesburg, which will see 1,581 artists, dancers and musicians performing.

A speech by the 91-year-old statesman is part of a song recorded by South African opera singer Siphiwo Ntshebe, who died last month from meningitis at the age of 35. His World Cup anthem, Hope, was recorded two days before he died.

Mr Mandela, who has become increasingly frail, is expected to make a brief appearance at the tournament’s first match tomorrow afternoon.

Nkosi Zwelivelile Mandela, his eldest grandson, said: “He will come and greet the fans before he retires to his home. He will stay at the stadium at least 10 to 15 minutes.”

American RnB star R Kelly will sing with the Soweto Spiritual Singers during the three-hour ceremony, which will precede the first match between hosts South Africa and Mexico.

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