Nina Morato

Biography

Stéphanie Morato (born 2 March 1966), known professionally as Nina Morato, is a French singer and songwriter. Morato is best known for representing France in the Eurovision Song Contest 1994 with the song "Je suis un vrai garçon×Je suis un vrai garçon1994 · SingleSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 2 tracks1Je suis un vrai garçon3:002Mon bébé qui dort4:44", where she placed seventh.

Early career

Morato recorded several singles under the names Stéphanie and Stéphanie de Malakoff before the release in 1993 of "Maman×Maman1993 · SingleSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 3 tracks1Maman (Never Nedd No Turning Back)5:182Maman (Clebard mix)6:163Maman (Dolce Vita mix)7:13", her first single under the name Nina Morato. This was followed by an album Je suis la mieux×Je suis la mieux1993 · Studio albumSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 12 tracks1Ebow0:262Winnie m'ennuie3:393Le Bal des parfums4:044Le Paradis0:285Je suis la mieux3:456Tes exs3:547L'Amant d'un soir3:538Mon bébé qui dort4:449Rester sur ma chaise3:5210Maman3:4811Tout de toi3:3512Les Minutes blanches4:14, which was a critical success and won Morato the 1994 Victoires de la Musique prize in the category 'Best New Female Pop Artist of the Year'. Je suis la mieux featured guitarist Matthieu Chedid, who toured with Morato.

Eurovision Song Contest

In 1994, Morato's song "Je suis un vrai garçon×Je suis un vrai garçon1994 · SingleSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 2 tracks1Je suis un vrai garçon3:002Mon bébé qui dort4:44" ("I'm a Real Boy") was chosen as the French entry for the 39th Eurovision Song Contest, held on 30 April in Dublin. Controversy arose over the lyric "Je sais je suis son amour, mais putain, y'a des jours où c'est lourd", roughly translated as "I know I'm his love, but fuck it, there are days which are hard". Concerns were expressed that this contravened Eurovision rules on verbal obscenities, but in the end the line was allowed to stand.
"Je suis un vrai garçon" was a daring and risky song for Eurovision at the time, but had the fortune to be drawn to be performed last of the 25 participating entries. Morato, in an all-black outfit – including leotard, jacket, velvet top hat and high-heeled thigh boots – was joined on stage by Chedid, and delivered a confident performance, which resulted in a seventh-place finish.

Later career

In 1994, Morato appeared in the film La séparation, with Isabelle Huppert and Daniel Auteuil. Her second album, L'allumeuse×L'Allumeuse1996 · Studio albumSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 10 tracks1Moi-même2:392Ni lui ni moi2:263L'Allumeuse2:574Seulement la nuit4:095Paris sans toi2:136La vie la belle3:007La mort en douce4:428Les chiens font pas des chats3:089Le cochon a pleuré3:1310On est pas parfait / Follow Me4:34, was released in 1996, but was less successful. It was followed in 1999 by the darker Moderato, heavily by influenced the personal tragedy of the death of her 11-year-old daughter, born of her relationship with David Christie. Contributors to Moderato included Arthur H and Lokua Kanza and it was widely seen as Morato's best work.
Morato has spent recent years touring and appearing in stage productions such as The Vagina Monologues.