María Villalón Sánchez (born 1 April 1989 in Ronda,

Málaga Málaga (; ) is a Municipalities in Spain, municipality of Spain, capital of the Province of Málaga, in the Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Andalusia. With a population of 591,637 in 2024, it is the second-most populo ...

, Spain), is a Spanish singer and most notably the winner of the first series of the Spanish version of ''

The X Factor ''The X Factor'' is a television music competition franchise created by British producer Simon Cowell and his company Syco Entertainment. It originated in the United Kingdom, where it was devised as a replacement for '' Pop Idol'' (2001–200 ...

'' in 2007.

Biography

Villalón grew up singing from an early age. She attended a music conservatory, learning to play

cello The violoncello ( , ), commonly abbreviated as cello ( ), is a middle pitched bowed (sometimes pizzicato, plucked and occasionally col legno, hit) string instrument of the violin family. Its four strings are usually intonation (music), tuned i ...

when she was 10. She published two studio albums with a small

Andalusia Andalusia ( , ; , ) is the southernmost autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community in Peninsular Spain, located in the south of the Iberian Peninsula, in southwestern Europe. It is the most populous and the second-largest autonomou ...

n record label. In 2006, Villalón took part in the television show ''Bienvenidos'' on

Canal Sur Canal Sur ('South Channel') is part of Radio y Televisión de Andalucía (RTVA), the public broadcasting company of Andalusia. It was created by means of the devolved powers given to this autononomous community by an Act of Parliament in its ...

, and she auditioned for the reality television music competition '' Operación Triunfo'', reaching the top 90 of candidates, but she was not selected.

''Factor X''

In 2007, at age 17, Villalón rose to fame when she auditioned for the reality show music competition ''Factor X'', the Spanish version of ''The X Factor'', aired on

Cuatro Cuatro, Spanish (and other Romance languages) for the 4, number 4, may refer to: * Cuatro (instrument), a family of Latin American string instruments, including: ** Cuatro (Venezuela) ** Puerto Rican cuatro * Cuatro (TV channel), a Spanish free-to ...

. She went on to win the series, performing the Dulce Pontes cover version of " Canção do Mar" and the Pasión Vega hit "María Se Bebe las Calles".

After ''Factor X''

On 13 November 2007, after her win, Villalón released her first studio album, ''Te espero aquí'' (2007), with

Sony BMG Sony BMG Music Entertainment was an American record company owned as a 50–50 joint venture between Sony Corporation of America and Bertelsmann. The venture's successor, the revived Sony Music, is wholly owned by Sony, following their buyout o ...

. Its first and only single was "Agüita de abril". In 2009, Villalón's second album, ''Los tejados donde fuimos más que amigos'' (2009), gave her another Top 40 single, titled ''La lluvia''. Villalón spent some time living in

Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...

and retiring from music. In 2018, Villalón re-emerged, coming back to prominence as one of the participants of the seventh season of the reality series '' Tu cara me suena'', where celebrity contestants impersonate singers. On 8 February 2019, she was declared the winner of the season.

Discography

Albums

*2000: ''Entre sueños'' *2002: ''Rompe'' *2007: ''Las mejores canciones de María en Factor X'' *2008: ''Te espero aquí'' *2009: ''Los tejados donde fuimos más que amigos'' *2012: ''Historias de una cantonta'' *2015: ''El insólito viaje de una gota de lluvia''

EP's

*2022: ''Tratado de Paz''

Singles

*2007: "Agüita de abril" *2008: "Amores que matan" *2009: "La lluvia" *2010: "Cosas que no sé de ti" *2010: "Quiero que estés aquí" *2012: "La ciudad de las bicicletas" *2013: "Todo arde" *2014: "Dieta para dos" *2014: "Descalza" *2015: "Ni tú ni yo" *2016: "Mágico y absurdo" *2018: "La batalla" *2021: "Pañuelos de seda" *2022: "Despierta, corazón" *2022: "Tratado de paz"

References

External links

Official site

Official fan site

Official MySpace site

Official YouTube channel

Official blog
{{DEFAULTSORT:Villalon, Maria Spanish pop singers Spanish women pop singers The X Factor winners 1989 births Living people People from Ronda Singers from Andalusia 21st-century Spanish singers 21st-century Spanish women singers Esperanto-language singers Complutense University of Madrid alumni