Anaís Martínez (born June 22, 1984), known professionally as Anaís, is a Dominican-American singer. She rose to fame after winning the Puerto Rican singing competition show ''

Objetivo Fama ''Objetivo Fama'' (sometimes abbreviated as ''OF'', Spanish for ''Target: Fame'') is a Puerto Rican singing talent contest that aired for over six years on WLII-DT, WLII, the Univision outlet in Puerto Rico; and on UniMás, Telefutura in the main ...

'' in 2005.

Early life

Anaís was born in

Santo Domingo Santo Domingo, formerly known as Santo Domingo de Guzmán, is the capital and largest city of the Dominican Republic and the List of metropolitan areas in the Caribbean, largest metropolitan area in the Caribbean by population. the Distrito Na ...

Dominican Republic The Dominican Republic is a country located on the island of Hispaniola in the Greater Antilles of the Caribbean Sea in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean. It shares a Maritime boundary, maritime border with Puerto Rico to the east and ...

. She came to the United States at an early age and was raised in

The Bronx The Bronx ( ) is the northernmost of the five Boroughs of New York City, boroughs of New York City, coextensive with Bronx County, in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York. It shares a land border with Westchester County, New York, West ...

, New York City since she was eight years old. Her passion of music began through her work with the Los Cumbiancheros school choir, performing regionally in a variety of styles, including Latin, reggaeton, salsa, tropical music and ballads in both Spanish and English. In 2002, she appeared on an episode of ''

The Jerry Springer Show ''Jerry Springer'' is an American first-run syndicated talk show that was hosted by Jerry Springer. The show ran for twenty-seven seasons from September 30, 1991, to July 26, 2018, in which it broadcast 3,891 episodes. It was taped at the NB ...

'' titled "Bring On The Bisexuals".

Career

Breakthrough, ''Asi Soy Yo'' (2005–06)

In 2005, Anaís won the

second The second (symbol: s) is a unit of time derived from the division of the day first into 24 hours, then to 60 minutes, and finally to 60 seconds each (24 × 60 × 60 = 86400). The current and formal definition in the International System of U ...

season of ''

'', a Puerto Rican

reality competition Reality television is a genre of television programming that documents purportedly unscripted real-life situations, often starring ordinary people rather than professional actors. Reality television emerged as a distinct genre in the early 1990s ...

show, which aired on Univision Puerto Rico in

Puerto Rico ; abbreviated PR), officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, is a Government of Puerto Rico, self-governing Caribbean Geography of Puerto Rico, archipelago and island organized as an Territories of the United States, unincorporated territo ...

and on the Telefutura network in the mainland. She released her debut album '' Así Soy Yo'' (translated as "This Is The Way I Am") on April 18, 2006, where it peaked as number 79 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100. The album was preceded by the singles "Atrapada", " Lo Que Son Las Cosas", " Estoy Con Él Y Pienso En Ti", and "Estar Contigo". "Lo Que Son Las Cosas", which was originally made famous by

Ednita Nazario Edna María Nazario Figueroa (born April 11, 1955) is a Puerto Rican Latin pop singer who has achieved stardom both at home and abroad. She has been in the music business from a young age and has released twenty-three studio albums, seven live ...

, charted and peaked at number 79 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 and topped the

Hot Latin Tracks The ''Billboard'' Hot Latin Songs (formerly Hot Latin Tracks and Hot Latin 50) is a record chart in the United States for Latin songs, published weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine. Since October 2012, chart rankings are based on digital sales, ...

chart for 6 weeks straight, earning her four Billboard Award nominations. "Estoy Con Él y Pienso En Tí" also charted in the top 10 of the Hot Latin Tracks chart and in the top 5 of the Latin Tropical charts. The album garnered several award nominations, including the 2006 Latin Grammys's "Best Pop Vocal Album" and Lo Nuestro's "Best New Artist". The album is the highest selling album from any "Objetivo Fama" contestant and Anaís is widely considered to be the most successful winner of the show. On September 16, 2006, she began her ''Así Soy Yo'' Tour in

. During this time, Anaís released "Arriba, Arriba" for the

2006 FIFA World Cup The 2006 FIFA World Cup was the 18th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial international Association football, football world championship tournament. It was held from 9 June to 9 July 2006 in Germany, which had won the right to FIFA World Cup hosts ...

