Shakira - Stage Addict Shakira

Shakira has been addicted to performing since she was five.

The 'She Wolf' songstress first experienced a desire to entertain when she saw a belly dancer gyrating in a restaurant - and her parents were convinced she would be a star.

She said: "I was dancing and doing performances in school, every Friday, the same number over and over again. I was five years old, I got addicted to being on stage. It felt like the most wonderful place on Earth, performing in front of an audience, who in this case were a bunch of classmates, kids my age.

"At the age of eight I discovered that I could write songs. My dad used to take them to the notary and register them so that nobody could steal them from me. Who does that? What parents makes a treasure from his child's scribbles?"

Although Shakira felt destined to be a performer, the choirmaster at her school wasn't convinced of her talents and refused to let her join his musical group.

The 32-year-old explained to Britain's The Guardian newspaper: "He thought I had a pronounced vibrato. He said I sounded like a goat and I would destabilise the entire choir if I was allowed to join."