David Civera

Singer David Civera has become one of the big celebrities in the Spanish mainstream pop panorama with his fresh and direct songs and timely summer hits. Born in Teruel in 1979, Civera took his first steps in music, studying guitar and piano since his early childhood. He was nine years old when he first went on-stage. At age 17, after a brief stint as a computing undergraduate, he participated in the TV contest Lluvia de Estrellas, performing Enrique Iglesias' "Es una Experiencia Religiosa." Despite not winning, the contest opened the door for a television career, and Civera participated in music-related programs like Canciones de Nuestra Vida and Un Siglo de Canciones. At that time, Civera released his self-produced debut, Hoy Como Ayer, an album of romantic ballads that went largerly unnoticed. It was then that producer Alejandro Abad discovered the still-amateur singer and embarked him on the recording of a demo entitled "Dile Que la Quiero," which represented Spain in the Eurovision festival in Copenhaguen, reaching the sixth position. The European contest was a turning point in Civera's career, and he recorded a full-length album also titled Dile Que la Quiero, which became a huge success on the charts. In 2002, the singer released En Cuerpo y Alma, a collection of upbeat, carefree tunes, including the hit "Que la Detengan," which contributed to the album becoming a platinum record. A year later, La Chiqui Big Band was recorded between Barcelona and Milan. It featured the successful first single "Bye Bye," and "Rosa y Espinas," Civera's collaboration with David Bisbal. For Perdóname (2005), the singer drifted away from teenager-oriented formulas toward a more mature style, and packaged a set of tunes highly influenced by Argentine tango, filtered through his commercial pop sensibility. 2006 saw the release of Civera's fifth album, Ni el Primero, Ni el Último, combining his trademark mid-tempos, emotional ballads, and some novelties like the pseudo-ranchera "El Orgullo y la Visa," inspired by the singer's visit to Mexico. Parallel to his formal recording career, Civera participated in the soundtrack for El Libro de la Selva 2 with the song "Quiero Ser Como Tú," and continued to appear regularly in several TV shows and series. In 2007, Civera put out "No Bastará," an album drawing from Italian pop and leaning more toward an acoustic and intimist sound. ~ Efrén del Valle Peñamil, Rovi