María Isabel

María Isabel
Birth name	María Isabel López Rodríguez
Born	January 4, 1995 (1995-01-04) (age 16)
Origin	Ayamonte, Huelva Province, Spain
Genres	Latin pop, electropop, dance-pop
Occupations	Singer
Years active	2004–present
Labels	Universal Music Group Vale Music
Website	http://www.mariaisabel.org

María Isabel (born January 4, 1995) is a Spanish singer, actress and the winner of the Junior Eurovision Song Contest 2004.^[1][2][3]

Biography

Maria Isabel was born María Isabel López Rodríguez in Ayamonte, Huelva Province, Spain. She demonstrated an interest in dancing and singing from a very young age. As a child, she proved to be vivacious, hyperactive and dedicated to her hobbies of dancing and singing. She also developed a love for birds, which led her to begin a collection of birds that she still maintains.

Her love for singing and dancing took her to the 2004 Spanish "Eurojunior" competition, which was televised nationally in her native Spain. The purpose of this competition is to select Spain's representative for the relatively new, "Festival de Eurovision Junior" competition (Junior Eurovision Song Contest), which began in 2003. This competition is the children's version of the famous Eurovision festival that has launched the careers of many European singing stars over many decades.

María Isabel won Spain's "Eurojunior" with her single "Antes Muerta que Sencilla" ("I'd rather be Dead than Plain"). Susequently, she won the second "Junior Eurovision Song Contest" using the same song, beating the second place contestant by a total of 171 points, which thus far constitutes the largest margin by which anyone has won the junior version of "Eurovision". This record can be explained in part due to the 2004 contest having the most amount of participants of any Junior Eurovision Song Contest, with eighteen participants.

Winning at the age of nine years, ten months and 16 days old, also made her the youngest person to win the contest to date (a few days younger than The Tolmachevy Twins, the only other 9 year-old winners). In light of a rule change in 2007 which requires all performers to be 10 to 15 years old to participate, she may remain the youngest person ever to win the contest, unless new rule changes permit younger contestants to enter.

Several weeks before winning the festival she released her first CD, titled "No me Toques las Palmas que me Conozco" ("Don't clap Because I Know Myself"). This CD included "Antes Muerta que Sencilla", which launched her career in the Spanish show business world, making her a competitor of another Spaniard teen idol, Melody Ruiz Gutiérrez.

"Antes Muerta que Sencilla" became an instant radio hit in Spain, and was later promoted in Latin America, where Maria Isabel's album was released in 2005. Milly Cangiano, a Puerto Rican television show host, has made the song's name one of the phrases she uses daily during her show.

In addition, Maria Isabel began her first tour of Latin America and the United States after the album's release. Her song has become a charttopper in Argentina, Colombia, Puerto Rico and other places. In April 2005, she was interviewed on American national television for the first time, when she was presented on Univision's "El Gordo y La Flaca and spoke with Lily Estefan and Raul De Molina.

Maria Isabel lists Chenoa (David Bisbal's ex-girlfriend) as one of her favorite singers. She plans to continue her show business career and possibly become a businesswoman when she becomes an adult. She has said she would like to open a clothing store. Although singing remains her main interest, she is also a musician. As a little girl, she studied the piano, but she left it because she became bored.

Maria Isabel continues to go to school from Monday-Friday, but on weekends and school holidays she travels throughout Spain giving concerts as well as interviews for the [media]. She is a regular on Malaga's Tivoli World.

Her second album is titled "Número 2". It includes the hits "Pues Va A Ser Que No" and "En Mi Jardin". These songs are part of the soundtrack of the Spanish Barbie movie "Y La Magia De Pegaso". Her third album Capricornio was released on November 21, 2006 and has been a huge success. It is a double disk set which also includes a DVD with all of her videoclips and extras.

Her fourth studio album is collection of songs from the soundtrack of her first movie, Ángeles SA. Due to management and release problems, Ángeles SA entered the Spanish charts at number 35, however in the week commencing 20/12, it peaked at number 11, certifying it gold.

Discography

Albums

Year	Information	Chart positions			Sales and certifications
		SPA	GER	TUR
2004	No Me Toques Las Palmas Que Me Conozco First studio album Released: November 2, 2004 Format: CD	1		23	500.000 (5x Platinum)
2005	Número 2 Second studio album Released: October 2, 2005 Formats: CD	1			300.000 (3x Platinum)
2006	Capricornio Third studio album Released: November 21, 2006 Formats: CD	5			80.000 (1x Platinum)
2007	Ángeles S.A. Fourth studio album Released: November 27, 2007 Format: CD	1			100.000 (1x Platinum)
2009	Los Lunnis con María Isabel Soundtrack with new songs of María Isabel Released: November 10, 2009 Format: CD

* Current in chart

Singles

• 2004: "Antes Muerta que Sencilla" — #36 BEL, #8 CH, #6 FR, #1 SP
• 2004: "No Me Toques Las Palmas Que Me Conozco" — #2 SP
• 2004: "La Vida Es Bella" — #8 SP
• 2005: "Pues Va A Ser Que No" — #1 SP
• 2006: "En Mi Jardín (Hope Has Wings)" — #6 SP Is Brie Larson's Cover from Barbie & The Magic of Pegasus
• 2006: "Quién Da La Vez" — promo only
• 2006: "De Qué Vas" — #56 SP
• 2007: "Cuando No Estás"
• 2009: "Cosquillitas"

References

1. ^ Caballero, Javier (18 December 2005). "La "sencilla" vida de María Isabel" (in Spanish). El Mundo magazine (Madrid: Mundinteractivos, S.A) (325). http://www.elmundo.es/suplementos/magazine/2005/325/1135094540.html. Retrieved 13 August 2010. 
2. ^ "History : Kyiv 2009". Junior Eurovision Song Contest. http://www.junioreurovision.tv/page/history. Retrieved 13 August 2010. 
3. ^ Staff (22 November 2004). "María Isabel vuelve a España como ganadora del Festival de Eurovisión para niños" (in Spanish). ELPAÍS.com (Madrid: Edicíones El País). http://www.elpais.com/articulo/radio/television/Maria/Isabel/vuelve/Espana/ganadora/Festival/Eurovision/ninos/elpepirtv/20041122elpepirtv_1/Tes/. Retrieved 13 August 2010. 

Preceded by Dino Jelusić

Winner of the Junior Eurovision Song Contest 2004

Succeeded by Ksenia Sitnik

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Name	Maria Isabel
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Date of birth	1995-01-04
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