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One-Name Wonder
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Toronto Life, One-Name Wonder >>
Madonna. Beyoncé. Cher. In Portugal, they can't touch Mariza, the glamorous powerhouse who's filling stadiums with the heart-rending folk melodies of her childhood.
Over the past two years, the Mozambique-born fado singer Mariza has wowed Letterman, inspired a BBC documentary, and become the first Portuguese artist nominated for a Latin Grammy. Starchitech Frank Gehry even designed a set - a recreatoin of a Lisbon taverna - for her performance at L.A.'s Walt Disney Concert Hall. Fado, a bluesy style that translates as "fate," and its sombre songs of doomed romance once seemed destined to remain a local phenomenon, eventually fading into obscurity. But Mariza is changing all that. Her startling white-blonde hair and wraith-like figure, exaggerated by floor-length gowns and stilettos, garner plenty of attention, but it's her voice - soaring, keening, imploring, capable of suddenly shifting from a whisper to a near-shout - that has floored the world.
By Stuart Broomer 02/01/09
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