Two names you never expected to see in the same sentence? Narendra Modi with Dua Lipa. Nonetheless, it has occurred. The Albanian singer-songwriter will perform during the opening ceremony of the 2023 International Cricket Council (ICC) Men’s Cricket World Cup before the final on Sunday at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad.
In talks with KL Rahul, Kane Willaimson, and Shubman Gill, the singer disclosed that her ideal jersey would feature her lucky number 22 (KL’s is number 1); her favorite songs to perform live are ‘Don’t Start Now’, ‘Levitating’, ‘Physical’, ‘Pretty Please’ and ‘Love Again’; and the two songs she would sing at the opening and closing ceremonies of the Cricket World Cup would be ‘Physical’ and ‘One Kiss’. Lipa, known for her fascinating dance abilities, graciously shared dancing lessons with Daryl Mitchell, adding that having fun boosted every performance.
With her smash single, ‘New Rules,’ Dua Lipa became a household name for everyone suffering from a broken heart in 2017. She quickly entered her disco phase and broke many milestones, including being the first female artist in Spotify history to have multiple albums achieve 10 billion plays. The music artist also won a Grammy for her album Future Nostalgia at the end of last year. Lipa recently pulled down all of her Instagram postings and teased the release of her latest track, ‘Houdini,’ indicating that pop music is returning.
As the World Cup final approaches, we’ll all be seeing history happen in front of our eyes. If India wins the final, it would be our third ODI World Cup title (the first happened in 1983, when India defeated the West Indies in the final; the second came in 2011, when we defeated Sri Lanka). This puts us one step closer to breaking Australia’s record of being the most successful cricket team in history, with five trophies to their name. Lipa’s impending performance promises to amp up the tension in the contest. As we count down the days before the final, we’ve put together a mix tape of seven songs we’d want to see on the setlist:
Dance the night
Lipa’s debut song, ‘Dance the Night,’ established the tone for the bubblegum pop-inspired soundtrack that struck a chord globally, after the success of the Barbie film. We plan to dance till our feet fall off while watching our TV screens with glitter in our eyes and glitter in the skies.
Houdini
Lipa, who is preparing to release her third album, has already delighted fans with the first track, Houdini, which was released earlier this month. The vocalist has carved out a name for herself with catchy and instantly recognizable genre-bending nu-disco electronica pop songs. We’re excited to hear the remainder of the album to find out which songs made it out of the 97 she wrote in preparation.
