Manuel Carrasco

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Manuel Carrasco (born January 15, 1981) is a Spanish singer who was born in Isla Cristina, Province of Huelva (Andalucía), Spain.

He was one of the three finalists of the TV program Operación Triunfo where he won fame and record many CDs with the other participants of the reality show.

His debut album called "Quiéreme" had the hit single "Que corra el aire" and sold more than 200.000 records.

[edit] Biography

Manuel Carrasco was born on January 15, 1981 in Isla Cristina, a marine town of Huelva (Spain). Son of Jose Carrasco and Maria Galloso, he is the fourth of five siblings. He has always been very close to his family. From a very young age, he decided to work as a painter with his brothers, while he rehearsed and performed with a carnival group from his town. He joined the group when he was 13 and was already directing it at age 16. During one of the group’s performance in a theater, the power went out. The public of 900 people protested by the failure and while some thought of canceling the show, Manuel took his guitar and was joined by the rest of the group, who successfully completed the performance without microphones.

When 21 years old, he decided to try the castings for the famous reality show “Operacion Triunfo” in Spain (2nd edition). He went to Seville for the castings, but could not make it because he forgot his ID. Far from giving up, he went back to Isla Cristina to get his documents, and went to Valencia, where he passed the first phase of the castings. From there, he went to Seville, where he passed the second phase and lastly to Barcelona for the final phase. One by one, he passed all the tests until he made it to the Academy. From the first moment, he was one of the public’s favorites, as well as one of the most valued students by the professors and very liked by his colleagues. Manuel dedicated many hours to work, giving 100% in every class and every rehearsal. He used his free time to compose his own songs. Always with his guitar, he captivated us every week with his performance. Not many artists have been able to transmit so much on stage, and many are not capable of adjusting the song to their style, making it sound like their own song. Thus he became a winner chosen by the judges who gave him the highest score, and finally, the second winner of “Operacion Triunfo 2” chosen by the public.

As soon as he left the Academy, he recorded his first album “Quiéreme” in one month. The album was produced by Miguel A. Arenas "Capi" and included four songs written by Manuel. He sold 300,000 copies of his first album. He mixed his album’s promotion with the concert tour of “Operation Triunfo 2”, with his other colleagues. He also toured with “Generación OT”, which included singers from OT1 and OT2. When he was done with “Generación OT”, he began his own concert tour, where he reached a larger number of audience, thanks to his live performances on stage. Later, he went on another tour with his colleagues Beth and Danni Ubeda, to continue with the tour “Andalucía Joven”, sharing the stage with Andy y Lucas and Junior. He ended his tour with 2 spectacular concerts on “Palacio de Congresos” of Madrid on December 12 and “Palau de la Música” of Barcelona on December 13, 2003.

While he was preparing and recording his second album, he was offered the chance to participate in the contest festival “II Festival Mundial de Canción” in Puerto Rico. For this event, he composed the song “Dibujar tu olvido”, which gave him the first place in this important Latin American festival where he competed with 22 other singers from different countries. During his stay in Puerto Rico, he earned the respect and admiration of the public as well as from the rest of the participants, who without a doubt were satisfied with his victory.

Meanwhile, a third edition of “Operacion Triunfo” was on TV, and Manuel was invited to share his experience and to perform his song “Quiéreme” with the participants from OT3. According to their opinion, it was one of the best performances they had out of all the invited artists to OT3. One of the winners from the third edition, Ramón, confessed that he admired Manuel Carrasco, and asked Manuel to give him a song for his new album. Manuel wrote the song "¿Y ahora que hacemos?" and gave it to Ramon, who was very touched by it and asked Manuel to sing it with him as a duet. Ramón represented Spain in the “Eurovision Festival 2004”.

Shortly after, he visited Venezuela for promotion, where he was received by a large crowd. During his short stay, Manuel gave many interviews to radios and TV. He also did some live performances to the press and to the fans. He was able to see that his talent and charisma conquered a large number of audiences even outside of Spain.

In October 2004, his second album "Manuel Carrasco" was released. This was produced by Jordi Armengol, Jordi Cristau and Manuel himself. All of the 13 songs were composed by Manuel (lyric and music). After several months of album promotion, Manuel began his concert tour on February 11 in “Sala Galileo Galilei” of Madrid, and continued to “Sala Bikini” of Barcelona the following day. It was sold out in both places, and they even had to extend the theater to the annexing rooms. This tour continued to a total of 79 concerts throughout Spain, including Ceuta, Baleares and the Canary Islands. In some of these places, the concert of Manuel Carrasco would be remembered not only by the quality of the show, but also by the massive audience congregated, in spite of it being held during the week. For example: Figueres (8,000 people), Palencia (12.000 people), Oviedo (10.000 people), Huelva (20.000 people), Albacete (12.000 people), Móstoles (25.000 people). During this tour, Manuel was accompanied on stage by great musicians such as Jordi Armengol (electric guitar and artistic direction), Jordi Cristau (keyboards), Jordi Portaz (bass), Eduardo Cortés (Spanish guitar), Carlos Martín (percussion) and David Simó (drums), as well as great background technicians who Manuel never forgets to acknowledge at his concerts.

Well-known artistic professionals have said that Manuel Carrasco “is writing with golden letters in the music pages of Spain". They've also said that he is "an artist who has come to stay and will have a long career"; "lyrics that touch the soul and will stay there forever”; “he composes better than many famous composers".

Manuel Carrasco released his third album, "Tercera Parada," on September 5th. His first single off of the album, titled "Y Ahora," has been received with critical acclaim.