"Ojos Así" is a song by Colombian singer

Shakira Shakira Isabel Mebarak Ripoll ( , ; born 2 February 1977) is a Colombian singer-songwriter. Referred to as the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, Queen of Latin Music", she has had a Cultural impact of Shakira, significant impact on the ...

from her fourth studio album, ''

Dónde Están los Ladrones? ''Dónde Están los Ladrones?'' (, ) is the fourth studio album by Colombian singer-songwriter Shakira, released on 29 September 1998 by Sony Music Entertainment, Sony Music Colombia. After attaining success in Latin America with her major-label ...

'' (1998). Infused with nuances of

Arabic pop Arabic pop music or Arab pop music is a subgenre of pop music and Arabic music. Arabic pop is mainly produced and originated in Cairo, Egypt; with Beirut, Lebanon, as a secondary center. It is an outgrowth of the Arabic film industry (mainly Egy ...

, the lyrics tell of the singer traveling the world but not having seen eyes like her lover's. It was released as the album's fifth single in October 1999 by Sony Music Colombia. It was written by Shakira, composed and produced by her,

Pablo Flores Pablo Flores is a Puerto Rican DJ, record producer, remixer and arranger. Remixes for Gloria Estefan * " Abriendo Puertas" * " Bad Boy" * "Bailando!'" (Special edition Megamix) * "Betcha Say That" * "Cherchez La Femme" * " Como Me Duele Perde ...

, and Javier Garza. The song was later adapted into English by

Gloria Estefan Gloria María Milagrosa Estefan (; ; born September 1, 1957) is an American singer, actress, and businesswoman. Estefan is an eight-time Grammy Awards, Grammy Award winner, a Presidential Medal of Freedom recipient, and has been named one of t ...

as "Eyes Like Yours" and included on her first English studio album '' Laundry Service'' (2001).

Music critics Music journalism (or music criticism) is media criticism and reporting about music topics, including popular music, classical music, and traditional music. Journalists began writing about music in the eighteenth century, providing commentary on ...

praised "Ojos Así" as one of the album's best tracks. "Eyes Like Yours", however, was met with a less favorable reception, with reviewers commenting that it paled compared to the original. At the inaugural Latin Grammy Awards in 2000, "Ojos Así" won

Best Female Pop Vocal Performance The Grammy Award for Best Female Pop Vocal Performance was a Grammy Award recognizing superior vocal performance by a female in the pop category, the first of which was presented in 1959. It was discontinued after the 2011 Grammy season. The awar ...

and received a

Broadcast Music, Inc. Broadcast Music, Inc. (BMI) is a performance rights organization in the United States. It collects blanket license fees from businesses that use music, entitling those businesses to play or sync any songs from BMI's repertoire of over 22.4 milli ...

(BMI) Latin Award in 2002. An accompanying

music video A music video is a video that integrates a song or an album with imagery that is produced for promotion (marketing), promotional or musical artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a music marketing device intended to ...

that depicts Shakira performing the song in front of a crowd and belly dancing was nominated in the category of

Latin Grammy Award for Best Short Form Music Video The Latin Grammy Award for Best Short Form Music Video is an honor presented annually at the Latin Grammy Awards, a ceremony that recognizes excellence and creates a wider awareness of cultural diversity and contributions of Latin recording artis ...

in 2000. The song was included in the

set list A set list, or setlist, is typically a handwritten or printed document created as an ordered list of songs, jokes, stories and other elements an artist intends to present during a specific performance. A setlist can be made of nearly any materi ...

for the Tour Anfibio (2000), Tour of the Mongoose (2002–03), and

The Sun Comes Out World Tour The Sun Comes Out World Tour (also known as the Sale el Sol World Tour) was the fifth concert tour by Colombian singer Shakira, launched in support of her eighth and ninth studio albums, ''She Wolf (album), She Wolf'' (2009) and ''Sale El Sol' ...

(2010–11). Shakira also performed an acoustic version of the song for her first live album, ''

MTV Unplugged ''MTV Unplugged'' is an American television series on MTV. It showcases recorded live performances of popular music artists playing acoustic instrument, acoustic or "unplugged" variations of songs. The show aired regularly from 1989 to 1999. F ...

