Beatriz Luengo

Beatriz Luengo (born December 23, 1982 in Madrid) is a Spanish actress, latin pop/R&B singer and dancer. In television, she appeared in episodes of Spanish soap operas such as Robles Investigador Privado, Policías, Periodistas and El Comisario. In 2001, Beatriz was chosen to star in Un paso adelante, along with actors like Mónica Cruz, Silvia Marty, Pablo Puyol, Dafne Fernández or Lola Herrera, which made her very well-known in Spain, Europe and some South American countries; it was here that the musical group Upa Dance was born. Upa Dance sold more than 600,000 copies of their first record. In spite of the big success of Upa Dance and the amount of their concerts, Beatriz has wanted to develop new musical and creative interests, reason by which she began to imagine her artistic proposal. In 2005 she released her debut-solo album, "Mi Generación", under Universal Music label, and was recorded between Spain, Belgium and the United States. The album is purely a R&B/Pop album, mixing some flamenco beats. In early 2005, she released the first single from the album, "Mi Generación", but failed to make impact on the Spanish charts, despite peaking at #4 on the Airplay chart. She won the prize "Better Musical Future", and she was chosen by the Spanish audience to represent Spain at the "Wanadoo Discoveries" in Nice, France, and she was 2nd. She was also nominated to the MTV European Music Awards celebrated in Lisbon. She was invited in 2005 to the Grammy Awards and in 2006 to Cannes Festival in France. The second single lifted from the album was "Go Away", a song written by American Pop star Justin Timberlake, and peaked at #1 on the Spanish Singles Chart. The third and final single was "Hit Lerele", a R&B song which managed to peak at #4 in Spain. The album only peaked at #20 in Spain, and went to sold in excess 30,000 copies, somewhat a commercial failure for Beatriz and her label, because she is very known in Spain. "Mi Generación" had also an exclusive release in France, via FNAC stores, and peaked at #4 on the FNAC Top 20, without any forms of promotion. In 2006, after the success of "Un Paso Adelante" in France, Universal released an edition of "Mi Generación" there, called "BL". The lead single was "Hit Lerele", and peaked at #14 in France, and sold more than 90,000 copies there, becoming a great start for the singer. The second single was "Escape", and did also well on the charts, peaking at #14, and selling again 90,000 copies. The album was released in mid-2006, and peaked at #7, selling 130,000 copies and being certified as Gold, enjoying great success in France. The third and final single lifted from "BL" was the untempo R&B song "May Yo Lo", featuring Ruzzo from Orishas. However, this single was only a promo single for French music stations, and did well in some radio stations. This album managed to peak at #58 on the European Top 100 Albums Chart, and the single "Hit Lerele" was also a Top 50 hit on the European Hot 100 Singles Chart. In addition, Beatriz has a School of Dance in Madrid. After three years outside the music scene, she got back with a new album early 2008. The album was entirely recorded in France, and it is called "Carrousel". The album was produced by Yotuel Romero and Andrés Levín, and Beatriz wrote all the lyrics. The album is a mixture of various rhytmes, from flamenco to R&B and Adult-Contemporary Pop. The album was released on May 4, 2008, via Universal Music Spain.