Shakira Oral Fixation Tour (Blu-ray) review 5/5 AQ/PQ!!

[Maxell]

I didn't see this in the upcoming release list. It should be Nov 13 although the article says Nov 12. I cant wait!

Reaching multiple, distinct demographics is also a goal and challenge for Epic in the run-up to the Nov. 12 release of Shakira's "Live in Miami -- The Oral Fixation Tour."

"This is different (from) putting out a DVD when you're targeting a fan base with a marketing message. (With Blu-ray) it's a multidimensional message," Epic senior VP of marketing Lee Stimmel said. "You're targeting that artist's fans and you're targeting the high-end early adopters who've bought into this technology, and when it comes to Blu-ray, you have the install base of the (PlayStation 3), which is a whole different demographic."

The Shakira Blu-ray DVD will get a national splash the night before its release date with screenings at theaters in the high-def format. The price of the Blu-ray release will be built into the ticket price for the screening, and fans will be able to take home a copy that night.

http://nz.entertainment.yahoo.com/070903/5/1jds.html

[rjg]

Shakira In Hidef!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Oh Yes!

[DetroitSportsFan]

The Oral Fixation Tour

Greatest tour name ever.

[Existentialist]

yeah this would be nice in hi-def
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xsVyMeKX2vU

[GreenScar]

Concert got 4.5 out of 5
Picture 5 out of 5
Audio 5 out of 5

See review here.

[GreenScar]

"Not that there's anything wrong with that."

[Oddiophile]

There's nothing wrong with that.

[toocheezy]

Originally Posted by Oddiophile

There's nothing wrong with that.

You are absolutely right!!!!

[MCWHAMMER]

I want to see this, for her musical talent, not for eye candy. I like her. Glad it's reviewing well.

[McLovin]

She sings too???

[ikbradley]

Shakira is a lot more credible than seeing a Britney-Lindsay Lohan musical experience.

I kind of like the latin influences, and it's too bad that record execs mangle a lot of her music.

She's hot and is unique. Good enought for me. Plus, for a female artist, there really isn't a lot of choice out there.

[GreenScar]

Here is what he said about the video:

Concert performances have always been a little hit and miss on home video – usually due to the extreme, uncontrolled dynamics of shooting a concert or because of the diversity of elements themselves. High def has improved on appreciating the look of these shows greatly compared to DVD, but there’s still been some inconsistencies in HD too. Shakira is one that stands out in a slowly growing crowd. Resolution is normally impeccable, despite the dark arena and complexity of colors used to illuminate the stage, densely saturating the performers in deep hues that normally tend to compromise delineation.

There’s no doubt that concerts pose unique challenges to photograph. Even snapping screenshots of the BDs always prove very challenging, as was the case here. These pics are some of the best I was able to get, but they still don’t come close to doing justice to the gorgeous use of color and light of this disc or the sense of resolve. But, Shakira is preserved about as astutely as I’ve seen concert video look. Its bold highlights and stark, ever changing use of color rarely seems to compromise detail either on stage or faces in the crowd. Consistent with any kind of photography that’s largely composed of dark backgrounds and surroundings, there’s a preponderance of video noise one might have to acclimate too. Without more information about the production to go on, I don’t know if the concert was shot on 35mm or HD cameras. Both can produce vast amounts of noise in low light – but I’d lean toward HD cameras, if I had to guess.

The photography isn’t consistently noisy though. Close-ups, brightly lit and high contrast scenes, which dominate much of the performance, look much cleaner. BMG encoded the AVC video at an average of 20mbps with a peak bitrate of 29mbps. One would have to step through and dissect every frame of the complex photography to say for certain that compression holds no effect. But, at such a lofty bit budget, adverse impacts of compression should be kept well at bay and that’s how they appeared. There was some very subtle abruption in the smoothness of background gradients that might be noticed by those analyzing the video more than watching the show. But, considering how slight it was and the relatively high bit budget, I’m inclined to think it more likely the master or the photography than typical posterization.

and on the audio:

I’ve been after BMG to start subtitling their lyrics like other music studios for awhile now. In past music offerings on BD it would have been a nice perk, but for this one, the lack of subtitles seems extremely shortsighted for a domestic release. Maybe not quite as unreasonable as releasing a foreign language film here in the states without subtitles or a dub, as music is a universal language; how many people actually understand opera? But it’s limiting your audience just the same. And considering the high def market is still fairly niche, it seems even more poorly planned.


