María Isabel López Rodríguez (born 4 January 1995), known professionally as María Isabel, is a Spanish singer and songwriter. She is best known for winning the
Junior Eurovision Song Contest 2004
The Junior Eurovision Song Contest 2004 was the second edition of the annual Junior Eurovision Song Contest for young singers aged eight to fifteen. It was held on 20 November 2004, in Håkons Hall, Lillehammer, Norway and lasted 2 hours and 15 ...
with the song "
Antes muerta que sencilla
"Antes muerta que sencilla" ( English: "I'd rather be dead than plain") is a song composed and written by Spanish singer María Isabel in 2004, when she was 9 years old. It was the Spanish entry at the Junior Eurovision Song Contest 2004 and it ...
".
Biography
María Isabel was born in
Ayamonte
Ayamonte (; pt, Aiamonte) is a town and municipality of Spain belonging to the province of Huelva, Andalusia. It is located near the border with Portugal on the mouth of the Guadiana River. According to the 2015 census, the city had a population ...
,
Province of Huelva
Huelva () is a province of southern Spain, in the western part of the autonomous community of Andalusia. It is bordered by Portugal, the provinces of Badajoz, Seville, and Cádiz, and the Atlantic Ocean. Its capital is Huelva.
Its area is 10,1 ...
,
Spain
, image_flag = Bandera de España.svg
, image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg
, national_motto = '' Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond")
, national_anthem = (English: "Royal March")
, ...
. She demonstrated an interest in dancing and singing from a very young age. Her love for singing and dancing took her to the 2004 Spanish ''Eurojunior'' competition, which was televised nationally in her native Spain. The purpose of this competition was to select Spain's representative for the relatively new Junior Eurovision Song Contest competition, which began in 2003.
Eurojunior and Junior Eurovision Song Contest
María Isabel won Spain's ''Eurojunior'' contest with her single "
Antes muerta que sencilla
"Antes muerta que sencilla" ( English: "I'd rather be dead than plain") is a song composed and written by Spanish singer María Isabel in 2004, when she was 9 years old. It was the Spanish entry at the Junior Eurovision Song Contest 2004 and it ...
" ("I'd rather be dead than understated"). Subsequently, she won the second
Junior Eurovision Song Contest
The Junior Eurovision Song Contest (often shortened to JESC, Junior Eurovision or Junior EuroSong) is an international song competition which has been organised by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) annually since 2003. It is held in a diff ...
performing the same song, and setting a record for both largest score (171 points) and largest winning margin (31). Her largest score record was broken by
2015 winner,
Destiny Chukunyere
Destiny Chukunyere M.Q.R. (born 29 August 2002) is a Maltese singer. She won the Junior Eurovision Song Contest 2015, where she represented Malta with the song "Not My Soul".
In 2017, she participated in the eleventh series of ''Britain's Go ...
. Her winning margin record was broken by the
2012 winner,
Anastasiya Petryk
Anastasiya Ihorivna "Nastya" Petryk ( uk, Анастасі́я Іго́рівна "Настя" Пе́трик; born 4 May 2002) is a Ukrainian singer. She won the Junior Eurovision Song Contest 2012 with the song " Nebo", becoming the first Ukra ...
, who won with a 35-point margin.
Winning at the age of nine years, ten months and 16 days old, she became the youngest person to win the contest to date (a few days younger than the
Tolmachevy Sisters
Anastasiya Andreyevna Tolmacheva and Maria Andreyevna Tolmacheva (born 14 January 1997, Kursk), known as the Tolmachevy Sisters (), are identical twin singers and actresses from Kursk, Russia. Aged nine, they won the Junior Eurovision Song Conte ...
, the only other nine year-old winners).
Several weeks before winning the festival she released her first album, titled ''
¡No me toques las palmas que me conozco!
''¡No me toques las palmas que me conozco!'' is María Isabel's first album and was released in 2004.
Track listing
#"Antes muerta que sencilla
"Antes muerta que sencilla" ( English: "I'd rather be dead than plain") is a song composed and w ...
'' ("Don't clap your hands because I know myself"). This CD included "Antes muerta que sencilla", which launched her career in the Spanish show business world, making her a competitor of another Spaniard child star,
Melody
A melody (from Greek μελῳδία, ''melōidía'', "singing, chanting"), also tune, voice or line, is a linear succession of musical tones that the listener perceives as a single entity. In its most literal sense, a melody is a combina ...
.
After Junior Eurovision Song Contest
"Antes Muerta que Sencilla" became an instant radio hit in Spain, and was later promoted in
Latin America
Latin America or
* french: Amérique Latine, link=no
* ht, Amerik Latin, link=no
* pt, América Latina, link=no, name=a, sometimes referred to as LatAm is a large cultural region in the Americas where Romance languages — languages derived ...
, where María Isabel's album was released in 2005.
Milly Cangiano, a
Puerto Rican television show host, made the song's title one of the catchphrases she uses daily during her show.
In addition, María Isabel began her first tour of Latin America and the
United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country Continental United States, primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., ...
after the album's release. Her song became a chart-topper in
Argentina
Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the List of South American countries by area, second-largest ...
,
Colombia
Colombia (, ; ), officially the Republic of Colombia, is a country in South America with insular regions in North America—near Nicaragua's Caribbean coast—as well as in the Pacific Ocean. The Colombian mainland is bordered by the ...
