Anabela Braz Pires
Anabela Braz Pires
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Anabela Braz Pires

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Anabela Braz Pires

Anabela Braz Pires (born 22 September 1976 in Almada) is a Portuguese singer and musical theatre actress, best known in Portugal mononymously by her first name, Anabela.

Her career in music has spanned over decades, and she is well known for representing Portugal at the Eurovision Song Contest 1993, her work as a solo recording artist, and her work in musical theatre collaborating with producer Filipe La Féria. In a 2006 interview with Selecções do Reader's Digest, she joked that in the national consciousness, she went from being known as "the Eurovision girl" to "the La Féria girl."

Anabela Braz Pires was born on 22 September 1976 in Almada, Portugal, a suburb of Lisbon situated across the Tagus River. She started singing professionally at the age of eight, participating in various children's festivals. In 1989, at age 12, she won the Grande Noite do Fado. That year she represented Portugal at the UNICEF Song Festival in the Netherlands where she received second place and won the Danny Kaye Award for Best Interpreter.

In 1991, she participated in the Sopot International Song Festival representing Portugal with the song "Brother." From there, she released albums in 1991 and 1992, Anabela and Encanto (Charm), released on the Ovação fado music label.

On 10 January 1993, when Anabela was 16, she entered the Festival RTP da Canção, where she competed in the first round's second heat and tied for joint first place with Grupo Até Jazz with their song "Pó de melhorar" (Get well powder). Both songs progressed to the final held on 11 March, where they competed against six other winners from various first round heats.

In the end, Anabela won, and on 15 May she went on to represent Portugal in the Eurovision Song Contest 1993 in Millstreet, Ireland, with the song she performed at the Festival RTP da Canção, "A cidade (até ser dia)" (The city, until dawn). She placed tenth with 60 points from various competing countries. It was Portugal's first top ten ranking in the contest in two years, and only the second top ten placement since 1980. The song was the lead single on her third album, also called A cidade, até ser dia.

On 9 October, she represented Portugal at the OTI Festival 1993 with the song "Onde Estás?", placing third.

Her fourth album was released in 1996 and was called Primeiras Águas (First Water), which yielded the hit song "Avenidas" written by Clara Pinto Correia and Rui Veloso. That year she also participated in Filipe La Féria's children's musical Jasmim ou o Sonho do Cinema (Jasmine: The Dream of Cinema). In 1999, Anabela worked with La Féria again, starring in the musical Koko. She released another album that same year, heralded by HMV Japan as "the new generation of fado," called Origens (Sources).

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