Dulce Pontes
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| Dulce Pontes | |
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 Dulce Pontes at the 2009 Vienna Festival
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| Background information | |
| Born | April 8, 1969 |
| Genres | Fado, world music, classical, pop |
| Occupations | vocalist, musician, songwriter, actor |
| Years active | 1992–present |
| Labels | Universal |
| Website | www.dulcepontes.net/. |
Dulce Pontes (born April 8, 1969) is a Portuguese musician, songwriter, and singer who writes and performs in many music styles, including pop, folk and classical music. She is usually defined as a world music artist. Her songs contributed to the 1990s revival of Portuguese urban folk music called fado.
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[edit] Biography
Pontes was born in 1969 in Montijo, a small city in the District of Setúbal, surroundings of Lisbon. Trained as a pianist, she became a singer after entering a competition in her home town at the age of 18. She soon became an actress in Portuguese television and theater. In 1991 she won the national song festival with her song "Lusitana Paixão" (known in English as "Tell Me"), which allowed her to represent Portugal at the Eurovision Song Contest (she was 8th, which has been up till now the 4th best position of a singer representing Portugal in this contest). "Canção do Mar" (Song of the Sea), one of her many international hits, was later recorded by Sarah Brightman, under the name "Harem". "Harem" was later a #1 Dance & Crossover hit in the US for Brightman. Over the years Pontes has evolved to become a world music singer. She blends traditional fado with contemporary styles and searches out new forms of musical expression. She reintroduced musical traditions of the Iberian Peninsula, rediscovered many long forgotten popular tunes and found use for allegedly obsolete musical instruments. Her work is inspired and influenced not only by Iberian musical tradition, but also Arabic, African, Brazilian and Bulgarian. She sings mostly in her native Portuguese, but also in Spanish, Galician, Mirandese, Italian, English,Arabic and Greek.
Dulce Pontes has collaborated with Cesária Évora, Caetano Veloso, Marisa Monte, Carlos Núñez, the Chieftains, Kepa Junkera, Eleftheria Arvanitaki, George Dalaras, Andrea Bocelli (O Mar e Tu, duet sung by Pontes in Portuguese and Bocelli in Neapolitan, an Italian dialect, for his 1999 album Sogno), and others. Her song "Canção do Mar" appeared on the soundtrack of Hollywood film Primal Fear. A 30-second snippet of that same song serves as the theme to the NBC police drama Southland. Her album Focus is the fruit of a collaboration with Italian composer Ennio Morricone with whom she has also performed live in concert.
In June 2006, Pontes prepared her double LP O Coração Tem Três Portas (The Heart Has Three Doors). It was recorded live without an audience in Convent of the Order of Christ in Tomar and St Mary Church in Óbidos. According to the artist, it is "her most personal and intimate album." It includes Portuguese folk music, mostly fado."[1] It was released in December 2006.
In 2009, Pontes released Momentos, a double disc collection that includes songs from her 20 year career as well as several previously unreleased tracks.[2] She is working on an album of all new songs which is titled Nudez.
[edit] Discography
- Lusitana (1992)
- Lágrimas (1993) (Tears)
- Brisa do Coração (1995) (Breeze of the heart) - album live recorded during a concert held May 6, 1995 in Porto
- Caminhos (1996) (Paths)
- O Primeiro Canto (1999) (The first chant/song)
- Best Of (2002)
- Focus (2003)
- O Coração Tem Três Portas (2006) (The heart has three doors) - including a DVD, recorded live in a convent and church
- Momentos (2009) (Moments)
[edit] References
- ^ http://www.hoy.es/prensa/20061116/sociedad/cantante-dulce-pontes-presentara_20061116.html La cantante Dulce Pontes presentará su último disco en Elvas
- ^ http://www.tvi24.iol.pt/musica/dulce-pontes-entrevista-video-momentos-novo-disco-nudez/1067643-4060.html Dulce Pontes recorda 20 anos de carreira em disco
[edit] External links
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Dulce Pontes |
- (English) (Portuguese) Pontes's Official Website
- (English) Aviv Productions site
- (Spanish) Universal Music site
| Preceded by Nucha |
Portugal in the Eurovision Song Contest 1991 |
Succeeded by Dina |