'' (2000). It ranked on several charts in Europe and was a top-ten hit on the ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertis ...

Latin Pop Airplay Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area around Rome, Italy. Through the expansion of ...

chart in the United States.

Background and composition

After rising to prominence with the success of her major-label debut album ''

Pies Descalzos ''Pies Descalzos'' (, ) is the third studio album by Colombian singer-songwriter Shakira, released on 6 October 1995, by Sony Music Colombia. Its music incorporates Latin pop styles, additionally experimenting with pop rock elements. Looking to ...

'' (1995),

was introduced to

Emilio Estefan Emilio Estefan Gómez (born March 4, 1953) is a Cuban-American musician and producer. Estefan has won 19 Grammy Awards. He first came to prominence as a member of the Miami Sound Machine. He is the husband of singer Gloria Estefan, father of s ...

, then the most important producer in the

Hispanic The term Hispanic () are people, Spanish culture, cultures, or countries related to Spain, the Spanish language, or broadly. In some contexts, Hispanic and Latino Americans, especially within the United States, "Hispanic" is used as an Ethnici ...

market, by her promoter and longtime friend, Jairo Martínez. Estefan was renowned for launching the careers of several Hispanic singers, including

Thalía Ariadna Thalía Sodi Miranda (; born 26 August 1971), known mononymously as Thalía, is a Mexican singer, songwriter and actress. Referred to as the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, Queen of Latin Pop", she is considered one of the most ...

and his wife

. He decided to work with Shakira as he identified her potential to break into the US

Latin Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...

market, though one of Shakira's concerns about working with him was creative control over her music. Before signing their contract, the roles and duties were finalized: Estefan would be her manager and executive producer, but she would be in charge of all material and arrangements and have final approval over her records. She later stated about Estefan, "He had a great respect for me as an artist and trusted me totally on this project." They started working on Estefan's Crescent Moon Studios in Miami, Florida. She insisted on perfection, working on the material to the point of exhaustion. "I made two or three demos of each song. I became a human being so demanding of myself that until the song made my hair stand on end, I wouldn't stop". Equipment for the recording of her subsequent album ''

'' included old

amplifier An amplifier, electronic amplifier or (informally) amp is an electronic device that can increase the magnitude of a signal (a time-varying voltage or current). It is a two-port electronic circuit that uses electric power from a power su ...

s to achieve a better sound, a 40-year-old German microphone, and several innovations in the instrumental mixes. The album took nine months to produce, longer than Shakira's previous records since more people were involved. Shakira commented, "To me it's a normal time, the gestation period for a baby. But many people wag their finger and tell me that the next one cannot take so long..." Shakira was involved with the compositions for all the tracks in the album, including "Ojos Así". "Ojos Así" was written by Shakira and composed and produced by her along with

and Javier Garza. Infused with nuances of

, the song characterizes Shakira as a globetrotter jaded by life's experiences whose soul is revitalized by the amorous gaze of her crush. The singer bemoans that, despite having traversed the distance from Beirut to Bahrain, she has yet to encounter "''eyes like yours''". The track is sung mostly in Spanish, a few verses in Arabic, and has a backing chorus performing in the latter language. The success of ''Dónde Están los Ladrones?'' prompted Gloria Estefan to persuade Shakira to record the album in English and attempt to cross over into the mainstream

pop Pop or POP may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * Pop music, a musical genre Artists * POP, a Japanese idol group now known as Gang Parade * Pop! (British group), a UK pop group * Pop! featuring Angie Hart, an Australian band Album ...

industry. However, she was initially hesitant to record songs in English as it was not her first language, so Estefan offered to translate "Ojos Así" into English in order to show her that "it could translate well". Shakira then began translating the song herself and showed it to Gloria Estefan, and would say, "Quite honestly, I can't do this better!" As Shakira wanted to have full control over her recordings, she decided to learn English better to enable her to write her own songs. She was supposed to return to the studio to record an English-language version of the album in January 1999. It did not come to fruition, and a new album titled '' Laundry Service'' was released instead as her first crossover album. Despite the cancellation of the project, the English-language version of "Ojos Así" still appeared on ''Laundry Service'' as "Eyes Like Yours".

