Stéphanie Morato (born 2 March 1966), known professionally as Nina Morato, is a French singer and songwriter. Morato is best known for representing France in the

Eurovision Song Contest 1994 The Eurovision Song Contest 1994 was the 39th edition of the Eurovision Song Contest. It took place in Dublin, Ireland, following the country's victory at the with the song "In Your Eyes" by Niamh Kavanagh. It was the first time that any country ...

with the song " Je suis un vrai garçon", where she placed seventh.

Early career

Morato recorded several singles under the names Stéphanie and Stéphanie de Malakoff before the release in 1993 of "Maman", her first single under the name Nina Morato. This was followed by an album ''Je suis la mieux'', which was a critical success and won Morato the 1994

Victoires de la Musique Victoires de la Musique (; en, Victories of Music) is an annual French award ceremony where the Victoire accolade is delivered by the French Ministry of Culture to recognize outstanding achievement in the music industry. The classical and jazz ...

prize in the category 'Best New Female Pop Artist of the Year'.Biography at RFI
''Je suis la mieux'' featured guitarist

Matthieu Chedid Matthieu Chedid (born 21 December 1971), better known by his stage name -M-, is a French rock singer-songwriter and guitar player. Since 2018, he has been the most awarded artist at the Victoires de la Musique Awards with 13 awards, tied with A ...

, who toured with Morato.

Eurovision Song Contest

In 1994, Morato's song " Je suis un vrai garçon" ("I'm a Real Boy") was chosen as the French entry for the 39th

Eurovision Song Contest The Eurovision Song Contest (), sometimes abbreviated to ESC and often known simply as Eurovision, is an international songwriting competition organised annually by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU), featuring participants representing pr ...

, held on 30 April in

Dublin Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of th ...

. Controversy arose over the lyric "Je sais je suis son amour, mais putain, y'a des jours où c'est lourd", roughly translated as "I know I'm his love, but fuck it, there are days which are hard". Concerns were expressed that this contravened Eurovision rules on verbal obscenities, but in the end the line was allowed to stand. "Je suis un vrai garçon" was a daring and risky song for Eurovision at the time, but had the fortune to be drawn to be performed last of the 25 participating entries. Morato, in a memorable all black outfit – including

leotard A leotard () is a unisex skin-tight one-piece garment that covers the torso from the crotch to the shoulder. The garment was made famous by the French acrobatic performer Jules Léotard (1838–1870). There are sleeveless, short-sleeved, and lo ...

, jacket, velvet

top hat A top hat (also called a high hat, a cylinder hat, or, informally, a topper) is a tall, flat-crowned hat for men traditionally associated with formal wear in Western dress codes, meaning white tie, morning dress, or frock coat. Traditionally m ...

and high-heeled

thigh boots Thigh-high boots, known also as thigh-length boots or simply thigh boots, are boots that extend above the knees to at least mid-thigh. Other terms for this footwear include '' over-the-knee boots'' (abbreviated OTK boots; the full term is also u ...

– was joined on stage by Chedid, and delivered a confident performance, which resulted in a seventh-place finish.

Later career

In 1994, Morato appeared in the film ''

La séparation ''La Séparation'' is a 1994 French romantic drama film directed by Christian Vincent and based on the novel ''La Séparation'' by Dan Franck. Plot When a Parisian couple, Pierre and Anne, go to see a film, it bothers Pierre that Anne rejects ...

'', with

Isabelle Huppert Isabelle Anne Madeleine Huppert (; born 16 March 1953) is a French actress. Described as "one of the best actresses in the world", she is known for her portrayals of cold and disdainful characters devoid of morality. She is the recipient of sev ...

and

Daniel Auteuil Daniel Auteuil (; born 24 January 1950) is a French actor and director who has appeared in a wide range of film genres, including period dramas, romantic comedies, and crime thrillers. In 1996 he won the Best Actor Award at the Cannes Film Fest ...

. Her second album, ''L'allumeuse'', was released in 1996, but was less successful. It was followed in 1999 by the darker ''Moderato'', heavily by influenced the personal tragedy of the death of her 11-year-old daughter, born of her relationship with David Christie. Contributors to ''Moderato'' included

Arthur H Arthur Higelin (born 27 March 1966), better known under his stage name Arthur H (), is a French pianist, songwriter and singer. He is best known in France for his live performances—four of his albums were recorded live. Life and career He is ...

and

Lokua Kanza Lokua Kanza (born April 1958) is a singer-songwriter from the Democratic Republic of the Congo. He is known for his soulful, folksy sound. Biography Lokua Kanza was born Pascal Lokua Kanza in Bukavu in the province of Sud-Kivu, in the eastern p ...

and it was widely seen as Morato's best work. Morato has spent recent years touring and appearing in stage productions such as ''

The Vagina Monologues ''The Vagina Monologues'' is an episodic play written in 1996 by Eve Ensler which developed and premiered at HERE Arts Center, Off-Off-Broadway in New York and was followed by an Off-Broadway run in at Westside Theatre. The play explores cons ...

''.

Discography

Albums * 1993: ''Je suis la mieux'' * 1996: ''L'allumeuse'' * 1999: ''Moderato''

References

External links

Website on Nina Morato (non official)
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Morato, Nina French women singers Eurovision Song Contest entrants for France Eurovision Song Contest entrants of 1994 Musicians from Paris 1966 births Living people