Anitta

Brazilian singer Anitta has captivated with her music in Portuguese, Spanish and English. Her career began in 2013 and includes a diverse array of collaborations with artists such as Andrea Bocelli, Snoop Dogg, Maluma and J Balvin. While one of her marquis hits “Show das Poderosas”, with over 143 million views on YouTube, brought her to the forefront of the Brazilian music scene, she was first introduced to the rest of the world on a global stage with her performance at the 2016 Summer Olympics Opening Ceremony in Rio de Janeiro.

Born Larissa de Macedo Machado on March 30, 1993, and brought up in the impoverished neighborhood of Honório Gurgel in Rio de Janeiro, she began singing in church as a child and learned to dance before getting into baile funk as a teenager. She took her stage name from the central character in the TV miniseries Presença de Anita (Anita's Presence), based on the 1948 proto-Lolita novel by Mário Donato. When she was 17, one of her YouTube videos was discovered by funk Svengali and super-producer DJ Batutinha, who invited her to audition for him and subsequently signed her to his label, releasing her first single, "Eu Vou Ficar" (I'll Stay).

Anitta's debut single for Warner Music, "Show das Poderosas" (Powerful Girls' Show), became Brazil's most-watched YouTube video ever and that year's number three song on Brazilian radio. The albums Ritmo Perfeito (Perfect Rhythm) and Bang followed in swift succession, the latter going to number three in the album chart and selling over 300,000 copies. Anitta's first step toward an international career came in 2016, when she was selected to perform at the opening ceremony of the Olympic Games in her home city. In 2017, she recorded in English for the first time when she was featured on rapper Iggy Azalea's "Switch" single. Her continued success on the charts lead to her fourth album, Kisses, released in 2019, receiving a Latin Grammy Award for Best Urban Music Album. Annita's influence continues to be recognized. She was elected by the Associação Paulista de Críticos de Arte (APCA) as the revelation of the year in music in 2013. She is a five-time winner of the Best Brazilian Act on the MTV Europe Music Awards, and was the first Brazilian artist to win the Best Latin American Act award. In 2017, she was ranked as one of the most influential celebrities in social media according to Billboard. The singer also participated in four episodes of the telenovela "Amor de Mãe" on Rede Globo, playing Sabrina, a fan of the character Ryan (Thiago Martins), who ends up getting involved with him.