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Madonna, Shakira, BTS and Justin Bieber may have supplied the star power, but some of the most memorable performers in the first FIFA World Cup final halftime show were still in elementary school.
Children from New York and Uganda danced and sang during the 11-minute production Sunday at New York New Jersey Stadium, becoming the emotional center of a spectacle built around the FIFA Global Citizen Education Fund and its mission to expand access to education and football.
The young performers included Uganda's Ghetto Kids, who danced around Shakira during her performance with Burna Boy, and the PS22 Chorus, a Staten Island public school choir that joined Chris Martin, Shakira, Emmanuel Kelly, the Muppets and characters from Sesame Street for the finale.
Shakira's Young Dance Partners From Uganda
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Shakira arrived barefoot and dressed in yellow and pink feathers for 'Dai Dai,' the official song heard before matches throughout the tournament. She was surrounded by dancers in similarly bright costumes, including a group of children, before Nigeria's Burna Boy joined her.
Those young dancers included members of the Ghetto Kids, the Ugandan group invited to perform with the Colombian superstar at the final. The group, formerly known as the Triplets Ghetto Kids, originated in Kampala and became internationally known through energetic dance videos that placed African dance styles and children from underserved communities before global audiences.
Their appearance carried particular significance during a show created to support children's education. The dancers were not hidden in the background. They surrounded Shakira during one of the production's most colorful sequences and helped bring the rhythm of 'Dai Dai' to life before millions of viewers.
Shakira had predicted that the performance would be "pretty historic," although she admitted before the final that she was still curious about how its unusually large cast would come together.
"It's going to be a shared halftime show," she said ahead of the event. "It's going to be pretty historic, five amazing artists. Well, four amazing artists plus me."
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The Staten Island Students Who Closed the Show
The final minutes belonged to the PS22 Chorus, a group of fourth- and fifth-grade students from Public School 22 in Staten Island.
The children joined Chris Martin for 'We Believe,' the finale written for the show, as the stage filled with Shakira, Emmanuel Kelly, the Muppets and characters from Sesame Street. AP reported that Kermit the Frog, Miss Piggy, Cookie Monster and Count von Count were among the characters surrounding the students.
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The PS22 Chorus has built an international following by performing emotional arrangements of pop songs. The group was founded by music teacher Gregg Breinberg during the 2000-2001 school year and became an early internet sensation after its performances began appearing on YouTube in 2006. Its members have previously performed at the Academy Awards, presidential events and national television programs.
Ahead of the World Cup appearance, a message shared by the choir celebrated the children for showing "everyone all around the world how we all can come together through music, dance, and song."
Global Citizen CEO Hugh Evans said the choir represented what can happen when children receive access to music and educational opportunities, a message that closely matched the purpose of the halftime show.
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The Muppets Had Their Own Band on the Field
The children were not the only unexpected performers.
The Muppets appeared throughout the show, beginning with Dr. Teeth and the Electric Mayhem, the fictional house band introduced on The Muppet Show in the 1970s.
After Madonna opened the production with 'Music,' Venezuelan conductor Gustavo Dudamel led musicians from the New York Philharmonic and Venezuela's Simón Bolívar Symphony Orchestra in 'Seven Nation Army.' The Electric Mayhem joined them, with Animal pounding the drums during the stadium anthem.
The sight of Dudamel conducting an orchestra alongside Animal became one of the show's most widely shared images. The Muppets later returned for the finale, where Kermit, Miss Piggy and others joined the PS22 students and Chris Martin.
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Characters from Sesame Street also appeared, creating a crossover between two groups of puppets that are often confused but come from separate television franchises. The Muppets included figures such as Kermit, Miss Piggy and Animal, while Sesame Street contributed characters including Cookie Monster and Count von Count.
The combination gave the closing number the atmosphere of a children's television special staged inside the world's biggest football match.
The halftime show was not created solely as an entertainment break.
FIFA and Global Citizen used the performance to promote their education fund, which supports organizations offering schooling and sports opportunities to children in underserved communities. FIFA pledged $1 from every ticket sold across the tournament, and organizers said the initiative had raised $100 million by the time of the final.
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Tags: World Cup, Uganda