The latest candidate for the title of 2010 World Cup “official” song is “Waka Waka (This Time for Africa),” a collaboration between Colombian (well, global) pop star, Shakira, and Zolani, the lead singer of South African group Freshlyground, a band which reminds me, maybe unfairly, of Mango Groove.

The music magazine, NME, quotes Shakira muttering some boilerplate about why she made the song: “The FIFA World Cup is a miracle of global excitement, connecting every country, race, religion, and condition around a single passion.”

Shakira’s record company, Sony Music, is making a lot about the “African rhythm and identity” of the song in its PR missives: “The song combines Afro-Colombian instrumentation and rhythms with a rousing Soca beat and Southern African guitar. The chorus borrows from a favorite Cameroonian marching chant made popular by the group Golden Voices. “The Official Song is as much awaited by the fans as the Mascot or the Logo. It is part of the identity of the world’s most exciting sport’s event. This song is the personification of the African rhythm and identity and sets the pace for this unique event.”

There’s now a music video. It is very busy. There are a lot of people on set.

Here’s another update: As the American public television network, PBS, reports, 2 months after the song was first released, Shakira and “Waka Waka” have been dogged by “controversy.”

First, South Africans—whose country is hosting the World Cup—are upset that none of their own musicians were chosen, noting that FIFA selected a non-African, Colombian pop star Shakira to write the song and perform lead vocals. The criticism, while drawing on a valid grievance, however, is ignorant of the history of the World Cup and of FIFA’s habit of riding roughshod over host sensibilities.

This is not the first time a World Cup has turned to a global star with no direct national or continental connection to the host country. For France ’98, for example, the Puerto Rican singer Ricky Martin was cast.

In any case, Freshlyground does appear on the track. Yet even that inclusion has raised eyebrows. As the story goes, the band—already established, with three albums and extensive international touring—was in New York in February, recording their album Radio Africa, when they encountered Shakira, who was developing “Waka Waka” in the same studio. According to reports, her producer felt the song needed “a few more African touches” and invited Freshlyground to contribute. The phrasing alone—“a few more African touches”—is likely to strike some as tone-deaf, and may well deepen, rather than quiet, the original criticism.

Second, and more serious, is the charge that Shakira first insisted she had come up with the beat and catchy chorus herself, and that it was not an already-famous Cameroonian tune. Only after the Cameroonian group that performed the original made a stink about Shakira sampling their work without compensation or recognition did she agree to pay up.

Then a Dominican singer claimed the chorus is too close to a song he wrote for a girl group in his country.

All this drama, the only thing we want to add is that FIFA should have stayed with K’Naan’s Coca-Cola version of his ‘Waving Flag” song, or even better, the original, which was about war and the experiences of becoming a refugee. But they chose to Waka Waka.