The third artist to feature in our Who Is series for the Eurovision Song Contest 2021 is Barbara Pravi from France.
Barbara Piévic, better known by her stage name Barbara Pravi, was born on April 10 1993 in Paris. She is of Serbian and Iranian descent. Her stage name comes from the Serbian word “prava” (authentic) as a tribute to her Serbian grandfather.
Barbara began her music career in 2014 after meeting Jules Jaconelli. She was signed to Capitol Music France in 2015. In January 2016, she performed “On m’appelle Heidi” (They call me Heidi), the theme song of the French dub of the Swiss-German film Heidi. In November 2016, she was cast as Solange Duhmale in the French stage musical Un été 44 (One summer in 44).
In 2017, Barbara released her first single “Pas grandir” (Don’t grow up). Later that year, Pravi starred in the television film La Sainte famille, which was later broadcast on France 2 in December 2019. From 2017 until 2018, Pravi performed on the 55 Tour, supporting Florent Pagny. At the end of 2018, after releasing her self-titled debut EP, she decided to alter her musical style by adopting a more traditional French chanson style, rather than the pop music of her early releases. In February 2020, she released her second EP “Reviens de l’hiver” (Come back from winter).
Along with writing and composing her own songs, Pravi has written for several other artists including Yannick Noah, Julie Zenatti, Chimène Badi, and Jaden Smith. She is also involved in women’s rights organisations, particularly those fighting against violence against women as she is a survivor of domestic violence. She was invited to speak at a TEDx event at Emlyon Business School in Lyon, where she talked about her career and gaining self-confidence.
Prior to being selected for Eurovision, Barbara had been involved in Junior Eurovision. In 2019, she composed “Bim bam toi” for Carla, which finished fifth at Junior Eurovision 2019. Last year, she also composed “J’imagine” for Valentina, which went on to give France their first ever victory at the contest.
Barbara was selected to represent France at the Eurovision Song Contest 2021 with “Voilà” after winning Eurovision France, c’est vous qui décidez, where she topped both the jury and public vote. Barbara wrote and composed the song herself along side Igit and Lili Poe. Igit previously attempted to represent France at Eurovision 2018 with “Lisboa – Jérusalem” and was involved in composing both “Bim bam toi” and “J’imagine”.
Barbara will perform in the Grand Final of the Eurovision Song Contest 2021 on May 22.
Image Source: Baz’Art
