Soraya Arnelas, the 2009 Spanish Eurovision representative has looked back on her career in an interview in which she has revealed every step and phase of her life and musical career.
The Spanish representative in the 2009 Eurovision Song Contest Soraya Arnelas reviewed her music career in an interview to the Spanish news portal vanitatis.com; from the very beginning when she was a child to her most recent leap forward, the singer recalled and analyzed a number of phases and milestones in her walk of life.
Music entered her life when she was a girl. Her father switched on the music player at home so she could listen to it. We did not have TV at home, but a music player. My father did not know anything about music, but he had me listen to it, Soraya explained.
She worked for some time as a flight attendant, before entering the talent show Operación Triunfo, her springboard to fame. Many viewers had the impression that she was a candid young woman. But, at least right now, that is not the case, as Soraya describes herself as stubborn and with a strong character. I have the nature of a leader, she added.
And as a leader, a few months ago she left the record label Sony and founded her own one, Valentia Records. It is under this label that her last work, Universe in me, was released. Soraya is satisfied with her decision: No one cares better for your product than yourself. There is a transparency about the sales and the numbers that there is not in a record label. Besides, working independently has permitted her to do electronic ballads, such as El huracán. They are my thing, she said.
Soraya believes that Universe in me has been a release and a test she has put herself to. And she knows a lot about tests. It was at this point in the interview that some or the sourest moments in her career came up: the vocal mistake poyeya, which became the motive for plenty of jokes in Spain after Soraya mispronounced por ella once during a performance of Andrea Bocelli´s song Vivo por ella, and her 24th position in the 2009 Eurovision Song Contest. But all of that is just water under the bridge. As she said to her interviewer, I am thankful for the good things and the bad things. When I get back home I don’t care if I have been called ‘poyeya’. What matters to me is that I’ve made the best record in my career.
Soraya had a moment for tender memories too as she recounted her experience in Peru in 2006 when she cooperated with the non-governmental organization Global Humanitaria. I’m very moved by children. We dressed them and we even watched the construction of schools for them during that trip. The parents of kids cried when we fed them.
When asked about her status as a gay diva, her reply transpires her admiration for her fans: I have no grey-shaded fans; my followers are not a sheepfold. They are a few, but loyal and with their own personality.
Clearly Soraya has come a long way since she started listening to music. She has learned the tough way. And from her words you can tell that criticism does not daunt her, but makes her stronger.
Soraya Arnelas represented Spain in Moscow, Russia at the 2009 Eurovision Song Contest with the entry La noche es para mi.
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