She could have been a dancer, had the dance school not thought that, at fourteen years of age, she was too old to start a great career. She could have been just a pretty voice in commercials, if someone had not discovered very early on that her voice did a greater service to music than it did to advertising.
Dulce Pontes, born in Montijo, Portugal in 1969, could have never gone further than a career within and on the scale of this small country in the extreme west of Europe. In 1991 she won the Portuguese National Song Festival and in the same year, representing Portugal at the Eurovision Song Contest, she achieved 8th place out of 22 contestants, and the prize for the best singer, with the song “Lusitana Paixao”. This was the first time that Europe heard Dulce Pontes sing, and from that moment onwards, her voice no longer belonged to the Sunday afternoon television programs, where she sang 60s and 70 music in English.
It was from that moment onwards that her life turned around. Dulce Pontes abandoned her repertoire of rock ballads and set off in search of her own identity and repertoire. She immersed herself in the roots of Portuguese popular music, including the traditional fado. She was quickly seen by some to be the successor of the mythical Amalia Rodrigues – the soul of Portuguese fado, and of whom Dulce confesses herself to be a great admirer. But this classification would prove to be limited: as later years and records would reveal, what she was doing was much more than just reinterpreting what had already been done. Her brilliant voice cannot be categorized within any style that limits her, it knows no national boundaries that can stop her. Her voice and singing is unique and unmistakable, whether she is singing rock, fado, or a song from Angola.
In 1992 she released her first album, “Lusitana”, and from the following year – when she released her second album “Lagrimas” – onwards, Dulce Pontes became a citizen of the world. Spain, France, Belgium, Holland, Germany, Italy, the United States, Japan, Brazil, Dulce Pontes was everywhere, singing in a strange language on the stage, and achieving the miracle of demonstrating that great music is a universal language. She sang in the ”yes for Europe” televised concert, in the World Food Day concert organized by the FAO in Rome, in the United Nations 52nd Anniversary Concert in 1997, in Madrid.
The Album “Lagrimas” became one of the best-selling records of all times in Portugal, and one of its tracks “A cancon do mar”, originally sung by Amalia Rodrigues, reached Hollywood in the film “Primal Fear”, which starred Richard Gere, and whose producer, Gregory Hoblit, included the track four times in the soundtrack of the movie. She also recorded “A Brisa do Coracao” (1995) with Ennio Morricone.
This was followed by a double album recorded live, “Caminhos”, in 1996, and “O Primeiro Canto”. There are also a series of experiments singing duets, where she joined her voice to singers such as Andrea Bocelli, or Brazilians Simone and Caetano Veloso, and piper Carlos Núñez from neighboring Galicia (Spain). During those years, her life revolved around touring, concert to concert, city to city, around the whole world. “Concerts are the most happy and intense moments of my life…It is the sensation of having a gift, I have a reason for living my life.”
“I am more interested in the feeling than in the technique,” Dulcer said about her singing style.
In 2003, Dulce released Focus, a collaboration with Italian composer Ennio Morricone.
A live double album titled O Coração Tem Três Portas (The Heart Has Three Doors) was released in 2006. It was recorded live without an audience at the Convent of the Order of Christ in Tomar and St. Mary Church in Óbidos.
In 2009, she released Momentos, a double disc anthology that included previously unreleased tracks as well as some of her most memorable duos with artists such as José Carreras and George Dalaras,.
Discography:
Lusitana (Edisom, 1992)
Lágrimas (Movieplay, 1993)
A Brisa Do Coração (Movieplay, 1995)
Caminhos (Movieplay, 1996)
O Primeiro Canto (Polydor, 1999)
Focus (Universal, 2003)
O Coração Tem Três Portas (Zona Música, 2006)
Momentos (Farol, 2009)
Peregrinação (Ondeia, 2017)
Author: Angel Romero
Angel Romero y Ruiz has dedicated his life to musical exploration. His efforts included the creation of two online portals, worldmusiccentral.org and musicasdelmundo.com. In addition, Angel is the co-founder of the Transglobal World Music Chart, a panel of world music DJs and writers that celebrates global sounds. Furthermore, he delved into the record business, producing world music studio albums and compilations. His works have appeared on Alula Records, Ellipsis Arts, Indígena Records and Music of the World.