Ainhoa Cantalapiedra

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Ainhoa Cantalapiedra is a popular Basque singer/songwriter Ainhoa (born 1980 in Galdakao, Biscay).

In 2002, she became a contestant in the second series of Spanish Fame Academy, Operación Triunfo. Within a week, she ended up in line for eviction, but managed to survive against Mai Meneses, who is now one of Europe's leading singers in the group Nena Daconte. Ainhoa came up for eviction 8 more times while being on the show, which is currently the record for any reality TV show in the world. As the public obviously loved her (as they kept her in), she ended up winning the show, as well as receiving 1 million Euros and a record deal with Vale Music.

In 2003, Ainhoa released her debut album, Escencia Natural (Natural Essence). It was produced by Emilio Estefan, and wasn't very successful in Spain, selling 15,000 copies (although 4 million voted for her to win Operación Triunfo). The first single was Acéptame Así, the second was El Amor Me Está Llamando (a version of LeAnn Rimes's Love Must Be Telling Me Something), and the third was Decídete. Also in this year, Ainhoa recorded the theme tune for the Spanish animation series 'Glup', noticeably in both Spanish and her native Basque.

A year later, Ainhoa released her second album, Mi Tiempo Roto. Her image became a lot more rock (compared to Avril Lavigne), and wasn't well appreciated by fans. It only had one single (Seguiré Estando Yo), which received limited radio play.

In 2005, Ainhoa has stayed out of the public view. However, in July 2006, Ainhoa sang I Can't Help Falling In Love With You live with Soraya Arnelas on a Operación Triunfo special (this duet was originally recorded by Ainhoa and Marey on the 2003 album Fuerza de la Vida). On this same show, Ainhoa revealed that she was going to be releasing a brand new album in 2007.