Armando Gama
Encyclopedia
Armando António Capelo Diniz da Gama (born April 1, 1954 in Luanda
, Angola
) is a Portuguese
singer-songwriter
and baritone
opera singer, whose physical trademark for decades has been his shoulder-length jet black hair.
Gama grew up in a colonial family in Angola and lived there until the age of 17. Upon moving to Portugal in 1971, he scored the first of many #1 hits on the Portuguese music charts. He is well-versed in performing piano
and solfège
, having studied them at the Portuguese music conservatory in Luanda.
In his four-decade music career, he has sold over five million records in Portugal alone. He became well-known internationally performing at the Eurovision Song Contest 1983
, singing the song "Esta balada que te dou
," ranking 13th out of 20 countries.
Gama is still performing today, now presenting a live show called "Armando Gama: The Fifth Beatle," in which he performs cover versions of well-known Beatles
songs.
Luanda
Luanda, formerly named São Paulo da Assunção de Loanda, is the capital and largest city of Angola. Located on Angola's coast with the Atlantic Ocean, Luanda is both Angola's chief seaport and its administrative center. It has a population of at least 5 million...
, Angola
Angola
Angola, officially the Republic of Angola , is a country in south-central Africa bordered by Namibia on the south, the Democratic Republic of the Congo on the north, and Zambia on the east; its west coast is on the Atlantic Ocean with Luanda as its capital city...
) is a Portuguese
Portuguese people
The Portuguese are a nation and ethnic group native to the country of Portugal, in the west of the Iberian peninsula of south-west Europe. Their language is Portuguese, and Roman Catholicism is the predominant religion....
singer-songwriter
Singer-songwriter
Singer-songwriters are musicians who write, compose and sing their own musical material including lyrics and melodies. As opposed to contemporary popular music singers who write their own songs, the term singer-songwriter describes a distinct form of artistry, closely associated with the...
and baritone
Baritone
Baritone is a type of male singing voice that lies between the bass and tenor voices. It is the most common male voice. Originally from the Greek , meaning deep sounding, music for this voice is typically written in the range from the second F below middle C to the F above middle C Baritone (or...
opera singer, whose physical trademark for decades has been his shoulder-length jet black hair.
Gama grew up in a colonial family in Angola and lived there until the age of 17. Upon moving to Portugal in 1971, he scored the first of many #1 hits on the Portuguese music charts. He is well-versed in performing piano
Piano
The piano is a musical instrument played by means of a keyboard. It is one of the most popular instruments in the world. Widely used in classical and jazz music for solo performances, ensemble use, chamber music and accompaniment, the piano is also very popular as an aid to composing and rehearsal...
and solfège
Solfege
In music, solfège is a pedagogical solmization technique for the teaching of sight-singing in which each note of the score is sung to a special syllable, called a solfège syllable...
, having studied them at the Portuguese music conservatory in Luanda.
In his four-decade music career, he has sold over five million records in Portugal alone. He became well-known internationally performing at the Eurovision Song Contest 1983
Eurovision Song Contest 1983
The Eurovision Song Contest 1983, the 28th in the series, was held in Munich, then West Germany, on 23 April 1983. The presenter was Marlene Charell. Corinne Hermes was the winner of this Eurovision with the song, "Si la vie est cadeau". This was Luxembourg's fifth victory in the contest which...
, singing the song "Esta balada que te dou
Esta Balada Que Te Dou
"Esta balada que te dou" was the Portuguese entry in the Eurovision Song Contest 1983, performed in Portuguese by Armando Gama.The song, as the title suggests, is a piano-driven ballad...
," ranking 13th out of 20 countries.
Gama is still performing today, now presenting a live show called "Armando Gama: The Fifth Beatle," in which he performs cover versions of well-known Beatles
The Beatles
The Beatles were an English rock band, active throughout the 1960s and one of the most commercially successful and critically acclaimed acts in the history of popular music. Formed in Liverpool, by 1962 the group consisted of John Lennon , Paul McCartney , George Harrison and Ringo Starr...
songs.