Nina Morato
Encyclopedia
Nina Morato is a French singer-songwriter, best known for her participation in the 1994 Eurovision Song Contest
.
prize in the category 'Best New Female Pop Artist of the Year'. Je suis la mieux featured guitarist Matthieu Chedid
, who toured with Morato.
" ("I'm a Real Boy") was chosen as the French entry for the 39th Eurovision Song Contest
, held on 30 April in Dublin. Controversy arose over the lyric "Je sais je suis son amour, mais putain, y'a des jours où c'est lourd", roughly translated as "I know I'm his love, but fuck it, there are days which are hard". Concerns were expressed that this contravened Eurovision rules on verbal obscenities, but in the end the line was allowed to stand.
"Je suis un vrai garçon" was a daring and risky song for Eurovision at the time, but had the fortune to be drawn to be performed last of the 25 participating entries. Morato, in a memorable all black outfit – including leotard
, jacket, velvet top hat
and high-heeled thigh boots – was joined on stage by Chedid, and delivered a confident performance, which resulted in a seventh-place finish.
, with Isabelle Huppert
and Daniel Auteuil
. Her second album, L'allumeuse, was released in 1996, but was less successful. It was followed in 1999 by the darker Moderato, heavily influenced by a personal tragedy in Morato's life with the death of her baby daughter. Contributors to Moderato included Arthur H
and Lokua Kanza
and it was widely seen as Morato's best work.
Morato has spent recent years touring and appearing in stage productions such as The Vagina Monologues
.
Eurovision Song Contest
The Eurovision Song Contest is an annual competition held among active member countries of the European Broadcasting Union .Each member country submits a song to be performed on live television and then casts votes for the other countries' songs to determine the most popular song in the competition...
.
Early career
Morato recorded several singles under the names Stéphanie and Stéphanie de Malakoff before the release in 1993 of "Maman", her first single under the name Nina Morato. This was followed by an album Je suis la mieux, which was a critical success and won Morato the 1994 Victoires de la MusiqueVictoires de la Musique
Victoires de la musique , is an annual French award ceremony that recognizes the best musical artists of the year.- Male artist of the year :*1985 : Michel Jonasz*1986 : Jean-Jacques Goldman*1987 : Johnny Hallyday...
prize in the category 'Best New Female Pop Artist of the Year'. Je suis la mieux featured guitarist Matthieu Chedid
Matthieu Chedid
Matthieu Chedid is a French rock singer-songwriter and guitar player.-Biography:...
, who toured with Morato.
Eurovision Song Contest
In 1994, Morato's song "Je suis un vrai garçonJe Suis Un Vrai Garçon
"Je suis un vrai garçon" was the French entry in the Eurovision Song Contest 1994, performed in French by Nina Morato. The song was performed twenty-fifth on the night, following Poland's Edyta Górniak with "To nie ja"...
" ("I'm a Real Boy") was chosen as the French entry for the 39th Eurovision Song Contest
Eurovision Song Contest 1994
The Eurovision Song Contest 1994 was the 39th Eurovision Song Contest and was held on 30 April 1994 in the Point Theatre in Dublin, Ireland. The presenters were Cynthia Ní Mhurchú and Gerry Ryan. The pair hosted the evening in French, English and Irish...
, held on 30 April in Dublin. Controversy arose over the lyric "Je sais je suis son amour, mais putain, y'a des jours où c'est lourd", roughly translated as "I know I'm his love, but fuck it, there are days which are hard". Concerns were expressed that this contravened Eurovision rules on verbal obscenities, but in the end the line was allowed to stand.
"Je suis un vrai garçon" was a daring and risky song for Eurovision at the time, but had the fortune to be drawn to be performed last of the 25 participating entries. Morato, in a memorable all black outfit – including leotard
Leotard
A leotard is a skin-tight one-piece garment that covers the torso but leaves the legs free. It was made famous by the French acrobatic performer Jules Léotard ....
, jacket, velvet top hat
Top hat
A top hat, beaver hat, high hat silk hat, cylinder hat, chimney pot hat or stove pipe hat is a tall, flat-crowned, broad-brimmed hat, predominantly worn from the latter part of the 18th to the middle of the 20th century...
and high-heeled thigh boots – was joined on stage by Chedid, and delivered a confident performance, which resulted in a seventh-place finish.
Later career
In 1994, Morato appeared in the film La séparationLa séparation
La Séparation is a 1994 French romantic drama film directed by Christian Vincent and based on the novel La Séparation by Dan Franck.-Plot:...
, with Isabelle Huppert
Isabelle Huppert
Isabelle Anne Madeleine Huppert is a French actress who has appeared in over 90 film and television productions since 1971. She has had 14 films in official competition at the Cannes Film Festival, and won the Best Actress Award twice, for Violette Nozière and La pianiste . She is also the most...
and Daniel Auteuil
Daniel Auteuil
Daniel Auteuil is a French film, television and theatre actor.-Early life and education:He was born in Algiers, French Algeria.-Career:...
. Her second album, L'allumeuse, was released in 1996, but was less successful. It was followed in 1999 by the darker Moderato, heavily influenced by a personal tragedy in Morato's life with the death of her baby daughter. Contributors to Moderato included Arthur H
Arthur H
Arthur Higelin , better known under his stage name Arthur H , is a pianist, songwriter and singer. He is best known in France for his live performances - four of his albums were recorded live - and remains relatively little-known in the English-speaking world.-Career:He is the son of the French...
and Lokua Kanza
Lokua Kanza
Lokua Kanza is a singer, songwriter, and composer from the Democratic Republic of the Congo. He is known for his soulful, folksy sound, which is atypical of the dancefloor friendly soukous music that is common in the Congo.-Biography:...
and it was widely seen as Morato's best work.
Morato has spent recent years touring and appearing in stage productions such as The Vagina Monologues
The Vagina Monologues
The Vagina Monologues is an episodic play written by Eve Ensler which ran at the Off Broadway Westside Theatre after a limited run at AFRICA in 1996. Ensler originally starred in the production which was produced by David Stone, Nina Essman, Dan Markley, The Araca Group, Willa Shalit, Mike Skipper...
.
Discography
Albums- 1993: Je suis la mieux
- 1996: L'allumeuse
- 1999: Moderato