JLo and Pitbull's Fifa World Cup 2014 anthem not a hit?

The backlash is in contrast to the almost celebratory way in which previous World Cup anthems, like Shakira’s Waka Waka and Ricky Martin’s Cup of Life had been embraced. In fact, these past anthems made as much news as the World Cup tournament itself. And why not? A lot of care is taken to ensure there are big names involved, quality production value, ample sex appeal and spot on publicity tactics to make the anthem for a particular edition stick in the heads of more than half the world’s population.

In that context, Waka Waka, Cup of Life and even K’Naan’s Waving Flag served the purpose beautifully in the past editions of the world tournament. Even those who were not interested in the game got hooked on to the songs and these tracks continue to remain as popular. The offering for 2014, however, Pitbull and Jennifer Lopez’s We Are One doesn’t seem to have hit the right notes. The awareness about the song is fairly low, with most being familiar with just the title and not the tune.

Popular musicians Ehsaan Noorani and Vishal Dadlani, for instance, are among those who haven’t even heard the anthem this year. Among the few who we spoke to who had, actor Jackky Bhagnani said he wasn’t impressed. “I think on a song level itself, it’s very average to begin with. I also think that this time round, the World Cup fever overall is not as high as it usually is — maybe because of the match timings? So it’s because of these reasons put together that the song has not become a rage like the other anthems did, in the past,” Jackky says. Actor Gunjan Utreja feels, “Ole Ola has a beautiful video and the song has wonderful lyrics. But, Waka Waka definitely had better music but I also feel the concerned authorities failed to create a buzz around the Ole Ola track. The opening ceremony in Brazil was over even before it began,” Gunjan says.

Take a look at both these videos and tell us what you feel: