Gracia Baur

Biography

Gracia Arabella Baur (born 18 November 1982), sometimes known mononymously as Gracia, is a German singer and songwriter. She rose to fame as a finalist on the debut season of the television series Deutschland sucht den Superstar, the German Idol series adaptation, placing fifth.

Biography

Gracia was born in Munich on 18 November 1982 to Roman and Rosemary Baur and was named after Princess Grace (Gracia Patricia) of Monaco, who had died a few weeks earlier. Gracia's identical twin sister was called Patricia after the princess.
During her teenage years, she took vocal lessons to strengthen her voice. To fulfill her dreams of a career as a professional singer, she started recording demos and passed several auditions. In 2000, she even made it through the first round of Popstars, but was forced out when she forgot the words of her song.
In 2002/2003, she took part in Deutschland sucht den Superstar, the German version of Pop Idol, and eventually reached fifth place. Pushed by the publicity she released her first album Intoxicated×Intoxicated13 October 2003 · Studio albumSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 12 tracks1Intoxicated3:422I Don't Think So!2:553One Man to the Left3:244Superman3:245I Believe in Miracles3:166Cry the Blues3:467Right by Your Side3:318Send Me an Angel3:359Will You Be My Friend4:0010Back Into My Life4:0111When the Love Is Gone3:4912Don't Turn Your Back on Me4:02, which peaked at #10 on the German album charts and spawned the hit singles "I Don't Think So" and "I Believe In Miracles×I Believe in Miracles2003 · SingleSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 5 tracks1I Believe in Miracles (original mix)3:182I Believe in Miracles (Time Tools radio mix)3:203I Believe in Miracles (extended version)4:334I Believe in Miracles (instrumental)3:165I Believe in Miracles (Making of video)". Afterwards, she teamed up with fellow DSDS runners-up Daniel Küblböck, Nektarios Bamiatzis, and Stephanie Brauckmeyer, releasing the charity single "Don't Close Your Eyes" under the name 4 United.
Gracia was selected to represent Germany in the Eurovision Song Contest 2005 with the song "Run & Hide×Run & Hide31 January 2005 · SingleSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 3 tracks1Run & Hide (Radio Edit)3:592Run & Hide (Extended Version)9:183Run & Hide (Unplugged Version)3:45", produced and composed by David Brandes. After the German national pre-selection for the Eurovision Song Contest it was revealed that Brandes had bought thousands of his own CDs to ensure chart placement, a requirement of the pre-selection (the single had actually hit the top 30 on the German charts). In contrast to the Swiss entry Vanilla Ninja, who had also had their entry produced by Brandes, Gracia opted to continue her association with the newly controversial figure.
However, "Run & Hide", a modern pop-rock song with heavy use of synthesizers, failed to catch the audience's imagination in the Eurovision Song Contest and ignominiously placed last (24th), with just four points, two each from Moldova and Monaco (who both used jury rather than televoting). Gracia, however, was not deterred ("Well, somebody has to finish last" was her laconic comment after the show), and went on with her second solo album Passion×Passion14 November 2005 · Studio albumSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 12 tracks1Passion4:112Never Been3:413When The Last Tear's Been Dried4:094Sacrifice Me3:465Wish You Were Here4:116Run & Hide3:597Charlene3:548Time To Take Off3:149The Last Goodbye3:2810Pray3:3011Don't Close Your Eyes3:4012The Man With The Scissors3:48, released in November 2005.
In 2004, she recorded Götter der Ewigkeit, part of the German soundtrack of the Walt Disney Feature Animation Brother Bear.
In December 2006, Gracia released the Song "Cos I believe" together with Marvin Broadie under the name "Xantoo". It charted at #39.