"Can You Hear Me" is the official song of

UEFA Euro 2008 The 2008 UEFA European Football Championship, commonly referred to as UEFA Euro 2008 or simply Euro 2008, was the 13th UEFA European Championship, a quadrennial football tournament contested by the member nations of UEFA (the Union of European ...

held in

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and

Switzerland ). Swiss law does not designate a ''capital'' as such, but the federal parliament and government are installed in Bern, while other federal institutions, such as the federal courts, are in other cities (Bellinzona, Lausanne, Luzern, Neuchâtel ...

. It is performed by

Enrique Iglesias Enrique Miguel Iglesias Preysler (; (born 8 May 1975) is a Spanish singer and songwriter. He started his recording career in the mid-1990s on the Mexican indie label Fonovisa and became the bestselling Spanish-language act of the decade. By the ...

, who wrote the song with Steve Morales and Frankie Storm. The song was produced by Big Ben Diehl and Carlos Paucar, and recorded at Circle House Studios in

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Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...

. The song received generally negative reviews, but achieved success in many European countries where it was a top ten hit. The song served as Iglesias' third UK single from his ''

Greatest Hits A greatest hits album or best-of album is a type of compilation album that collects popular and commercially successful songs by a particular artist or band. While greatest hits albums are typically supported by the artist, they can also be crea ...

'' album in June 2009 but failed to enter the UK Top 200.

Background

The choice of this song was announced by

UEFA Union of European Football Associations (UEFA ; french: Union des associations européennes de football; german: Union der europäischen Fußballverbände) is one of six continental bodies of governance in association football. It governs f ...

on 20 May, and Iglesias was described as the perfect person for the job. "He is an international star who is passionate about

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

and who has

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an roots", said commercial director Philippe Margraff. The artist himself was happy to be chosen; "I'm really pleased to be able to contribute to the football festival in

and

and it is an honour for me to perform at the final", said Iglesias. The song was performed at the closing game in

Vienna en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...

on 29 June. The single was released on 26 May, and the

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—featuring football tricks and dancing, intercut with Iglesias performing—was directed by Paul Minor. "Can You Hear Me" will also feature on a re-issue of Iglesias' '' Insomniac'' album in

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, Switzerland, Austria, and

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...

. There is also a special UEFA Euro 2008 Remix to the song, which contains a part from the UEFA Euro 2008 Official Theme song in the beginning of the song.

Reception

Media reaction to the song has largely been negative, most finding it inappropriate for the venue. Darryl Broadfoot, of the Scottish newspaper '' The Herald'', called it a "cheesy, synth-driven melody". The

Norwegian Norwegian, Norwayan, or Norsk may refer to: *Something of, from, or related to Norway, a country in northwestern Europe * Norwegians, both a nation and an ethnic group native to Norway * Demographics of Norway *The Norwegian language, including ...

newspaper ''

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'', in reviewing the song, found that it lacked purpose and motivation, and that it had little to do with football. The reviewers called the song a rejected

B-side The A-side and B-side are the two sides of phonograph records and cassettes; these terms have often been printed on the labels of two-sided music recordings. The A-side usually features a recording that its artist, producer, or record compan ...

, and gave it one out of six points. Nick Amies, of ''

Deutsche Welle Deutsche Welle (; "German Wave" in English), abbreviated to DW, is a German public, state-owned international broadcaster funded by the German federal tax budget. The service is available in 32 languages. DW's satellite television service con ...

'', called "Can You Hear Me" an "insipid and un-footie-inspiring, corporate sell-out single". He also reported that spectators preferred the song "

Seven Nation Army "Seven Nation Army" is a song by American rock duo the White Stripes. It is the opening track on their fourth studio album, ''Elephant'' (2003). V2 Records released the song to American alternative radio on February 17, 2003, as the lead single f ...

" by

The White Stripes The White Stripes were an American rock duo from Detroit formed in 1997. The group consisted of Jack White (songwriter, vocals, guitar, piano, and mandolin) and Meg White (drums and vocals). After releasing several singles and three albums with ...

as an alternative, unofficial anthem.

Track listings

; CD1 # "Can You Hear Me" (Main version) — 3:44 # "Can You Hear Me" (UEFA remix) — 5:54 ; CD2 # "Can You Hear Me" (Main version) — 3:44 # "Can You Hear Me" (Moto Blanco radio mix) — 3:30 # "Can You Hear Me" (Moto Blanco club mix) — 8:30 # "Can You Hear Me" (Moto Blanco dub) — 8:00 ; Europe # "Can You Hear Me" (Main version) — 3:44 # "Can You Hear Me" (Moto Blanco radio mix) — 3:30 # "Can You Hear Me" (Moto Blanco club mix) — 8:30 # "Can You Hear Me" (UEFA remix) — 5:54 ; France # "Can You Hear Me" (Main Version) - 3:44 # "Can You Hear Me" (Glam As You Full Club Mix by Guena LG) - 6:57 # "Can You Hear Me" (Moto Blanco Club Mix) - 8:30

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

References

External links

Media release
from

{{DEFAULTSORT:Can You Hear Me (Enrique Iglesias Song) 2008 singles Enrique Iglesias songs Football songs and chants Dutch Top 40 number-one singles Songs written by Enrique Iglesias 2008 songs Interscope Records singles Songs written by Steve Morales UEFA Euro 2008 UEFA European Championship official songs and anthems