{"id":489973,"date":"2026-06-12T22:13:13","date_gmt":"2026-06-12T22:13:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/489973\/"},"modified":"2026-06-12T22:13:13","modified_gmt":"2026-06-12T22:13:13","slug":"kpop-demon-hunters-ejae-duets-with-andrea-bocelli-on-world-cup-song-dna-at-opening-ceremony","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/489973\/","title":{"rendered":"KPop Demon Hunters\u2019 Ejae duets with Andrea Bocelli on World Cup song DNA at opening ceremony"},"content":{"rendered":"

Ejae, the Korean American singer-songwriter behind the Oscar-winning song Golden from Netflix animated film KPop Demon Hunters (2025), performed the official 2026 FIFA World Cup anthem DNA alongside Italian tenor Andrea Bocelli on June 11 at the tournament\u2019s opening ceremony at Estadio Azteca in Mexico City.<\/p>\n

The performance marked the live debut of DNA, which FIFA released on June 10. French DJ David Guetta and American rapper Megan Thee Stallion also feature on the recording, but were not in attendance.<\/p>\n

Ejae wrote the anthem\u2019s Korean lyrics, including a line she sings near the end of the track about getting back up after falling. In a statement released by FIFA, the 34-year-old said writing in Korean made the project especially meaningful and called representing South Korea on the World Cup stage an honour.<\/p>\n

The ceremony began shortly before noon in front of a crowd of more than 80,000 \u2014 many of them in Mexico\u2019s green jerseys \u2014 at the stadium hosting a World Cup opener for the first time in 40 years.<\/p>\n

The show drew on the heritage of the Aztecs, the civilisation centered in what is now Mexico City from which the stadium takes its name, with dancers in feathered costumes and performers dressed head to toe in gold carrying oversized golden soccer balls across the field.<\/p>\n

Mexican singer Lila Downs welcomed the crowd in Spanish and English before a line-up of Latin American music stars: Venezuela\u2019s Danny Ocean, Mexican pop stars Belinda and Los Angeles Azules, rock band Mana and Colombia\u2019s J Balvin and Ryan Castro.<\/p>\n

Colombian superstar Shakira, back on the World Cup stage 16 years after performing Waka Waka at the 2010 tournament in South Africa, sang Dai Dai, another of this tournament\u2019s official songs, with Nigerian star Burna Boy.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Shakira performs during the opening ceremony of the 2026 World Cup in Mexico City, Mexico on June 11.<\/p>\n

PHOTO: REUTERS<\/p>\n

After Mexican American actress and tournament ambassador Salma Hayek welcomed fans with the flags of all 48 competing teams being carried onto the field, Bocelli and Ejae capped the show with DNA.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Actress and FIFA World Cup 2026 ambassador Salma Hayek before the match on June 11, in Mexico City.<\/p>\n

PHOTO: REUTERS<\/p>\n

South African singer Tyla sang her country\u2019s national anthem, and Alejandro Fernandez followed with Mexico\u2019s. Both countries are South Korea\u2019s Group A rivals, along with the Czech Republic, which Korea opens against.<\/p>\n

Running through July 19, the 2026 tournament is the first World Cup hosted by three countries \u2014 Mexico, the United States and Canada \u2014 and the first with 48 teams.<\/p>\n

Each host country is staging its own opening ceremony, with Canada and the United States following in Toronto and Los Angeles on June 12. K-pop star Lisa from girl group Blackpink is among the Los Angeles performers, alongside Katy Perry, Future and Anitta. THE KOREA HERALD\/ASIA NEWS NETWORK<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Ejae, the Korean American singer-songwriter behind the Oscar-winning song Golden from Netflix animated film KPop Demon Hunters (2025),…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":489974,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[28],"tags":[146,85,46,409],"class_list":["post-489973","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-music","tag-entertainment","tag-il","tag-israel","tag-music"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/489973","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=489973"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/489973\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/489974"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=489973"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=489973"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=489973"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}