Nia (singer)

Born to a Bissau-Guinean father and a Canarian mother,^[3] Nia has worked as a singer in the musical El Rey León and has worked in Ibiza as an animator in a show. She has also sung in the Choir of the Gran Canaria Philharmonic Orchestra.

During Operación Triunfo, Nia stood out for her quality and voice, which is why she did not get nominated to be eliminated. In addition, she was the first finalist and winner of the eleventh series. Her performances stood out for rhythm and movement, with intricate choreography very well executed.^[1] During the contest, NIA released her first single, Ocho Maravillas (Eight Wonders).^[4]

In July 2021, Nia released her first EP, titled Cuídate (Take Care). The introductory single was the song Malayerba.^[5] Later that Autumn, it was announced that she would participate in the 9th season of the contest Tu cara me suena, by Antena 3.^[2] She went on to finish runner-up the series after picking up 26% of the vote following her grand final imitation of Whitney Houston singing "I Will Always Love You".^[6] In May, Nia opened the gala of the 9th Platino Awards.^[7]

On 15 February 2023, Nia participated in the Carnival of Santa Cruz de Tenerife, in the Queen Election selection. On 6 July, Rolling Stone magazine named Nia as one of the "artists you should know."^[8] On 6 October, she released her debut album entitled PaloSanto. Ten days later, it was announced that PaloSanto had been the thirteenth best-selling album of the week in Spain.^[9] On 28 November, she performed at Gala 1 of Operación Triunfo 2023 as a guest, performing her singles "Caminito de Lamento" and "Brujería".

Apart from being a singer, Nia has ventured into television presenting and has established herself as a businesswoman through several endorsement deals and lucrative contracts. At the end of 2022, Nia became a businesswoman by opening a restaurant in the center of Madrid called Delito.^[10]

In December 2022, Televisión Española (TVE) announced that Nia would present the New Year's Eve 2022-2023 chimes live for all of Spain from Gáldar accompanied by Roberto Herrera, presenter of TVE in the Canary Islands.^[11] This broadcast was carried out from the Plaza de Santiago of the city. The chimes were followed by 3,581,000 viewers with a screen share of 27.5%.^[12]

Nia presented the Dial 2023 Awards with Edurne and Carmen Ramírez on the island of Tenerife.^[13] On 5 December 2023, TVE announced that Nia would present the 2023-2024 New Year's Eve chimes live for the second consecutive year throughout Spain, once again accompanied by Roberto Herrera.^[14] During the broadcast of the chimes, they made a mistake, making that the audience began to eat the grapes belatedly. The chimes were followed by an audience of 3,253,000 and 27.5% throughout Spain.^[15]

Nia had her first contact with acting in 2022, when she starred in the Netflix series Once Upon a Time... Happily Never After playing Ana and Juana. The series directed by Manolo Caro also had a cast which included Sebastián Yatra, Asier Etxeandia, Mariana Treviño, Mariola Fuentes and Rossy de Palma among others.^[16]

Nia credits Marc Anthony as her greatest musical influence and idol, and on numerous occasions, she has said that this would be the artist she would love to collaborate with. She also mentions Celia Cruz as another of her great musical influences, which includes, among others, Alain Pérez, Gloria Estefan and Nathy Peluso.^[17]

• 2020: Sus canciones (Operación Triunfo 2020)
• 2023: PaloSanto

• 2021: Cuídate

• Nia at IMDb