, alongside

Ana Bárbara Altagracia Ugalde Motta (born January 10, 1971), better known as Ana Bárbara, is a Mexican singer. She has become a prominent figure within Latin entertainment since her professional debut in 1994 and is one of the leading female figures in reg ...

Pablo Montero Pablo Montero (born Óscar Daniel Hernández Rodríguez August 23, 1974) is a Mexican singer and actor. Montero's primary profession is singing, but he also acts regularly in telenovelas produced by Televisa productions in supporting roles. Mont ...

and

Mariana Seoane Mariana Seoane (born Mariana Alejandra Seoane García on June 10, 1976, in Mexico City, Mexico) is a Mexican actress, model and singer. Biography Seoane was born June 10, 1976, from an Argentinian mother and a Cuban-Mexican father, Seoane demo ...

''Con Todo Mi Corazón'' (2007–09)

On January 15, 2007, Anaís released "Tu Amor No Es Garantía", her first single from her second studio album '' Con Todo Mi Corazón'', which was released on April 3 in the United States and on April 18 in Mexico. The album placed at number 20 on ''Billboard''s Latin Pop charts. Its second single, "Sólo Mio", went Top 30 and peaked at No. 29 on the Latin Charts, making it Anaís's fourth Top 30 hit on the Latin Charts along with "Lo Que Son Las Cosas", "Estoy Con Él Y Pienso En Ti", and "Arriba, Arriba". During this time, Anaís performed the song "Como Tu Mujer" in a televised tribute to Mexican singer

Marco Antonio Solís Marco Antonio Solís Sosa (born 29 December 1959) is a Mexican musician, singer-songwriter, and record producer. Born and raised in Ario de Rosales, Michoacán, Solís began his musical career at the age of six, performing with his cousin Joel ...

. Solís was so impressed by the performance that he invited Anaís as a special guest and opening act for his concert in

Madison Square Garden Madison Square Garden, colloquially known as the Garden or by its initials MSG, is a multi-purpose indoor arena in New York City. It is located in Midtown Manhattan between Seventh Avenue (Manhattan), Seventh and Eighth Avenue (Manhattan), Eig ...

. Anaís released the song on a special deluxe edition of the album on October 16, 2007. In 2007, she won a Casandra Award for "Most Outstanding Artist Located in Another Country". In August 2008, Anaís posed for the cover of '' Smooth'' magazine. On May 17, 2009, she appeared on the series finale of ''Objetivo Fama'', singing her hit "Estoy Con Él Y Pienso En Ti" and announcing that she was filming a film in the Dominican Republic and had started working on her third album. The album was planned to be completely in English and mark her debut as an international artist. In 2009, Anaís made her film debut as "NYC Thug's Wife" in the crime film '' La Soga''.

Independent releases (2010–16)

Anaís parted ways with Univision, instead becoming an independent artist while attempting kickstart her music career in the United States. She released several independent pop singles during this period, including "Own It" on May 23, 2012, "Naked" on October 4, 2016, "Hostage" on March 24, 2017 and "Too Young" on August 11, 2017.

Television appearances (2017–present)

In 2017, Anaís joined the cast of '' Love & Hip Hop: New York'' in its eighth season. She returned in a supporting role in season nine, but disappears from the show after a few episodes. It is eventually revealed that she has been struggling with mental illness and been in and out of mental health facilities for the past few months.

Personal life

Anaís is openly

bisexual Bisexuality is romantic attraction, sexual attraction, or sexual behavior toward both males and females. It may also be defined as the attraction to more than one gender, to people of both the same and different gender, or the attraction t ...

. She resides in

Clifton, New Jersey Clifton is a city in Passaic County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. Criss-crossed by several major highways, the city is a regional commercial hub for North Jersey and is a bedroom suburb of New York City in the New York Metropolitan Area.L ...

with her mother and husband Confesor Ruben Brito, a businessman who works at a luxury car dealership, younger brother Damian Martínez a host of AmericanxLatino show and their two sons, Diamond and King Brito. She holds both Dominican and American citizenships.

Discography

Albums

* '' Así soy yo'' (2006) * '' Con Todo Mi Corazón'' (2007)

Singles

References

External links

Anais Website ''ANAIS WORLD''

Anais on Univision
{{DEFAULTSORT:Anais 1984 births Living people Dominican Republic women singers Musicians from Santo Domingo Dominican reggaeton musicians Women in Latin music 21st-century Dominican Republic women singers