With the young age of 25 years old, Tonicha was the Portuguese entry in the 1971 Eurovision Song Contest with the song “Menina”, scoring 83 points and an honourable 9th place out of eighteen countries in competition. Monaco won the contest held in Dublin with Séverine and the song “Un banc, un arbre, une rue”. “Menina” was written by the famous Portuguese poet José Carlos Ary dos Santos and the composer was Nuno Nazareth Fernandes.
The success after Eurovision
Back in Lisbon, after her Eurovision participation, Tonicha was awaited at the airport by a huge crowd of fans. “Menina” had a worldwide success, being recorded in four different languages: “Country girl” in English, “Ragazza della campagna” in Italian, “Bergére” in French and “Niña” in Spanish. The song and her performance in Dublin represented a landmark in Tonicha’s career and was the starting point for the long and successful career she’s had over the past 45 years.
After Dublin 1971, Tonicha began to be a regular presence in several music festivals in different countries and also TV shows all over the world. The main festivals are: 1971- Brasov Festival – Romania (Bronze Medal); 1971 – Split Festival – former Republic of Yugoslavia (1st Performance Prize); 1972 - Athens Olympiads (4th place, 1st Prize of Interpretation); 1972 - 6th Rio de Janeiro Festival - Brazil (Critics Award); 1972 - OTI Festival in Madrid - Spain (5th place).
The national selection again
The singer decided to try again the Portuguese national selection to the Eurovision Song Contest in 1973 with the song “A rapariga e o poeta” (The girl and the poet) by José Niza and maestro José Calvário; again in 1978 she performed four songs. One of the most recognized ans successful song is “Canção da Amizade” (The friendship song) written by poet Joaquim Pessoa and music by Carlos Mendes, former Eurovision participant in 1968 and 1972.
A Portuguese Diva
Between Tonicha’s appearance in the Portuguese musical scene (in 1964 she recorded her first album) and the participation in Eurovision 1971, Tonicha launched a great number of records inspired in the “Cancioneiro Popular Português” (Portuguese Traditional Folk Music). These songs, which go long back in time, were researched and recovered by João Viegas, Tonicha’s husband, who for many years shared a passion for the Portuguese traditional folk music. This turning point happens with the EPs “Modas do Ribatejo” (1969), “Modas do Alentejo”, “Folclore”, “D. Pedro” and “Canta folclore de Portugal” (1970), but also the major best of LPs “Os maiores sucessos de Tonicha volume I and II”, both from 1970.
In the Portuguese Revolution in 1974, Tonicha recorded a number of protest songs that definitely established her as one of the April’s revolutionary singers. The lyrics were written by her long friend Ary dos Santos that signed most of the songs of the historic album “Canções de Abril”, nowadays a collector’s item. “Já chegou a Liberdade” (Freedom has come) and “Cantaremos / Lutaremos” (We’ll sing, we’ll fight) are some of the singles that made history.
In the late 70’s and mid 80’s, Tonicha has become a huge star with many popular hits that make her cross the country from one end to the other and a regular presence in TV shows. Back in 1977 when she released her album “Cantigas duma terra à beira mar” (Songs from a country by the sea), inspired in the folk music, she was considered the best selling Portuguese artist.
In 1980 she recorded a memorable LP, later released in CD in 1996, “Ela por Ela”. Almost thirty years later the songs still remain in the Portuguese collective memory, such as “Canção da Alegria”, “Chamar-te meu amor”, “Canção sem ti” and “Canção da Coragem”.
The comeback
After some years far away from the spotlights, Tonicha released a new album “Regresso” (Return). 1985 is another landmark in Tonicha’s career with the release of the CD “Canções d’Aquém e d’Além Tejo”. She revisits some of her hits of the 60´s and 70´s and remembers other emblematic songs of the Portuguese tradition such as the excellent “Tourada”. Out of stock ever since its release, it is considered by many fans and music critics as one of her best recordings ever, given the extreme care devoted to the production and arrangements.
In 1997 the album “Mulher” (Woman) presents a singer dedicated once more to the great Portuguese poets: Ary dos Santos/Joaquim Pessoa, José Gomes Ferreira, Raul de Carvalho and António Botto. An extreme care is dedicated to the repertoire, the poems, the music and the arrangements. It’s the great love song album of Tonicha, that also offers fans a bonus of three versions of songs from Bryan Adams (“Que mulher é esta”), Di Bari (“Dias de Arco-Íris”) and Schubert (“Avé-Maria”). Throughout her long career many compilations have been released with the numerous selling hits of Tonicha.
Last year Tonicha returned to her hometown, the city of Beja. The city welcomed her with open arms and as gesture of gratitude she gave a completely sold out performance in the the city’s theatre. The crowd surrendered to her hometown singer and the concert had national press coverage.
In 2008 Tonicha returned to the recording of original songs. Following a compilation of some old hits, the 2008 “Cantos da Vida” record includes three new previously unreleased songs. Although respecting the distinctive essence of the singer, the new songs set a new landscape in her sound and interpretation. “Menino/Rapaz” (lyrics and music by famous portuguese composer Jorge Palma), “Fui quem sou” (lyrics by the poet José Fanha and music by former Eurovision Song participant Paulo de Carvalho) and “Alguém” (by the poet Gonçalves Crespo and music by the late maestro José Marinho) are of an unsual and uniqueness quality an perfectly match the mature voice of Tonicha.
This same year an internet blog was created as an homage to her long and sucessfull career in http://tonicha-clube-de-fas.blogspot.com.
Special thanks to Venâncio Gomes.
