The Internet Rushes to Make a Meme Out of This Magical Shakira Super Bowl 2020 Halftime Show Moment
There are moments during broadcasts when millions are watching that are just made for highly meme-able magic.
And on Sunday night on the internet, one such moment occurred when Shakira swiftly became a meme during the Super Bowl LIV halftime show. During her performance alongside the one and only Jennifer Lopez, the artist sealed the deal, staring into the camera and wiggling her tongue.
It was the ultimate power move demonstrating her slayage of the event and swagger at once. Not to mention, it was her birthday.
All the more reason to celebrate Shakira.
And the moment was made to be captured in a video, so that’s exactly how that went down. Twitter users immediately did what they had to do, turning the footage into a meme.
See some of the first Shakira memes from Super Bowl 2020 below.
everyone on the Internet right now trying to jump in on this Shakira tongue meme pic.twitter.com/JYTPyY0mjS
— Matt Raub (@mattraub) February 3, 2020
Shakira’s tongue... that’s the tweet pic.twitter.com/ekXRidCZ0b
— Khoa Phan (@khoaphan) February 3, 2020
What my microwave sees while I’m waiting for my food:
#SuperBowl2020 #Shakira pic.twitter.com/Da0JaF0fOZ— Taylor Lumpkin (@T_Lumpkin47ABC) February 3, 2020
Someone gif that Shakira tongue IMMEDIATELY
— EE »//« (@ThePhenomenalEE) February 3, 2020
If I ain’t seen anything ever that’s more meme-worthy, I give you Shakira tongue lol pic.twitter.com/6HcOGBa7Mx
— Neek✊🏽 (@Sarcastic_Asset) February 3, 2020
Me at the Target self checkout camera #Shakira pic.twitter.com/YYNhRXPX6P
— boof bonser (@soer_gasm) February 3, 2020
Im here for whatever shakira did with her tongue #SuperBowl #SuperBowlLIV pic.twitter.com/UJS8MnK8UD
— 🤷🏾♂️ (@SirBoursiquot) February 3, 2020
You’re welcome America, thank you Shakira and your tongue #SuperBowl pic.twitter.com/Imv5CwqWEO
— Daniel Memedoza (@danielmemedoza) February 3, 2020
My last two brain cells are out ✌🏻 #shakira #jlo #superbowl
A post shared by Lola Tash and Nicole Argiris (@mytherapistsays) on Feb 2, 2020 at 5:32pm PST
Here's the Shakira gobble thing that everyone saw and immediately thought "that's gonna be a meme" pic.twitter.com/ebWM7q03VN
— Sally Is A Dog is on Vacation (@SallyIsADog) February 3, 2020
And just like that we have our meme for February #Shakira pic.twitter.com/vYoErMQ9Qw
— damian :) (@damenezi) February 3, 2020
A post shared by Billy Quevedo (@billyquevedo) on Feb 2, 2020 at 5:43pm PST
POV: you’re a baby and this is what you see from your stroller #PepsiHalftime pic.twitter.com/P5CyoPdJzR
— ruthie♡ (@_ruthiiie_) February 3, 2020
Representatives for Shakira did not respond to TIME’s request for comment about the maneuver, but on Tuesday the Halftime Show headliner retweeted a story from Billboard Latin that explained Zaghrouta, a celebratory gesture with Middle Eastern roots.
What is Zaghrouta? @shakira's tongue-flicking gesture at the #SuperBowl halftime show explained https://t.co/6Q1PJ6F3av
— billboard latin (@billboardlatin) February 4, 2020
Her tweet followed users endeavoring to put the vocal move into context.
Lmao it's called zahgroota which is a type of sound Arabs make by moving the tongue left and right and breathing out. Shakira is half Lebanese 🇱🇧 from her father's side and half Colombian 🇨🇴 from her mother's side. Her name, Shakira (Arabic: شاكرة), is Arabic for "grateful". https://t.co/jVVoc7hTmj
— Khalid Aun ㊙️ (@khalid_aun) February 3, 2020
Ok guys I rewatched and the tongue thing is related to mapale, the Colombian dance she did right after... ósea culturícense
— Eddy A. Encinales (@ea_encinales) February 3, 2020
Noting that #Shakira is half Lebanese, I’d like to highlight that this high pitched toungue thrill is called a “Zalghouta”, a traditional Lebanese loud expression used to celebrate joyful events like getting a degree, welcoming a guest, or performing at the #SuperBowl 😂🏈 pic.twitter.com/t3rLtORcI5
— Farah Aridi (@faraharidi19) February 3, 2020
Habib Malik, an associate professor of history at Lebanese American University, told TIME that it’s a very positive signal.
“It is the traditional Lebanese village form of public acclaim and hailing of the bride by those among her close family and friends, usually all women. It happens at many Christian village weddings in Lebanon,” Malik wrote to TIME in an email. The proper transliteration from Arabic to English is zalghouta, Malik adds. It’s considered “a positive gesture of warmth and approval by a bride’s immediate friends and family.”
While there was no wedding ceremony portion of the halftime show, it certainly was a special occasion.
And of course, Shakira’s playful “wink” at the camera also led people to invoke Spongebob memes.
I'm telling my kids this was Shakira #SuperBowl #Shakira pic.twitter.com/2iih0RWj35
— Sidharth Rao (@S_S_R_717) February 3, 2020
Am I the only one who thought of this when Shakira did that weird tongue thing? Or is Spongebob just sadly imprinted on my brain for all of eternity? #SuperBowl #HalftimeShow pic.twitter.com/rrfS64SzTT
— Kelley (@kelley_godwin) February 3, 2020
Shakira hit the camera like pic.twitter.com/PpDwXCpyR3
— flowsephine. (@__Floww) February 3, 2020
Shakira into the camera during hips don’t lie. pic.twitter.com/ZVDFY7rbHY
— Avery Cooper (@ave_coop) February 3, 2020
Shakira looked straight at the camera like pic.twitter.com/0DUQsiPPhx
— lyss (@LYSSin_up) February 3, 2020
Her performance featured songs like “She Wolf” and “Hips Don’t Lie” and Jennifer Lopez did “Waiting for Tonight” and “Get Right.”
Anyone who spends Monday making memes with this clip owes a lot of their Twitter game to the “Waka Waka” artist herself.
It certainly got tongues wagging the whole week. Even SNL worked in a reference to the Shakira tongue move with the New Hampshire Democratic Debate cold open sketch with Rachel Dratch as Amy Klobuchar.