Promotion

"Ojos Así" was released to radio stations worldwide by

Sony Discos Sony Music Entertainment US Latin LLC (often referred to as Sony Music Latin) is an American record label owned by Sony Music. The label focuses on artists of Latin music. Sony Latin was also a division of the Sony Discos label. History In ...

as the album's fifth single in October 1999. It was later included on her

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 creat ...

album '' Grandes Éxitos'' (2002). Its

was directed by Mark Kohr and filmed in Los Angeles. The film depicts Shakira interspersed with her belly dancing and performing in front of a dancing and jubilant crowd. At the inaugural

Latin Grammy Awards The Latin Grammy Awards (stylized as Latin GRAMMYs) are awards presented by the Latin Recording Academy to recognize outstanding achievement in the Latin music, Latin music industry. The Latin Grammy honors works recorded in Spanish language, S ...

in 2000, it was nominated in the category of

, which went to "

No Me Dejes de Querer "No Me Dejes de Querer" () is a song by Cuban-American singer Gloria Estefan from her ninth studio album, ''Alma Caribeña'' (2000). The song was written by the artist along with Roberto Blades and her husband Emilio Estefan. The latter two als ...

" by Gloria Estefan. The video won the International Viewer's Choice Award (North) at the

2000 MTV Video Music Awards The 2000 MTV Video Music Awards (stylized as MTV Video_Music_Awards vma.00) aired live on September 7, 2000, honoring the best music videos from June 12, 1999, to June 9, 2000. The show was hosted by Marlon and Shawn Wayans at Radio City Music Ha ...

, and was also nominated for the same award in the South category, losing to "La Vida" by Los Fabulosos Cadillacs.

Live performances

"Ojos Así" was included on the

for the following tours: Tour Anfibio (2000), Tour of the Mongoose (2002–03), the

Oral Fixation Tour Oral Fixation Tour (known as Tour Fijación Oral in Hispanophone countries) was the fourth concert tour by Colombian singer Shakira. It was launched in support of her sixth and seventh studio albums ''Fijación Oral, Vol. 1'' (2005). and ''Oral F ...

(2006–07), and

(2010–11), In August 1999, Shakira sang an acoustic version of "Ojos Así" during an episode of ''

'' in New York City. The performance was included on her first

live album An album is a collection of audio recordings (e.g., music) issued on a medium such as compact disc (CD), vinyl (record), audio tape (like 8-track or cassette), or digital. Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early 20th centur ...

, ''

'' (2000). She also performed "Ojos Así" at the 2000 Latin Grammy Awards. During a specific rendition of "Ojos Asi" in

San Diego San Diego ( , ) is a city on the Pacific coast of Southern California, adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a population of over 1.4 million, it is the List of United States cities by population, eighth-most populous city in t ...

in 2003, Shakira commenced her concert with this song, eliciting exultation from the audience as she belly-danced in sync with the tune. She sang it during the

Rock in Rio Rock in Rio is a biennial Brazilian multi-day music festival held at City of Rock in Rio de Janeiro. It later branched into other locations such as Lisbon, Madrid and Las Vegas. Ten incarnations of the festival have been held in Rio de Janeir ...

festivals in Portugal in 2006 and Spain in 2007. It was also performed at the 2010

Glastonbury Festival The Glastonbury Festival of Contemporary Performing Arts (commonly referred to as simply Glastonbury Festival, known colloquially as Glasto) is a five-day festival of contemporary performing arts held near Pilton, Somerset, England, in most su ...

and the

Super Bowl LIV halftime show The Super Bowl LIV halftime show, officially known as the Pepsi Super Bowl LIV Halftime Show, took place on February 2, 2020, at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens, Florida, as part of Super Bowl LIV. It was televised in the U.S. by Fox. It wa ...

in 2020. Shakira performed the song during the

67th Annual Grammy Awards The 67th Annual Grammy Awards honored the best recordings, compositions, and artists from September 16, 2023, to August 30, 2024, as chosen by the members of the Recording Academy, on February 2, 2025. In its 22nd year at Crypto.com Arena in L ...

on February 2, 2025.

