Deborah Blando

Deborah Blando achieved international recognition through the track “Boy -- Why Do You Wanna Make Me Blue,” while “Nanita” and “Que Mala Vida” brought her success across European markets. In Brazil she earned a gold record for the 1996 album Unicamente. From early childhood she showed a strong inclination toward singing. After her family relocated to Florianópolis in Santa Catarina when she was five, she joined local children’s choirs. At eleven she served as soloist for the As Meninas do Sul ensemble and also presented solo performances of Italian hits. Under the pseudonym Giovanna she cut her debut album. In the early 1980s Oswaldo Montenegro invited her to appear in the stage production Os Menestréis, and she later contributed to his 1983 release Dança dos Signos. During Cyndi Lauper’s 1989 Brazilian tour Blando met the singer, after which Lauper’s manager David Wolff arranged for her to record for American Sony. Two years afterward she issued A Different Story, whose single “Boy -- Why Do You Wanna Make Me Blue” was licensed for Diet Coke campaigns broadcast worldwide. In 1994 she handled promotions for Brazilian Coca-Cola and delivered a new version of Tim Maia’s “O Descobridor dos Sete Mares.” The 1995 album Suave Suave featured contributions from B-Tribe and propelled “Nanita” and “Que Mala Vida” onto European dance floors. With the release of Unicamente in 1996 she secured gold status in Brazil. Two years later “Somente o Sol,” her adaptation of “I’m Not in Love,” became a hit and served as the opening theme for TV Globo’s soap opera Corpo Dourado.