Maria Isabel

María Isabel 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 dancing and singing took her to a competition, in 2004, named "Eurojunior", which was televised nationally in her native Spain, and designed to choose Spain's representative in the relatively new contest, "Festival de Eurovision Junior" (Junior Eurovision Song Contest), begun in 2003, which is a children's version of the famous Eurovision festival that has launched the careers of many European singing stars over decades. María Isabel won Spain's "Eurojunior" with her single "Antes Muerta que Sencilla" ("I'd rather be Dead than Plain"). Later on, she won the second "Junior Eurovision Song Contest" using the same song, beating the second place contestant by a total of 171 points, which constitutes, so far, the largest margin by which a person has won the junior version of "Eurovision". Some weeks before winning the festival she released her first CD, named "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. It spent weeks at the Weekend Top 30 and got up to #5. 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. On April 2005, she was interviewed on American national television for the first time, when she attended Univision's "El Gordo y La Flaca and spoke with Lily Estefan and Raul De Molina. Maria Isabel, who lists Chenoa (David Bisbal's ex-girlfriend) as one of her favorite singers, plans to continue her show business career and maybe become a businesswoman as she grows. She has said she would like to open a clothing store. She is also a musician, although her main interest remains in singing: as a little girl, she studied the piano, but she left it because she thinks it's boring. Maria Isabel continues to go to school from Monday-Friday, but during weekends and the school holidays she travels around Spain giving concerts or meeting the media. She is a regular feature at Malaga's Tivoli World, giving concerts that cost from around 8 euros to view. Her second album is called Número 2 and includes the hit Pues Va A Ser Que No and En Mi Jardin from the Barbie move in Spanish Barbie Y La Magia De Pegaso. Her third album Capricornio was released on November 21st 2006 and has so far been a huge success, it is a double CD which also includes a DVD with all of her videoclips and extras. Her fourth studio album, a collection of the songs used in her first movie, Ángeles SA. and the release date for one of the songs, "Cuándo No Estás" is to be confirmed. Due to management and release problems, Ángeles SA entered the Spanish charts at number 35, however in the week commencing 20/12, it has since peaked at number 11, certifying it gold.