- Lúcia Moniz
Infobox musical artist
Name = Lúcia Moniz
Background = solo_singer
Birth_name = Ana Lúcia Moniz
Born = birth date and age|1976|9|9
Origin =Lisbon ,Portugal
Occupation =Singer ,Actress
Genre = Pop,Folklore , Rock
Active = 1996–
Label =
URL = [http://www.LuciaMoniz.com LuciaMoniz.com]Ana Lúcia Moniz (born
September 9 1976 ) is a Portuguesesinger andactress .Biography
Early life
Ana Lúcia Moniz was born on
September 9 ,1976 inLisbon ,Portugal . She is the daughter of two musicians - Carlos Alberto Moniz (a famous Portuguese conductor from the Azores) and Maria do Amparo.Lúcia's musical career began at an early age at the Saint Cecilia Academy of Music in Lisbon.After completing her sixth year of musical school, she traveled as an exchange student to Minnesota in the United States,where she attended Eden Prairie High School.Here she joined the school's concert choir, where she would go on to be elected best composer at the school for the pieces she had authored during the school year.
Upon returning to Portugal she took a course in design, but due to an ongoing quantity of musical requests she ended up quitting.Now eighteen years old, Lúcia accepted roles in some Portuguese soap operas and plays, thus opening up a career in acting as well as singing.
Music career
Eurovision Song Contest 1996 Lúcia was still fairly unknown in Portugal when at the age of 19 she performed in the nationally regarded
Festival RTP da Canção with the song "O Meu Coração Não Tem Cor " ("My Heart Has No Colour"). She unexpectedly reached the finals, which were held onMarch 7 ,1996 .Lucia went on to win first place only four points ahead of the second place winner. She was awarded with representing Portugal in the Eurovision Song Contest, where she took home a surprising sixth placing amongst 23 contestants - the best ever result for Portugal in theEurovision Song Contest .
= Magnolia (1999) =In 1999 Lucia release her first album entitled Magnolia, after the name of the location in the United States where it was recorded.The album includes rhythmic pop songs totally unlike her Eurovision entry, both in Portuguese and in English. The album went gold.
67 (2002)
Magnolia was a very successful platform for her follow-up release, 67, which was recorded in Boston. It was made with her longtime producer and collaborator
Nuno Bettencourt and released by EMI (Portugal) in 2002. The album was named after the number of days it took to complete. It matched her debut by also going gold in her home country.Leva-me Para Casa (2005)
Lúcia returned to the music scene in 2005, three years after the release of 67, with the album "Leva-me para casa" ("Take Me Home"). This album differed much from the previous two, being sweeter and softer.
Cinema career
Love Actually (2003)
Her break into the international scene occurred in 2003 when she played the role of Aurélia in the movie "
Love Actually ", taking her place among a stellar cast that includedColin Firth ,Hugh Grant ,Alan Rickman ,Emma Thompson ,Liam Neeson andRodrigo Santoro . Although essentially an English language film, the bulk of her own character's dialogue was in Portuguese.Sonho de uma noite de São João (2005)
Lucia lends her voice to an animated character in the first animated movie made in Portugal.
Um Amor Próprio (2006)
Lúcia starred in this Portuguese short-film written and directed by Miguel Tomar Nogueira.Other cast: Lídia Franco; Filipe Duarte; Teresa Negrão; João Pedro Gomes; Lara Fernandes
Film (tv career)
29 Golpes (2005)
Lucia starred in another Portuguese short film with Paulo Pires.
TV career
Lucia appeared in several soap operas in Portugal such as her debut "A Grande Aposta", where she played twins; "A Terra Mãe"; "Alves dos Reis"; "Ajuste de Contas"; "Saber Amar"; "Triângulo Jota"; "Aqui não há quem viva".The year 2007 will premiere "Vingança" a story based in the life of the
Count of Montecristo withDiogo Morgado .Personal life
Lucia has a daughter with Donovan Bettencourt (
Nuno Bettencourt 's nephew).
= Discography =External links
* [http://www.luciamoniz.com Official Lúcia Moniz website]
* [http://www.lucia-moniz.co.uk Lúcia Moniz UK fan website]
* [http://luciamoniz.blogspot.com Blog da Lúcia Moniz]
* [http://www.last.fm/music/Lucia+Moniz Lúcia Moniz on Last.fm]
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* [http://www.2020multimedia.com/ecards/lucia/lucia.html 67]
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