“Mas, Que Nada!” is a song written and originally recorded in 1963 by Jorge Ben on his debut album Samba Esquema Novo, which was covered in 1966 by Sergio Mendes, becoming one of the latter’s signature songs. In 2006, Mendes again re-recorded the song, this time with American musical group the Black Eyed Peas and additional vocals by Mendes’ wife, Gracinha Leporace, for his album Timeless. This version contains a sample of the Black Eyed Peas’ 2004 single “Hey Mama”. The song topped the charts of Hungary and the Netherlands and peaked at number six in the UK. This version was included in the 2011 animated film Rio (along with another version recorded in the style of Brasil ’66 and also coincidentally featured one of the members, will.i.am with a voice role in the film as Pedro the red-crested cardinal one of the main characters of the film) and its soundtrack.
“Con Te Partirò” (“With You I Shall Depart”) is an Italian song written by Francesco Sartori (music) and Lucio Quarantotto (lyrics). It was first performed by Andrea Bocelli at the 1995 Sanremo Music Festival and recorded on his album of the same year, Bocelli. The single was first released as an A-side single with “Vivere” in 1995, topping the charts, first in France, where it became one of the best-selling singles of all-time, and then in Belgium, breaking the all-time record sales there. A second version of the song, sung partly in English, released in 1996 as “Time to Say Goodbye“, paired Bocelli with British soprano Sarah Brightman, and achieved even greater success, topping charts all across Europe, including Germany, where it became the biggest-selling single in history. Brightman and Bocelli produced a version with Brightman singing in German and Bocelli in Italian, with this version being available on the CD Time to Say Goodbye. That version alone has now sold more than 12 million copies worldwide, making it one of the best-selling singles of all time.
“Dancing Lasha Tumbai” (“Dancing Russia Goodbye“) is a song recorded by Ukrainian singer Verka Serduchka (Andriy Danylko), written by Danylko himself. It is best known as the Ukrainian entry at the Eurovision Song Contest 2007, held in Helsinki. The original title was simply “Danzing”, but it was changed due to a controversy about the lyrics. The song includes lyrics in four languages: German, English, Russian and Ukrainian. In the Eurovision Song Contest, “Dancing Lasha Tumbai” finished runner-up. It reached No. 28 in the UK singles chart.
“Alors On Danse” (“And so we dance”) is a song by Belgian musician Stromae. It was released in September 2009 in Belgium and in February 2010 in the rest of Europe. The song reached number one all over mainland Europe, including the European Hot 100 Singles it also reached No. 25 in the UK. The song also became a success in North America, and Canada. Four months after the European release, almost one million copies worldwide were sold. The song spent 57 weeks on the German Singles Chart, making it the 40th song to spend one year or longer on that chart and the song with the 31st longest run. According to Francophonie Diffusion, “Alors on danse” was the most-played Francophone single worldwide of 2010.
“We No Speak Americano” is a song by Australian band Yolanda Be Cool and producer DCUP. It was released on the independent Australian label Sweat It Out in February 2010. The song samples the 1956 Italian (though sung in the Neapolitan language) song “Tu Vuo Fa L’Americano” by Renato Carosone, written by Carosone and Nicola Salerno. “We No Speak Americano” became a hit in Europe, Australia, and Latin America (where the song is also known as Pa-Panamericano) as well as a top 40 hit in the U.S. and Canada. It also topped the charts in the UK. It won the 2010 ARIA award for “Best Dance Release.” The official music video for the song, directed by Andy Hylton is a take on classic silent film comedies and features a Chaplinesque Italian protagonist during 1910s New York City, in a bid to raise some quick cash to propose to the young woman that he met earlier in the video.
