John Legend At The Kick-Off
By Ronee Roy, Gaea News NetworkFriday, June 11, 2010
JOHANNESBURG, SOUTH AFRICA (GaeaTimes.com)- John Legend was one of the many stars who performed at the kick-off concert on June 10 at in Johannesburg. John Legend said that though he isn’t a passionate follower of the game of soccer, the World Cup fever is something he feels great to be a part of. The American star was a principal headliner of the concert that also had international stars like Shakira, Alicia Keys and the Black Eyed Peas. The concert adds the star power to the game but John Legend that’s not necessary really because the sport is always the biggest highlight. He said that he began to follow the sport after watching the last world Cup in 2006.
After the concert John Legend tweeted his thanks to South Africa for the warm welcome and also said that he loved being on stage. On stage John Legend got together with singer-songwriter Angelique Kidjo of Benin. The duo performed Curtis Mayfield’s “Move On Up” with Angelique Kidjo adding some African lyrics to make the song crowd-friendlier. John Legend who looked stylish and suave in a pale blue jacket and slacks, took to the piano to perform his version of of Harold Melvin and the Blue Notes’”Wake Up Everybody”. He was backed by the Soweto Gospel Choir in this song.
John Legend worked the crowd by cheering them to action and shouting out his excitement. He finished up with his up-tempo hit “Green Light.” The other highlights of the concert included Shakira’s performance of ‘Waka Waka’ for Africa and also some extraordinary speeches from the South African Nobel Peace laureate Desmond Tutu who called Africa the ‘cradle of humanity’ and said that everyone is African.
