Blu-ray Review: Shakira

THE CONCERT: 3 stars out of 5

This disc features a concert recorded in December 2006 during Shakira’s Oral Fixation Tour. It features Shakira, the Latin American Pop Music sensation from Columbia and her full band, as she sings, wiggles and shakes her tummy (as no other current artist can BTW) through her greatest hits. A total of 16 songs are presented here on the Blu-Ray disc with 5 others presented on a CD included with the package. While I will admit that Shakira’s music is not on my current playlist, she presents it here with great aplomb, in a set that will be a delight to her many fans. If you are a fan of Shakira and her music, you will love this release.

THE VIDEO: 5 stars out of 5

While I am not a great fan of her music, I am a huge fan of the video quality on this release. Presented in full 1080p, encoded with AVC and presented in its original aspect ratio of 1:78:1, the video on this disc is astounding. It is easily the best looking concert presentation I have ever seen on any format. The colors are bright, bold and vivid. The skin tones are dead on accurate. The fine textures in the clothes and skin are very clearly visible. Black levels are deep rendering a totally three dimensional image. The image presented on your screen is razor sharp, not only on close-ups but far shots as well. Not only is the image incredibly detailed but so is the shadow detail which is important given the concert set lighting. No detail is lost in the shadows or darker areas of the screen.This is amazing stuff folks. It is hard to imagine a concert disc looking any better than this one. Well, maybe with 3D HD down the line someday. However, until then, this one will do very nicely. It sets the standard for visuals that all concert discs should strive for. Very well done indeed.

THE AUDIO: 4 7/8 stars out of 5

As good as the video is on this release, it is matched by the audio. There are two lossless tracks presented here using uncompressed PCM (at 48 kHz/24 bit) in a 5.1 mix and a 2 channel stereo mix. However, while both are outstanding, I preferred the 5.1 mix in my HT system as the 5.1 mix better captured the ambiance of the building. The mix is dynamic and strong although the music is centered in the front three speakers as it should. I am at a loss as to why multichannel concert recordings are presented with instruments coming from the surround speakers as that is not the way things sound live. The surrounds should be used for crowd noise and hall ambiance as is the case here. Vocals are clear and well recorded and are not lost in the mix. I would give this release a perfect score if not for the fact that some of the subtleties of the music were lost in the bombast, which can really overpower you at reference listening levels. I would have preferred a mix where all of the instruments were better placed in the mix. However, that is the audio purist in me nitpicking on what is an outstanding audio presentation.

IN CONCLUSION

As a concert recording on home video, it does not get any better than this release. If you are a fan of Shakira or of Latin American pop music in general, this disc is a must buy. Highly recommended.

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