text: vida ( ricky martin song ) " vida " ( english : " life " ) is a song recorded by puerto rican singer ricky martin for the one love , one rhythm – the 2014 fifa world cup official album ( 2014 ) . it was written by martin , salaam remi , elijah king , verde , roxana amed and produced by remi . the song was chosen in a musical contest organized by fifa and sony music which king won , and it was subsequently arranged for martin to record the track . it was digitally released as the second single from the compilation album on april 22 , 2014 . " vida " is a latin pop song that features guitar , ukulele , percussion , horn and " exotic sounds with a caribbean feel " . the song received generally positive reviews from music critics who praised the liveliness of the track and noted the consistency with other songs performed by martin . it peaked at number five on the us hot latin songs and became martin 's 23rd top - ten single on the chart . an accompanying music video , directed by lund and lívia gama of bossa nova films , was shot in rio de janeiro . it features martin singing and dancing on the beach accompanied by around 100 other people . martin performed the song on several occasions including at the 2014 latin billboard music awards and on season eighteen of the dancing with the stars us series . production and release in december 2013 fifa and sony music entertainment launched a worldwide music contest inviting aspiring musicians and football fans to submit original song proposals . the organizers received over 1600 compositions from musicians and fans originating from 29 countries . in february 2014 it was announced that elijah king and his track " vida " had won the contest ; it was chosen by martin , a judging panel , and by public vote . the song was co - written by ricky martin , king and salaam remi with additional writing from verde and roxana amed for the spanish and portuguese version of the song . it was produced by remi under his production name subsequently , the song was set to be recorded by martin himself and included on the one love , one rhythm – the 2014 fifa world cup official album ( 2014 ) . the singer previously recorded and sang " la copa de la vida ( the cup of life ) " , which served as the official song of the 1998 fifa world cup . following the announcement , king traveled to miami where he worked with martin and remi to finish the track . gleyder " gee " disla recorded the song at the instrument zoo and hit factory criteria in miami and louder than life labs in new york city . enrique provided the vocal engineering and editing , while david cabrera served as an additional vocal producer . disla mixed " vida " at instrument zoo , while ari blitz and larry ryckman served as the mastering engineers . martin , king and domingo ramos sang the background vocals . vincent henry and dan warner played the guitar , the latter also provided the ukulele , hal played the horn and robert was responsible for the percussion . the spanglish version of the song was released as the second official single from one love , one rhythm – the 2014 fifa world cup official album . on april 22 , 2014 it was digitally launched in austria , germany , switzerland the united kingdom , and the united states . an extended play consisting of spanish , portuguese , and spanglish versions together with a remix from david cabrera bahía was released on may 6 in france and italy . additionally , the ep was released in the united kingdom and the united states among other countries on the same date . apart of that material , the spanish extended play release also contains the remix , brian cross extended club remix and brian cross remix of " vida " . on june 10 , a remix of " vida " was released worldwide including in austria , germany , spain , united kingdom and the united states . the afrojack remix of the song was launched on july 1 . controversy on april 25 , 2014 it was announced that hundred proof club , think famous productions , akela family and entertainment were suing sony music and king for fraud in the sony and fifa 's supersong competition . the lawsuit claimed that the competition was rigged and that king , who co - wrote " vida " was always going to win , cheating the other entrants out of their chance of winning the competition . although the contest was open to applicants worldwide , king had a contractual agreement and sony apparently asked king to enter the song " vida " : sony allegedly pressured the plaintiffs to release king from his contract so that he would be eligible to win , in return for compensation . the lawsuit alleges that sony induced king ’ s release from his publishing contract and refused to pay compensation . the attorney alicia roman told the huffington post , " [ we ’ re looking to ] annul the release due to the fraud they committed . when it ’ s annulled , all of the rights to elijah ’ s songs are returned to my client , particularly the song ' vida ' that ricky martin sang . " martin has not made any comment on the lawsuit . additionally , luis adrian cortes ramos , a finalist from the first season of idol puerto rico filled a $ 10 million lawsuit towards martin . he sued the singer for releasing " vida " despite claims that he submitted his version of the track as part of supersong contest , a version that was never recognized . ramos ' lawyer released a statement saying " ramos was surprised , disillusioned and suffered mental anguish because the song was almost identical to the one he composed . until that moment , martin was an idol for ramos . " however , martin 's representative never commented on the lawsuit . composition " vida " is a latin pop song that lasts for three minutes and twenty - five seconds . it features guitar , ukulele , percussion , guitar and " exotic sounds , with a caribbean feel " . carolina moreno of the huffington post described the song as upbeat and energetic . lyrically , the single is about the ability of the football tournament to bring people from different parts of the world together to celebrate and enjoy ' the good life ' . reception critical melissa redman of renowned for sound gave the song three and half stars out of five and wrote that " the track is everything you would expect from ricky martin and a single for a global sports event . " she also stated that although the song is not " groundbreaking " it is " a lively and exuberant track that people are bound to bop away to " . redman concluded that it is better than pitbull 's " we are one ( ole ola ) " , which serves as the official song of the tournament . mike wass of website idolator wrote , " there 's something to be said for consistency and ricky sure knows how to knock out a summery smash with generic spanglish lyrics that probably sound pretty inspiring after a couple of . " " vida " received nomination for a start - party song at the 2014 premios tu mundo held on august 21 , 2014 . commercial following martin 's performance of the song at the 2014 latin billboard music awards " vida " entered at number four on the us latin digital songs chart after selling 6000 copies in its first week . subsequently , the single debuted at number 10 on the us hot latin songs ; it became martin 's 23rd top 10 single on the chart . it peaked at number five on the latter chart . it was more successful on the us latin pop songs chart where it peaked at number four . " vida " debuted at number 20 on the spanish singles chart . in its fourth week the single reached its peak of number five . additionally , it peaked at number 12 in the dominican republic and number 16 in mexico , a pop charts part of monitor latino . it was less successful in australia and south korea where it peaked at number 75 and 146 respectively . music video the music video for " vida " was filmed in rio de janeiro and was directed by lund and lívia gama of bossa nova films . according to lund , " the lyrics and the emotion that are reflected in the video for " vida " inspire a celebration of life , in a way that is pure and simple : the sun , coming together and the energy . " she said that the visual is about life in which differences are celebrated and appreciated easily and with happiness and claimed that was the reason martin " just wanted it to be natural " and to differ from what he had done before with choreography , big sets and directed scenes . martin also commented the shooting process , " it 's an incredible feeling to have had the opportunity to participate in a global initiative like supersong . i 'm very excited to finally be able to sing ' vida ' and share this special song with the world . " on april 21 , martin released a teaser from the video on his official social networks , while the full video premiered on his vevo channel on youtube the next day . it features the singer relaxing in shorts and a tank - top while he sings on the beaches of rio de janeiro . the video also contains around 100 extras including kids , samba dancers , models and others intended to represent the diversity of the brazilian nation . wass of idolator praised the video , writing that martin " looks great " in it and mentioned the brazilian scenery was " pretty awesome " . live performances martin performed " vida " for first time at the 2014 chinese music awards on april 23 , 2014 where he also sang his 2013 single " come with me " . he performed the song again on april 24 at the 2014 billboard latin music awards . a writer from billboard described it as a " vibrant , colorful performance " . on april 28 , the singer performed " vida " on a season eighteen episode of the american dance show competition dancing with the stars ; he was accompanied by the show 's pro dancers . martin performed the single on the ellen degeneres show on may 2 while three days later , on may 5 , he performed the song on the queen latifah show . he also performed the song on may 18 , at the 2014 billboard music awards . on november 14 it was part of martin 's performance at the opening ceremony of the 22nd central american and caribbean games . formats and track listing credits and personnel recording recorded at instrument zoo , hit factory criteria ( miami ) ; louder than life labs ( new york city ) ; sony music studios ( sydney ) mixed at instrument zoo personnel credits adapted from the liner notes of one love , one rhythm – the 2014 fifa world cup official album , rca records . charts release history