Mariza

Mariza Nunes (born December 16, 1973 in Mozambique) is a fado singer-songwriter on the World Connection label. She moved to Portugal when she was three, and was raised in one of the most traditional quarters of Lisbon, Mouraria, where she learned how to sing fado. She has a Portuguese father but her mother is from Mozambique (the song Transparente is a tribute to her African grandmother). For the Olympic Games of Athens 2004 she collaborated with Sting for the duet "A Thousand Years", released on the official pop album of the Athens Olympics Unity, where fado is sung in both English and Portuguese. Mariza is considered by many as a more contemporary follower of Amalia Rodrigues, and has covered a number of her songs. In 2003 she became the "Winner in the Europe category" of the BBC Radio 3 Awards for world Music. http://www.myspace.com/fadomariza http://www.marizafriends.blogspot.com/