Ambra

Ambra (Angiolini) is a superstar in her native country of Italy. Although only 22 years old, Ambra has been a television star and recording artist for the past seven years. In 1994, she received a prestigious Telegatto award (Italy's equivalent to an Emmy) as New Personality of the Year. Her albums have consistently sold more than one million copies and her tours have all been sold out. Re-recorded in Spanish, Ambra's albums have also been major hits in Spain and Latin America. Ambra's rise to fame began at the age of 15, when her dance teacher encouraged her to audition for a role in the Italian television show Non e'La Rai in 1992. The following year, she became a national phenomenon when she was chosen as the star of the show's Gioco Dello Zainetto (Play of the Rucksack). During the final year of the show, 1994 to 1995, she hosted a talk show segment aimed at the younger members of her audience. Although her debut album, T'appartengo released in 1994, sold more than 370,000 copies in Italy and became her first album translated into Spanish, Ambra continued to be seen on Italian television. A TV film, Favola, in which she starred, was seen by more than six million viewers. In October 1995, Ambra became the star of a series, Generazione X, that reflected on the lives and problems of Italy's teenagers. In February 1996, Ambra hosted a highly rated special Dopo Festival (After the Festival), during which she spoke with artists who had performed during the Sanremo Festival. Touring Italy in 1996, Ambra danced and sang with accompaniment from Band X. The high point of the tour came when one of her concerts was broadcast nationally by Italian Radio 105. At the same time that she released her second album, Ambra's debut album reached the top of the music charts in South America. A tour of South America was capped by an appearance at the Vina del Mar festival in Santiago, Chile, in February 1997. With her third album, Ritmo Vitale, released in 1997, Ambra displayed her talents as a songwriter, composing eight tunes. Ambra, who lives in Montemario, Rome, with her parents, was also in the TV films Super and Non Dimenticate Lo Spazzolini Da Denti. ~ Craig Harris