Dulce Pontes

This biography of a living person does not cite any references or sources. Please help by adding reliable sources. Contentious material about living people that is unsourced or poorly sourced must be removed immediately. (May 2009) Find sources: (Dulce Pontes – news, books, scholar)

This article may require copy-editing for grammar, style, cohesion, tone or spelling. You can assist by editing it. (May 2009)

Dulce Pontes (Vienna 2009)

Dulce Pontes (born April 8, 1969) is a Portuguese musician, songwriter, and singer who writes and performs in many music styles, including pop, folk and classical music. She's usually defined as a world music artist. Her songs contributed to the 1990s revival of Portuguese urban folk music called fado. She is one of the most famous and respected Portuguese artists.^{[citation needed]}

Biography

Pontes was born in 1969 in Montijo, a small city in the District of Setúbal, surroundings of Lisbon. Trained as a pianist, she became a singer after entering a competition in her home town at the age of 18. She soon became an actress in Portuguese television and theater. In 1991 she won the national song festival with her song "Lusitana Paixão" (known in English as "Tell Me"), which allowed her to represent Portugal at the Eurovision Song Contest (she was 8th, which has been up till now the 4th best position of a singer representing Portugal in this contest). "Lusitana Paixão" literally means Portuguese Passion. Canção do Mar (Song of the Sea), one of her many international hits, was later recorded by Sarah Brightman, under the name Harem. Harem was later a #1 Dance & Crossover hit in the US for Sarah. Over the years Pontes has evolved to become a renowned star of world music. She easily blends traditional fado with contemporary styles and eagerly searches out new forms of musical expression. She gave new life to outmoded musical traditions of the Iberian Peninsula, rediscovered many long forgotten popular tunes and found use for allegedly obsolete musical instruments. Her artistic explorations know no geographical or cultural borders. Her work is inspired and influenced not only by Iberian musical tradition, but also Arabic, African, Brazilian and Bulgarian. She sings mostly in her native Portuguese, but also in Spanish, Galician, Mirandese, Italian, English,Arabic and Greek.

Dulce Pontes has collaborated with Cesária Évora, Caetano Veloso, Marisa Monte, Carlos Núñez, the Chieftains, Kepa Junkera, Eleftheria Arvanitaki, George Dalaras, Andrea Bocelli (O Mar e Tu, duet sung by Pontes in Portuguese and Bocelli in Neapolitan, an Italian dialect, for his 1999 album Sogno), and others. Her song "Canção do Mar" appeared on the soundtrack of Hollywood film Primal Fear. A 30-second snippet of that same song serves as the theme to the NBC police drama Southland. Her album "Focus" is the fruit of a collaboration with Italian composer Ennio Morricone with whom she has also performed live in concert.

In June 2006, Pontes prepared her double LP. O Coração Tem Três Portas (The Heart Has Three Doors). It was recorded live without an audience in Convent of the Order of Christ in Tomar and St Mary Church in Óbidos. According to the artist, it is "her most personal and intimate album. It includes Portuguese folk music, mostly fado."^{[citation needed]} It was released in December 2006.

Discography

• Lusitana (1992)
• Lágrimas (1993) (Tears)
• Brisa do Coração (1995) (Breeze of the heart) - album live recorded during a concert held May 6, 1995 in Porto
• Caminhos (1996) (Paths)
• O Primeiro Canto (1999) (The first chant/song)
• Best Of (2002)
• Focus (2003)
• O Coração Tem Três Portas (2006) (The heart has three doors) - including a DVD, recorded live in a convent and church
• Momentos (2009) (Moments)

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Dulce Pontes

• (English) (Portuguese) Pontes's Official Website
• (Spanish) (Italian) (German) Unofficial Website
• (English) Aviv Productions site
• (Spanish) Universal Music site