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King’s “Vida” Named the Winner of Sony’s “Supersong” 2014 World Cup Song Contest

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It looks like World (Cup) is Elijah King’s oyster…

The Puerto Rican singer, who has made several appearances on the Billboard Latin charts since 2009, has been named the winner of Sony’s “Supersong” 2014 World Cup song contest.

Elijah King

King’s bilingual English and Spanish-language song “Vida” will now be recorded by Ricky Martin.

“Vida,” which has a tropical pop feel, will be produced by Salaam Remi, known for his work with The Fugees, Amy Winehouse and Nas.

The song will be included on FIFA partner Sony’s official 2014 World Cup album, to be released on RCA Records in May. And a video for “Vida,” Martin’s second World Cup song, will be shot in Brazil in March, to be included in a TV special that will air on Sony Pictures TV channels.

King was most recently featured on “Te Gusta” a song by Venezuela’s Grupo Treo that reached No. 4 on the Billboard Tropical Songs chart in 2013. His 2011 solo single “Quitate la Ropa” peaked at No. 30 on the same chart.

The Miami-based singer/songwriter beat out four lesser-known finalists who entered the contest by uploading their songs to supersong.com, including Brazilian Rodrigo Alexey, a jingle composer who has a studio in Sao Paulo; and American-born Nicolas Salazar, who works as a musician and actor in Bogotá.

Martin’s previous World Cup song, 1998’s “La Copa de La Vida” (The Cup of Life,)” propelled him into the global spotlight, taking off after he performed it on the Grammys. It charted at No. 2 on Hot Latin Songs, and went to No. 45 on the Billboard Hot 100.

Shakira‘s 2010 World Cup hit “Waka Waka,” with South African group Freshly Ground, has sold 1.7 million downloads in the U.S.

The official 2014 World Cup song will be Pitbull‘s “We Are One“ featuring Jennifer Lopez and Brazilian singer Claudia Leitte. The artists will perform their song at the opening ceremony of the soccer tournament, which kicks off June 12 in Sao Paulo.

Pitbull to Record Official World Cup Song with J.Lo and Claudia Leitte

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Pitbull is officially becoming one with Jennifer Lopez and Claudia Leitte this World Cup season.

FIFA and Sony Music have named “We Are One (Ole Ola)” by the 33-year-old Cuban American rap superstar, featuring J.Lo and Brazilian singer Leitte, as the official song for the 2014 World Cup soccer tournament, which gets underway on June 12 in Sao Paulo, Brazil.

Pitbull

The track will be released by Sony in the coming months and performed at the World Cup opening ceremony. A video for “We Are One (Ole Ola)” is also being planned.

“I truly believe that this great game and the power of music will help unify us,” Pitbull said during an official announcement Thursday at the Macarena Stadium in Rio de Janeiro. “Because we are best when we are one.”

FIFA General Secretary Jérôme Valcke emphasized the participation of Leitte, a well-known Brazilian pop singer and judge on The Voice Brasil.

“FIFA and Sony Music are extremely excited to share the impressive talent of Claudia Leitte with the world alongside such internationally celebrated artists as Pitbull and Jennifer Lopez,” Valcke said. “In my many visits to this country I’ve seen and heard a lot about the great Brazilian music tradition and it gives me great pleasure to see a Brazilian artist at the heart of this song. I’m sure, like me, millions of football and music fans all over the world will be eagerly awaiting the song’s release.”

Leitte said she was looking forward to dancing samba with Pitbull and Jennifer Lopez.

Pitbull’s latest single “Timber” featuring Ke$ha is currently the No. 1 song on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, where the Miami rapper holds a career total of nine top 10s and two No. 1s.

He and Lopez have recorded three previous collaborations, most recently “Live it Up,” a single from JLo’s upcoming album.  2011’s “On The Floor” spent three weeks in the top ten.

Pitbull has sold 2,827,000 albums to date in the U.S., according to SoundScan. Like JLo, he is reportedly preparing a new album for release this year.

Although further details on the song are yet to be revealed, it can be expected to include English, Spanish and Portuguese lyrics, and, particularly given Pitbull’s track record of global hits, will likely be a goal for the artists, FIFA and FIFA partner Sony.

The last FIFA World Cup song, 2010’s “Waka Waka” by Shakira with South African group Freshly Ground, has sold 1,7400,000 digital downloads to date. This week it is No. 2 on the Latin Digital Songs chart, where it spent 42 weeks at No. 1.  The video has been viewed almost 600 million times on YouTube.

“We Are One” could be the third World Cup hit by Latin stars. In addition to Shakira’s smash, Ricky Martin’s “The Cup of Life” (La Copa de la Vida) for the 1998 World cup in France took the bilingual singer to international stardom when the song went to No. 1 in seven countries. Martin’s performance of the song on the Grammy Awards kick-started the so-called Latin pop explosion, essentially paving the way into the mainstream for bilingual Latin artists.

Martin will also record a song for the 2014 FIFA World Cup album, chosen via a Sony-sponsored Supersong contest. The contest allowed aspiring songwriters in countries around the world to upload a recording of their own World Cup song. Submissions are now closed, and finalists are to be announced soon on the Supersong website.

Coca-Cola kicked off World Cup fever last September with its official 2014 song, “The World is Ours,” sung in English by former The X-Factor contestant David Correy.