Singer Shakira has revealed that not all of her song lyrics make sense.

The ‘She Wolf’ singer, who was born and raised in Colombia, said that she sometimes just uses words in her songs because they rhyme.

Shakira told The Daily Telegraph: “It’s hard to explain my lyrics because sometimes I just write things because they rhyme. I found this metaphor, and I thought it made a lot of sense. A coffee machine in an office has everybody’s fingerprints on it. Sometimes I feel like that.

“When I write, my subconscious somehow finds its way to the surface. It’s not such an intellectual process, it’s more organic.”

Shakira recently appeared as a guest speaker on world politics at Oxford University.

The next single from Shakira’s She Wolf album will be ‘Gypsy’, it has been revealed.

The Colombian pop singer will shoot a video to accompany the track next week, reports the Daily Star.

‘Gypsy’ – co-written with British singer-songwriter Amanda Ghost – will be the third UK release from She Wolf. The title track made number four in September, while follow-up ‘Did It Again’ has thus far peaked at 26.

The album has sold 1.5m copies worldwide since its release in October.

Michael Jackson’s estate is being sued by a South Korean newspaper for 7.9 million dollars over a string of concerts which were allegedly cancelled.

The Segye Times sued Michael, his parents Joe and Katherine and brother Jermaine in 1990 over claims the family members failed to put on a series of gigs in South Korea despite allegedly being paid 5.5 million dollars by the paper.

Michael Jackson settled the claims out of court in 1992, but records filed in Los Angeles Superior Court show a judge held a trial in February 1992, and none of the remaining Jacksons listed in the lawsuit showed up.

In 1994 a ruling was entered against the family members for the remaining 4 million dollars.

Lawyers for the newspaper have claimed the new amount on the basis of interest accrued over the last 15 years, according to the documents.

Katherine Jackson’s lawyer had no comment. Michael Jackson Thriller is one of the most watched music videos ever made.

Hours before Michael Jackson’s death, his doctor administered multiple sedatives along with a powerful anesthetic the pop star used to sleep, according to a law enforcement official. It’s a safe combination if done properly; potentially lethal if not.

The official said the type of sedatives Dr. Conrad Murray gave Jackson were benzodiazepines, often used to calm patients before surgery. Murray told investigators the doses were within normal medical guidelines, said the official, who spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because the investigation is ongoing.

Even at acceptable levels, benzodiazepines can intensify how the anesthetic propofol depresses breathing, so strict monitoring and careful dosing is required. The balance can be tricky, a slip-up disastrous.

Murray, who administered the drugs to Jackson in a room at the pop star’s rented mansion, told investigators Jackson stopped breathing the morning of June 25 and he was unable to revive him. The doctor is the central figure in what police term a manslaughter investigation, but authorities have not classified him a suspect.

Trying to get your 16 year old acid rocker son to go to an Opera is like trying to get President Bill Clinton to admit that he had sex with that Lewinsky gal. You’ve got one big fight ahead of you. The truth is, if we didn’t have the opera, we wouldn’t have some of the other great music of our time as ultimately every form of music, especially Broadway musicals, comes from the classics. And there is no more classic than grand opera.

There’s a reason that most operas are sung in Italian. Most of the great writers of opera were Italian. The few English language operas we have, like “The Barber Of Seville” don’t compare to the old grand Italian operas. And it is those operas that have given us some of the greatest singers in the history of music.

Great singers go back many years. Keeping this discussion to the 20th century, one needs to go no farther than the incomparable Jussi Bjoerling, as he was called. Bjoerling lived from 1911 to 1960. He actually wasn’t even Italian but Swedish born. But he was one of the greatest of our time. He was the leading tenor at the New York Metropolitan Opera for more than 20 years. Some of this most memorable performances however were not done at the Met but at the Rome Opera House under the direction of Jonel Perlea where he appeared in some of the greatest operas ever written, including “Cavalleria Rusticana” and “Tosca” and “Carmen”, just to name a few.

In the opera world, many people were constantly comparing Bjoerling to another great tenor by the name of Enrico Caruso. Caruso actually came long before Bjoerling, having been born in 1873. At the time he was considered the greatest tenor of all time. After the arrival of Bjoerling, the debate began. Most opera lovers are torn between the two as to who is the greatest. Caruso actually had technical problems early in his career that he did not overcome until the turn of the century when he was finally able to move away from resorting to falsetto or transposition. Caruso gave many memorable performances during his all too brief career which included probably his most popular role in “I Pagliacci” where he sings what has become his most famous aria, “Vesti La Giubba”.

The opera world did not just belong to the men. There have been many great women who have come to the opera stage over the years. One of the most famous of these is Leontyne Price who was born in 1927 and still lives today, though she has long stopped her operatic career. Price had many victories in her career. Her biggest was probably on January 27, 1961, when she made her debut at the Metropolitan Opera House while playing Leonora in the Verdi classic “Il Trovatore”. Her performance was so incredible that it resulted in her getting a 42 minute standing ovation. This was one of the longest in the history of the Met. The critics reviews of her performance labeled it as “flawless”.

These few greats only scratch the surface of what opera has given us. If you’ve never been to the grand opera, by all means go. Even if you have to leave your 16 year old acid rocker home.

Michael Russell

Your Independent guide to Entertainment