Reception

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Mus ...

reviewer Alex Henderson compared Shakira to

Alanis Morissette Alanis Nadine Morissette ( ; born June 1, 1974) is a Canadian and American singer, songwriter, musician, and actress. Known for her emotive mezzo-soprano voice and confessional songwriting, she became a cultural phenomenon during the mid 199 ...

and stated, "it would be hard to imagine her coming up with something as poetic as the Middle Eastern fantasy that Shakira vividly describes on her Arabic-influenced mega-hit 'Ojos Así'". John Lannert of ''

'' called "Ojos Así" the album's "most satisfying track". The ''Hispanic'' magazine editor Mark Holston felt that the song "evokes the singer's Middle Eastern roots on a performance that effectively blends

World Beat Worldbeat is a music genre that blends pop music or rock music with world music or traditional music. Worldbeat is similar to other cross-pollination labels of contemporary and roots genres, and which suggest a rhythmic, harmonic or textural cont ...

rhythms with Shakira's earthy vocals". Writing for ''

The Modesto Bee ''The Modesto Bee'' is a California newspaper. It has about 70 employees and is delivered throughout central California, reaching places such as Modesto, Turlock, Oakdale, Ceres, Patterson and Sonora Sonora (), officially Estado Libre y ...

'', Steve Morse elucidated how Shakira, through her song "Ojos Asi", did not forsake her Middle Eastern heritage, as evidenced by the presence of distinct Arab musical elements in the piece. The ''

Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' is an American Newspaper#Daily, daily newspaper that began publishing in Los Angeles, California, in 1881. Based in the Greater Los Angeles city of El Segundo, California, El Segundo since 2018, it is the List of new ...

'' reviewer Ernesto Lechner called it "superb". Critics were less favorable towards the English version. While calling the translation an "admirable" attempt, the ''

Democrat and Chronicle The ''Democrat and Chronicle'' is a daily newspaper serving the greater Rochester, New York, area. Headquartered at 245 East Main Street in downtown Rochester, the ''Democrat and Chronicle'' operates under the ownership of Gannett. The paper's ...

'' writer Ramiro Burr commented that it "doesn't have the fire and snap of the original". In a scathing review of the album, Arturo Garcia from ''

The Wichita Eagle ''The Wichita Eagle'' is a daily newspaper published in Wichita, Kansas, United States. Originating in the early 1870s, shortly after the city's founding, it is owned by The McClatchy Company and is the largest newspaper in Wichita and the surr ...

'' criticized it as "nothing less than a perversion of the original". Writing for the

Knight Ridder Knight Ridder was an American media company, specializing in newspaper and Internet publishing. It was bought by McClatchy on June 27, 2006, allowing the latter to become the second largest newspaper publisher in the United States at the time ...

, Elio Leturia felt that while the track is " brant and highly romantic, it loses its richness of its Spanish counterpart". ''

The Sacramento Bee ''The Sacramento Bee'' is a daily newspaper published in Sacramento, California, in the United States. Since its foundation in 1857, ''The Bee'' has become the largest newspaper in Sacramento, the fifth largest newspaper in California, and the 2 ...

'' reviewers Chris Macias and Bruce Dancis described the song as a "clunky trip to the nightclubs of Kashmir". At the inaugural Latin Grammy Awards in 2000, "Ojos Así" won

. It won an award at the 2002 BMI Latin Awards. In 2022, it was listed as one of the 200 greatest dance songs of all time by ''

Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. The magazine was first known fo ...

''. Commercially, "Ojos Así" ranked in several European charts including Belgium (in both Flanders and Wallonia), France, the Netherlands, and Switzerland. In the United States, the track peaked at number 22 and 9 on the ''Billboard''

Hot Latin Songs The ''Billboard'' Hot Latin Songs (formerly Hot Latin Tracks and Hot Latin 50) is a record chart in the United States for Latin music, Latin songs, published weekly by Billboard (magazine), ''Billboard'' magazine. Since October 2012, chart ranki ...

and

charts.