Most of the concert is in Spanish. There are a few English songs. But those are also partly Spanish and even the monologues jump back and forth between English and Spanish with such regularity that if you’re not fluent in both, you’ll be lost the entire time.

The performers strong vocals and lively music translate a little better and BMG delivers the sound in another uncompromising 24bit/48kHz 6-channel PCM encoding that makes you feel like you are really there in front of the stage like nothing I’ve experienced before. The crowd can be deafening at times, but the music never drowns. And the fidelity of the uncompressed encoding allows you to crank the sound loud enough to get the fullest concert experience possible in your home.

No need for D-Box to feel the bass here, I could feel the electric energy down to my toes throughout the performance. Surrounds place you in the crowd more than on stage, and as already noted, they do so with incredible effectiveness. I’ve seen a lot of concerts on video, but can’t remember ever hearing a performance that made me feel so much a part of the event.

Have you given her music a shot? She is one of, if not the most popular Latin pop star today. Her music is unique, her sound is unique (which is pretty hard to find in music today) especially in her genre.

[SamInNorthCakalakey]

Just sit back and watch the show.

[GreenScar]

Granted, her music is probably aimed at Spanish speakers, like myself, but I think that anyone could enjoy her great voice. Her music would sell if no one had ever seen her, trust me.

[GreenScar]

I think that any musician that sells as many records as she does dips a bit into exploitation. Wether that's something they are pushed into or something they don't want to do normally, I have no idea. But one thing I would say, is that there are very few women in the entertainment industry (music or film) that are not exploited in one way or another. It IS unfortunate. Concerts in particuar have to be a bit of a spectacle when they are in the larger (non-intimate) arenas. However it is entertainment when it comes right down to it.

As to Shakira, her spanish language music has always been much better than her English language outings. The first song I ever heard from her was "Ojos asi" and I was hooked. (Ojos asi = Eye's like those/these)

Any one who is interested can listen to a bit here:

Ojos asi

[Kristin Simard]

I have not yet seen the BD, but it is one I'm getting. Shakira is a multi-talented woman, a lyricist, singer, musician, dancer and performer. I see nothing wrong with what she does onstage as long it is by her own initiative. I found nothing offensive in the photos posted with the review. I will be looking forward to seeing the BD and I will not critique it until I have seen it.

BTW, the title "Oral Fixation..." comes from Shakira's fascination with the spoken word, the written word and song lyrics.

Also, Shakira's act is tame compared to what you see in other countries. Anyone here ever seen a show of the chalga singer Azis?

[Agent23]

I like Shakira's music alot. And I like to watch her dance, and shake her hips and ass alot.

There I said it.



Great review. I am looking forward to buying this Blu-ray.

[bigpapy]

shakira esta bien buena I dont care if she sings she is perfect

[BoogalooShrimp]

Just when I thought I had seen it all. A man offended by Shakira shaking her ass. What is the world coming to? Don't let the feminists make you feel guilty for enjoying such a beautiful sight. No one's holding a gun to her head. She's shaking her ass for our viewing pleasure and making a damn good living at it. Being educated and civilized doesn't mean we can't enjoy a little booty shakin

[Ascended_Saiyan]

I don't think shakin' her @ss is selling herself short.

In the end, beautiful people have been popular since the individual person started understanding what beautiful is to him/her. Desire and the art of seduction will NOT be erased from human society for quite some time to come (it's kind of helpful for sparking reproduction). IMO, adding these arts (from the ART of belly dancing) to her vocal talents is just that...adding...not subtracting. Layering and/or blending skills is a good fomula for success in most forms of business and life.

I think I will pick this BD concert up in the near future, now. Enjoy! Life is too short to be caught up on who shakes what for entertainment at a concert (especially, if their fans enjoy it).