Biography
Tonicha is a Portuguese singer. She was born in Beja. Tonicha’s first solo recording, which was edited under the name of Antónia Tonicha, dates from 1965, a single called “Luar para esta noche”. In 1966 she won the first prize in the Song Contest of Figueira da Foz. She won the same contest again one year later. In 1968, she first participated in the Festival da Canção with the songs “Fui Ter Com a Madrugada” and “Calendário”.
After this, she started working together with José Cid, who wrote several songs for her. The idea to record Portuguese folklore came from her husband, ethnologist João Viegas. Tonicha released two albums, which together sold over 80,000 copies.
In 1971, Tonicha won Festival da Canção and represented Portugal in the Eurovision Song Contest with the song “Menina (do alto da sera)”. After this, she successfully participated in several festivals. She won the festival of Split in Yugoslavia.
After releasing several albums, she represented Portugal in the 1972 OTI Festival with the song “Glória, Glória Aleluia”. In the same year, she took part in the Portuguese team of the Knokke Cup with Paulo de Carvalho and Teresa Silva Carvalho. In 1973, she took part in Festival da Canção again with “A Rapariga e o Poeta”. After releasing several albums under different labels, she participated in Festival da Canção for a last time in 1978. In 1979, she recorded the singles “O Portuguese Gaiteiro” and “O Chico Pinguinhas”. After another three albums she decided to stay away from the spotlights to make a comeback in 1993.
In 2010 she accepted a new challenge, debuting as an actress in an ethnographic musical by Tiago Torres da Silva. A book with the biography of the singer is released.