, and Puerto Rico, among others. In April 2005, she was interviewed on US nationwide television for the first time, when she was presented on
Univision
Univision () is an American Spanish-language free-to-air television network owned by TelevisaUnivision. It is the United States' largest provider of Spanish-language content. The network's programming is aimed at the Latino public and include ...
's ''
El Gordo y la Flaca'' and chatted with hosts
Lili Estefan and
Raúl De Molina
Raúl "El Gordo" De Molina (born March 29, 1959, in Havana, Cuba) is a Cuban-American television presenter, best known as the co-host of the Univision Network entertainment news show '' El Gordo y la Flaca'', for which he won multiple Emmy Awards. ...
.
María Isabel continued school, but on weekends and school holidays she would travel throughout Spain giving concerts as well as interviews for the media. She became a regular performer on
Málaga
Málaga (, ) is a municipality of Spain, capital of the Province of Málaga, in the autonomous community of Andalusia. With a population of 578,460 in 2020, it is the second-most populous city in Andalusia after Seville and the sixth most po ...
's
Tivoli World
Tivoli may refer to:
* Tivoli, Lazio, a town in Lazio, Italy, known for historic sites; the inspiration for other places named Tivoli
Buildings
* Tivoli (Baltimore, Maryland), a mansion built about 1855
* Tivoli Building (Cheyenne, Wyoming), ...
amusement park.
Her second album was titled ''Número 2''. It includes the songs "Pues va a ser que no" and "En mi jardín". These songs are part of the Spanish soundtrack of the
''Barbie'' film ''Barbie and the Magic of Pegasus''. Her third album, ''Capricornio'', was released on 21 November 2006 and peaked at number 11 on the Spanish Albums Chart. It is a double disc set which also includes a DVD with all of her videoclips and extras.
Her fourth studio album is a collection of songs from the soundtrack of the first movie she starred in, ''Ángeles SA''. Due to management and release problems, ''Ángeles SA'' entered the Spanish charts at number 35, however it later peaked at number 7, certifying it gold.
In 2009 and 2010 she hosted the children's show ''
Los Lunnis
''Los Lunnis'' is a Spanish children's television show produced by TVE and broadcast by La 2 from 15 September 2003 and Clan since 2010 after the change on La 2's programming. It was also broadcast on the weekends in La 1 until 2011. Its charact ...
'' on
Televisión Española
Televisión Española (acronym TVE, branded tve, "Spanish Television") is Spain's national state-owned public television broadcaster and the oldest regular television service in the country. It was also the first regular television service in ...
. In November 2009 she released her fifth album, ''Los Lunnis con María Isabel'', which contained the songs from the show as well as two original tracks.
Career as an adult
After a career hiatus in order to finish her studies, María Isabel returned to music in 2015, eleven years after her debut, with her sixth studio album, ''Yo Decido''.
On 29 December 2015, María Isabel was announced as one of the six candidates to
represent Spain in the
Eurovision Song Contest 2016
The Eurovision Song Contest 2016 was the 61st edition of the Eurovision Song Contest. It took place in Stockholm, Sweden, following the country's victory at the with the song " Heroes" by Måns Zelmerlöw. Organised by the European Broadcastin ...
. She took part in the
televised national final organised by Televisión Española with a song composed by David Santisteban and titled “La vida sólo es una”, the first single from ''Yo Decido''. She came 4th with 68 points.
On 5 July 2019, María Isabel released a single titled "Tu Mirada".
Personal life
Isabel is engaged to Jesús Marchena, with whom she has a daughter, Daliana (born 14 February 2023).
Discography
Albums
Singles
* 2004: “
Antes muerta que sencilla
"Antes muerta que sencilla" ( English: "I'd rather be dead than plain") is a song composed and written by Spanish singer María Isabel in 2004, when she was 9 years old. It was the Spanish entry at the Junior Eurovision Song Contest 2004 and it ...
” — #36 BEL, #8 CH, #6 FR, #1 SP
* 2004: “¡No Me Toques Las Palmas Que Me Conozco!” — #2 SP
* 2004: “La vida es bella” — #8 SP
* 2005: “Pues va a ser que no” — #1 SP
* 2006: “En mi jardín (Hope Has Wings)” — #6 SP
Is Brie Larson
Brianne Sidonie Desaulniers (born October 1, 1989), known professionally as Brie Larson, is an American actress. Known for her supporting roles in comedies as a teenager, she has since expanded to leading roles in independent films and blockb ...
's Cover from Barbie & The Magic of Pegasus
* 2006: “Quién da la vez” —
promo only
* 2006: “De qué vas” — #56 SP
* 2007: “Cometas de cristal” —
promo only
* 2007: “Cuando no estás”
* 2009: “Cosquillitas”
* 2015: “La Vida Sólo Es Una”
* 2019: “Tu mirada”
* 2019: “Flamenkita”
* 2020: “Esa Carita” with
Juan Magán
Juan Manuel Magán González (born 30 September 1978) is a Spanish producer, singer, remixer and DJ of electronic dance music, recognized internationally for his contributions to the "Electro Latino" category of music.
As a remixer, he has worke ...
Filmography
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Isabel, María
1995 births
Living people
People from the Province of Huelva
Junior Eurovision Song Contest entrants
Junior Eurovision Song Contest winners
Spanish child singers
Singers from Andalusia
21st-century Spanish singers
21st-century Spanish women singers