Name | : | María de los Ángeles Félix Santamaría Espinosa |
Born | : | 2-8-1947 |
Nationality | : | Spanish |
National Finals | : | – |
ESC Entries | : | La, la, la (1968) |
Website | : | – |
Biography
Massiel is a Spanish singer and actress. She began her career when she performed the song “Di no” in Madrid. In the same year she took part in the Festival de la Rosa in Rome and Viña del Mar in Chile. In 1967 she played in her first two films. She also scored a hit in Latin America.
In 1968, Joan Manuel Serrat was chosen to represent Spain in the Eurovision Song Contest. However, he wanted to sing the song only in Catalan. The Spanish Franco-regime did not allow him and so Massiel replaced him and even won Eurovision with the song “La la la”. A lot of controversy came when in 2008, a newspaper published the fact that the government bought votes to let Massiel win the contest. The story was denied later and the newspaper was accused of making a fuzz in order to get attention for the Spanish contestant in 2008, Rodolfo Chikilicuatre.
After the contest, Massiel became a well-known artist internationally, making several appearances in cinema and theater, performing works by Bertolt Brecht and Shakespeare. In 1971 she participated in the festival of Rio de Janeiro. In 1997 she decided to put an end to her musical career. Some of her albums are re-released and Massiel keeps on performing on several occasions. She does, however, not release any new material.
Massiel has one son, Aitor Carlos, born in 1977.