The leaders of Israeli social music initiative Koolulam stayed up very late Sunday night (actually, very early Monday morning) to watch the Super Bowl.
It’s not that Israelis follow American football. It’s because they didn’t want to miss half-time show headliner Jennifer Lopez using a Koolulam arrangement in her performance of “Let’s Get Loud.”
Lopez had seen a video of the Koolulam group singing project last October to mark Breast Cancer Awareness Month. About 2,000 people gathered in Tel Aviv to belt out “Let’s Get Loud,” a song written by Gloria Estefan and recorded by JLo on her 1999 debut album.
JLo asked her reps to request permission from Koolulam to use its original arrangement of the first verse and refrain of “Let’s Get Loud” for the Super Bowl LIV Halftime Show at Hard Rock Stadium, Miami.
JLo’s daughter Emme, 11, and a children’s choir joined Mom in their rendition of the song. Fellow performer Shakira accompanied them on drums.
JLo and Emme, along with the rest of the blended Lopez-Alex Rodriguez family, visited Israel last summer in conjunction with JLo’s concert in Tel Aviv.