Massiel biography

Massiel (real name Maria de los Angeles Santamaria Espinosa) is a Spanish singer. She was born on August 2, 1947 in Madrid but her parents were from Asturias. His father Emilio was a renowned artist manager.

Her cuban ballet teacher put María the nickname of Massiel. She made her debut in 1966 with "Di que no", considered as one of the first protest songs in Spain, a genre that would increase its popularity till the end of the Franco's dictatorship.

She gained inmediately success with hits like "Rosas en el mar", "Rufo el Pescador" or "Aleluya nº1" and appearances in song contests like Vina del Mar, Majorca and Rome. She also made films like "Vestida de novia" and "codo con codo". All her songs had compromised lyrics so she was then catalogued as a "protest singer".

During the 1968 spring she was touring Mexico when Spanish Television called her urgently to represent Spain in the 13th Eurovision Song Contest due to the withdrawal of Joan Manuel Serrat who wanted to sing in catalan the song "La, la, la".

Serrat announced his intention just 15 days before going to London, so Massiel had to came back to Madrid, record the song in Spanish, English, French and German, appear in some european tv stations and go to Paris to buy a costume designed by Courrèges specially for the Contest. Eventually, she won the Eurovision Song Contest 1968 with the song "La, la, la", which earned 29 points, beating out famous British pop crooner Cliff Richard, who placed second that year with "Congratulations". She continued to perform in Stage shows, and records music.

Massiel appeared in the film Cantando a la Vida filmed in 1968, which profiled a winner of a European Song festival suddenly disappearing. Massiel had the lead role as "Maria". The movie was filmed in Andalucía, Spain. Massiel sang the entire soundtrack to the film, and raked in 9,020,397 pesetas from

Spanish singer

In this Spanish name, the first or paternal surname is Santamaría and the second or maternal family name is Espinosa.

Musical artist

María de los Ángeles Felisa Santamaría Espinosa (born 2 August 1947), known professionally as Massiel (pronounced[maˈsjel]), is a Spanish pop and protest singer. She won the Eurovision Song Contest 1968 with the song "La, la, la", being the first performer from Spain to ever win the contest.

She released her first recordings in 1966. She decided to abandon her music career in 1996, but released another album a year later and a further one in 2007, along with two new editions of 1970s albums.

Biography

Massiel was born in Madrid, Spain. Her Asturian father, Emilio Santamaria Martín, was an artistic manager, so she was around singers and groups from her earliest childhood, and at a young age she decided to become a singer, actress, and songwriter. Her Asturian mother was Concepción Espinosa Peñas (1920–2011).

She released her first recordings in 1966: "Di que no", "No sé porqué", "Llueve", "No comprendo", "Y sabes qué vi", "Rufo el pescador", "Aleluya", and "Él era mi amigo. The song "Rosas en el mar", written by her friend Luis Eduardo Aute in 1967, established her as a singer in Spain and Latin America. In 1967, she acted in the film Vestida de novia.

On 25 March 1968, Joan Manuel Serrat, the Spanish representative in the Eurovision Song Contest 1968, was removed after recording, releasing, and promoting the song "La, la, la" –written by Manuel de la Calva [es] and Ramón Arcusa [es], the members of Dúo Dinámico–, for his demand to sing it in Catalan in the contest. Therefore, Massiel, who was on tour

Dominican beauty pageant titleholder

Massiel Indira Taveras Henríquez (born 7 July 1984) is a Dominican television host, designer, actress and beauty pageant titleholder who was crowned Miss Dominican Republic 2007 and represented her country at Miss Universe 2007.

Personal life

Born in Santiago de los Caballeros, Massiel is daughter of Damían Taveras and Carmen Henríquez de Taveras. She has six siblings, among them, the conductor of television and ex- queen of beauty Rita Isaura Taveras. She is a graduate of Pontificia Universidad Católica Madre y Maestra. Massiel Taveras moved to Hollywood to pursue acting.

Pageant participation

Miss Dominican Republic 2007

Taveras competed at Miss Dominican Republic 2007 on March 22, 2007, representing Santiago, where she was crowned the winner by Mía Taveras (her cousin).

Miss Universe 2007

Massiel competed at the Miss Universe 2007 pageant on May 28, 2007 in Mexico City. Although among of the favorites Taveras did not place.

Reina Hispanoamericana 2007

On October 26 Taveras was crowned Reina Hispanoamericana 2007 during an event held in Santa Cruz, Bolivia ; she also won the most beautiful face award and best figure award.

References

Sources