María Isabel

María Isabel López Rodríguez (born 4 January 1995), known professionally as María Isabel, is a Spanish singer, songwriter and actress. She is best known for winning the Junior Eurovision Song Contest 2004 with the song "Antes muerta que sencilla".[1][2][3]

María Isabel
Birth name	María Isabel López Rodríguez
Born	4 January 1995 Ayamonte, Huelva, Spain
Genres	Latin pop electropop dance-pop
Occupation(s)	Singer songwriter actress
Instruments	Vocals
Years active	2004–present
Labels	UMG Vale Nueva Generación de Artistas

Biography

María Isabel was born in Ayamonte, Province of Huelva, Spain. She demonstrated an interest in dancing and singing from a very young age. 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 was to select Spain's representative for the relatively new Junior Eurovision Song Contest competition, which began in 2003.[4]

Eurojunior and Junior Eurovision Song Contest

María Isabel won Spain's Eurojunior contest with her single "Antes muerta que sencilla" ("I'd rather be dead than understated"). Subsequently, she won the second Junior Eurovision Song Contest performing the same song, and setting a record for both largest score (171 points) and largest winning margin (31). This record can be explained in part due to the 2004 contest having the highest number of participants of any Junior Eurovision Song Contest at the time, with eighteen participants (the 2018 Contest had twenty participants.) Her winning margin record was broken by the 2012 winner, Anastasiya Petryk, who won with a 35-point margin. Her largest score record was broken by 2015 Winner, Destiny Chukunyere.

Winning at the age of nine years, ten months and 16 days old, she became the youngest person to win the contest to date (a few days younger than the Tolmachevy Sisters, the only other nine year-old winners).

Several weeks before winning the festival she released her first album, titled ¡No me toques las palmas que me conozco! ("Don't clap your hands 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 child star, Melody.

After Junior Eurovision Song Contest

María Isabel in 2007

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

In addition, María Isabel began her first tour of Latin America and the United States after the album's release. Her song became a chart-topper in Argentina, Colombia, and Puerto Rico, among others. In April 2005, she was interviewed on US nationwide television for the first time, when she was presented on Univision's El Gordo y la Flaca and chatted with hosts Lili Estefan and Raúl De Molina.

María Isabel continued school, but on weekends and school holidays she would travel throughout Spain giving concerts as well as interviews for the media. She became a regular performer on Málaga's Tivoli World amusement park.

Her second album was titled Número 2. It includes the songs "Pues va a ser que no" and "En mi jardín". These songs are part of the Spanish soundtrack of the Barbie film Barbie and the Magic of Pegasus. Her third album, Capricornio, was released on 21 November 2006 and peaked at number 11 on the Spanish Albums Chart. It is a double disc set which also includes a DVD with all of her videoclips and extras.

Her fourth studio album is a collection of songs from the soundtrack of the first movie she starred in, Ángeles SA. Due to management and release problems, Ángeles SA entered the Spanish charts at number 35, however it later peaked at number 7, certifying it gold.

In 2009 and 2010 she hosted the children's show Los Lunnis on Televisión Española. In November 2009 she released her fifth album, Los Lunnis con María Isabel, which contained the songs from the show as well as two original tracks.

Career as an adult

After a career hiatus in order to finish her studies, María Isabel returned to music in 2015, eleven years after her debut, with her sixth studio album, Yo Decido.[5]

On 29 December 2015, María Isabel was announced as one of the six candidates to represent Spain in the Eurovision Song Contest 2016.[6] She took part in the televised national final organised by Televisión Española with a song composed by David Santisteban and titled “La vida sólo es una”,[7] the first single from Yo Decido.[8] She came 4th with 68 points.

On 5 July 2019, María Isabel released a single titled "Tu Mirada".[9]

Discography

Albums

Year	Information	Chart positions		Sales and certifications
		SPA[10]	TUR
2004	¡No me toques las palmas que me conozco! First studio album Released: 2 November 2004 Label: Universal Music Spain (Vale Music) Format: CD, download	1	23	^500.000 (5x Platinum)
2005	Número 2 Second studio album Released: 2 October 2005 Label: Universal Music Spain (Vale Music) Formats: CD, digital download	7		^300.000 (3x Platinum)
2006	Capricornio Third studio album Released: 21 November 2006 Label: Universal Music Spain (Vale Music) Formats: CD, digital download	11		^80.000 (1x Platinum)
2007	Ángeles S.A. Soundtrack Fourth studio album Released: 27 November 2007 Label: Universal Music Spain Format: CD, digital download	7		^100.000 (1x Platinum)
2009	Los Lunnis con María Isabel Soundtrack with new songs by María Isabel Released: November 10, 2009 Label: Universal Music Spain Format: CD	68
2014	De pie Released: May 17, 2014 Label: Discol Format: CD, digital download
2015	Yo decido Released: November 27, 2015 Label: Nueva Generación de Artistas Format: CD, digital download

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: “Cometas de cristal” — promo only
• 2007: “Cuando no estás”
• 2009: “Cosquillitas”
• 2015: “La vida sólo es una”
• 2019: “Tu mirada”

Filmography

Year	Film	Role	Notes
2007	Ángeles S.A.	María Isabel	Lead Role
2009-2010	Los Lunnis	As herself	TV series

References

1. Caballero, Javier (18 December 2005). "La "sencilla" vida de María Isabel". El Mundo magazine (in Spanish) (325). Madrid: Mundinteractivos, S.A. Retrieved 13 August 2010.
2. "History : Kyiv 2009". Junior Eurovision Song Contest. Retrieved 13 August 2010.
3. Staff (22 November 2004). "María Isabel vuelve a España como ganadora del Festival de Eurovisión para niños". ELPAÍS.com (in Spanish). Madrid: Edicíones El País. Retrieved 13 August 2010.
4. 20minutos (2014-01-04). "María Isabel, conocida por 'Antes muerta que sencilla', prepara disco y abrirá una zapatería". www.20minutos.es - Últimas Noticias (in Spanish). Retrieved 2020-10-22.
5. "María Isabel regresa diez años después de 'Antes muerta que sencilla'". Telemanía. 30 October 2015. Retrieved 30 December 2015.
6. "Xuso Jones, Salvador Beltrán, Maverick, María Isabel, Electric Nana y Barei competirán por representar a RTVE en Eurovisión 2016". Corporación de Radio y Televisión Española (in Spanish). 29 December 2015. Retrieved 26 August 2019.
7. "María Isabel canta "La vida solo es una" en Objetivo Eurovisión". Corporación de Radio y Televisión Española (in Spanish). 1 February 2016. Retrieved 26 August 2019.
8. "Aspirantes Eurovisión 2016: María Isabel quiere regresar a Eurovisión, ¡es una de las #AspirantesEurovision!". RTVE.es. 29 December 2015. Retrieved 29 December 2015.
9. Paula, Laura (28 June 2019). "ASÍ SUENA 'TU MIRADA', EL NUEVO SENCILLO DE MARÍA ISABEL". Los 40. Retrieved 30 July 2019.
10. Hung, Steffen. "Discographie Maria Isabel". Spanish Charts Portal. Hung Medien (Steffen Hung).