Mirla Castellanos, is a noted

Venezuela Venezuela (; ), officially the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela ( es, link=no, República Bolivariana de Venezuela), is a country on the northern coast of South America, consisting of a continental landmass and many islands and islets in th ...

n singer with a career spanning over 40 years. Often referred to as "La Primerísima", she started her career as a singer with the band "Cuarteto Los Naipes" in the 1960s before taking up a solo career. She has sold more than 13 million records worldwide.

Biography

Moving to Europe in the late 1960s, she recorded music by composers such as Domenico Modugno, with whom she later performed a duet of the song " Meraviglioso" during the preliminary of the 1968 Festival San Remo; but the song did not make the cut for the finals due to documented theories about the inconvenience of the topic exposed in the song, after Luigi Tenco suicide at San Remo festival the previous year. In 1969, Castellanos won the

Benidorm International Song Festival The Benidorm International Song Festival ( es, Festival Internacional de la Canción de Benidorm), until 2004 simply Benidorm Song Festival ( es, Festival de la Canción de Benidorm, links=no), was an annual song contest held in the city of Benidor ...

with a composition by

Manuel Alejandro Manuel Álvarez-Beigbeder Pérez (born 21 February 1932), better known as Manuel Alejandro, is a Spanish composer of Latin love songs, which are better known as ''ballads''. He has written, composed, and arranged songs for the likes of Luis Mig ...

. After returning to

South America South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere at the northern tip of the continent. It can also be described as the sout ...

in 1970, she took second place in the Latin American Song Festival. In 1972 she represented her country in the first edition of the

OTI Festival OTI Festival ( es, Festival OTI de la Canción, pt, Festival OTI da Canção), often known simply as La OTI, was an international song competition, organised annually between 1972 and 2000 by the Organización de Televisión Iberoamericana (OTI) ...

which was held in

Madrid Madrid ( , ) is the capital and most populous city of Spain. The city has almost 3.4 million inhabitants and a Madrid metropolitan area, metropolitan area population of approximately 6.7 million. It is the Largest cities of the Europ ...

, in which she got the fourth place. Three years later she was again internally selected by Venevision to represent

in the fourth edition

which was held in San Juan,

Puerto Rico Puerto Rico (; abbreviated PR; tnq, Boriken, ''Borinquen''), officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico ( es, link=yes, Estado Libre Asociado de Puerto Rico, lit=Free Associated State of Puerto Rico), is a Caribbean island and unincorporated ...

. Surprisingly, her entry was acclaimed and managed to get the third place, improving the place she got back in 1972 in Madrid. With the support of shows such as Sábado Sensacional and her own live show "Primerísima," Castellanos furthered her reputation in the 1970s and 1980s, making her first appearance in New York at the Chateau Madrid in 1976. With the album entitled "Vuelve Pronto", she became the first Venezuelan singer to gain '' Billboard'' recognition in 1983, before going on to release "Venezuela", recorded along with the Venezuelan Symphonic Orchestra. Mirla Castellanos's album "Como Nunca" is a compilation of her greatest hits. Amongst many successful songs there lots emblematic songs for Castellanos, one being an emotional and strong version of a song composed by Alberto Cortez: "El Abuelo". Castellanos has taken part, almost every year, in musical presentations for the annual contest

Miss Venezuela Miss Venezuela (Spanish: ''Organización Miss Venezuela'') is the national beauty pageant of Venezuela, traditionally held in September. It is preceded by two or three months of preliminary events, with the awarding of corporate prizes. The fi ...

, produced by Joaquín Riviera. The use of expensive costumes and sparkling choreographies were aspects well managed by Mirla during the "golden years" of Venezuelan television. At the time, and still, she was realized as an authentic "Diva & Primadonna" in the Venezuelan musical scene. Currently, Mirla Castellanos is a respected singer with many awards and international recognition in the

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many Latin American countries **Spanish cuisine Other places * Spanish, Ontario, Can ...

speaking countries and markets for "Balada romántica" (romantic and popular

Hispanic The term ''Hispanic'' ( es, hispano) refers to people, cultures, or countries related to Spain, the Spanish language, or Hispanidad. The term commonly applies to countries with a cultural and historical link to Spain and to viceroyalties forme ...

music).

References

External links

Official site of Mirla CastellanosMirla Castellanos singing "El Abuelo" - live broadcast Spanish TV
{{DEFAULTSORT:Castellanos, Mirla Year of birth missing (living people) Living people 20th-century Venezuelan women singers Venezuela in the OTI Festival Women in Latin music