Credits and personnel

Credits are adapted from the

liner notes Liner notes (also sleeve notes or album notes) are the writings found on the sleeves of LP record albums and in booklets that come inserted into the compact disc jewel case or cassette j-cards. Origin Liner notes are descended from the prog ...

of ''Dónde Están los Ladrones?''. *

–

lead vocals The lead vocalist in popular music is typically the member of a group or band whose voice is the most prominent melody in a performance where multiple voices may be heard. The lead singer sets their voice against the accompaniment parts of the ...

, composer, lyricist * Fadi Hardan –

background vocals A backing vocalist is a singer who provides vocal harmony with the lead vocalist or other backing vocalists. A backing vocalist may also sing alone as a lead-in to the main vocalist's entry or to sing a counter-melody. Backing vocalists are u ...

* Nicolas W. Farhoury – background vocals * Oussama Karaki – background vocals * Rita Quintero – background vocals * Tommy Anthony – background vocals * Javier Garza – composer, producer,

mix engineer A mixing engineer (or simply mix engineer) is responsible for combining ("mixing") different sonic elements of an auditory piece into a complete rendition (also known as "final mix" or "mixdown"), whether in music, film, or any other content of a ...

music arranger In music, an arrangement is a musical adaptation of an existing composition. Differences from the original composition may include reharmonization, melodic paraphrasing, orchestration, or formal development. Arranging differs from orchestratio ...

– composer, producer, arranger * Gustavo Celis – engineer * Carlos Paucar – engineer * Alfred Figueroa – assistant engineer * Simon Ramone – assistant engineer * Steve Menezes – assistant engineer * Jorge Gonzalez – assistant engineer * Adam Zimmon – guitar * Joe Zeytoonian –

percussion A percussion instrument is a musical instrument that is sounded by being struck or scraped by a percussion mallet, beater including attached or enclosed beaters or Rattle (percussion beater), rattles struck, scraped or rubbed by hand or ...

, oud * Michelle Massad – oud * Myriam Eli – percussion * Jack Stamates – violon * Fadi Jardan –

accordion Accordions (from 19th-century German language, German ', from '—"musical chord, concord of sounds") are a family of box-shaped musical instruments of the bellows-driven free reed aerophone type (producing sound as air flows past a Reed (mou ...

Track listings

; European Maxi CD # "Ojos Así" (album version) – 3:57 # "Ojos Así" (Thunder Mix Radio Edit) – 3:52 # "Ojos Así" (Thunder Mix) – 10:15 # "Ojos Así" (Desert Mix) – 9:31 # "Ojos Así" (Mirage Mix) – 5:34 ; Colombian Maxi CD # "Ojos Así" (Thunder Mix) – 10:15 # "Ojos Así" (Thunder Mix Radio Edit) – 3:52 # "Ojos Así" (Desert Dub) – 9:31 # "Ojos Así" (Mirage Mix) – 5:34

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

Adaptations

The song was adapted in

Greek Greek may refer to: Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor of all kno ...

Natasa Theodoridou Natasa Theodoridou (; born 24 October 1970, in Thessaloniki) is a Greek singer. She is the only female Greek artist to have her first three albums achieve platinum status. She has been certified for a total of at least 432 thousand albums and 20 ...

with the title "Καταζητείται" (Wanted) in her 2001 album ''Υπ' ευθύνη μου'' (I'm in charge). The song was adapted into

Malayalam language Malayalam (; , ) is a Dravidian language spoken in the Indian state of Kerala and the union territories of Lakshadweep and Puducherry ( Mahé district) by the Malayali people. It is one of 22 scheduled languages of India. Malayalam wa ...

under the title "O January" for the 2007 movie '' Big B''. Set against the backdrop of New Year celebrations, the track also blends traditional Indian musical elements with its original composition.

References

{{Shakira singles 1998 songs 1999 singles Songs in Arabic Shakira songs Songs in Spanish Songs written by Shakira Sony Discos singles Latin Grammy Award for Best Female Pop Vocal Album