Marija Naumova-Bullīta (born 23 June 1973), known professionally as Marija Naumova, is a Latvian singer. Under the stage name Marie N, she sings a broad range of music ranging from pop to

musical theatre Musical theatre is a form of theatre, theatrical performance that combines songs, spoken dialogue, acting and dance. The story and emotional content of a musical – humor, pathos, love, anger – are communicated through words, music, ...

and

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana, in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Its roots are in blues, ragtime, European harmony, African rhythmic rituals, spirituals, h ...

, and has recorded several albums, with songs in Latvian, French, English, Russian and Portuguese. In 2002, she won the

Eurovision Song Contest The Eurovision Song Contest (), often known simply as Eurovision, is an international Music competition, song competition organised annually by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) among its members since 1956. Each participating broadcaster ...

for Latvia with her song " I Wanna".

Biography

Naumova was discovered by famous Latvian musician

Raimonds Pauls Ojārs Raimonds Pauls (born 12 January 1936) is a Latvian composer and a pianist who is well known in the Baltic countries and Eastern Europe. He was the Minister of Culture of Latvia from 1988 to 1993. His songs were performed by such popular si ...

in 1994 and after a year she performed on TV in searches for talent. She never won, but was noticed by the audience. In 1998, she performed in a concert celebrating the 100 years jubilee of

George Gershwin George Gershwin (; born Jacob Gershwine; September 26, 1898 – July 11, 1937) was an American composer and pianist whose compositions spanned jazz, popular music, popular and classical music. Among his best-known works are the songs "Swan ...

. In March 1998 she performed on stage in concerts with famous Latvian musicians, and one of those concerts was recorded on CD. That gave her career a boost and she began to participate in several music events, television and radio shows, and give interviews for Latvian newspapers. Naumova's first solo album, which was completely in Russian, was released in 1999. In 2000 Latvia participated in the Eurovision Song Contest for the first time. Naumova was in the national finals but came second behind Brainstorm. In 2001, she again participated in the Latvian preselection, singing "Hey Boy Follow Me", which was voted public favourite but was not chosen by the expert jury. Naumova had to wait another year before she was finally chosen to represent Latvia with "I Wanna", for which she also wrote the music and co-wrote the lyrics. In the

Eurovision Song Contest 2002 The Eurovision Song Contest 2002 was the 47th edition of the Eurovision Song Contest. It took place in Tallinn, Estonia, following the country's victory at the with the song Everybody (Tanel Padar and Dave Benton song), "Everybody" by Tanel Pada ...

, her performance of "I Wanna" won the competition and gave Latvia its first (and only) ever Eurovision win. According to author and historian John Kennedy O'Connor in his book ''The Eurovision Song Contest – The Official History'', despite its success at the contest, "I Wanna" gained the dubious distinction of being the first Eurovision winner that was not released outside of its own territory. Even in Latvia, the single never reached the top 30. In November of her victory year she recorded two new solo albums: one in English, and one in Latvian. She presented the albums to the audience with a tour throughout Latvia. Naumova co-hosted the

Eurovision Song Contest 2003 The Eurovision Song Contest 2003 was the 48th edition of the Eurovision Song Contest. It took place in Riga, Latvia, following the country's victory at the with the song " I Wanna" by Marie N. Organised by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) ...

along with Renars Kaupers of the Latvian band Brainstorm, who came 3rd in the contest in 2000. In 2004, Naumova successfully combined her singing and acting talents in the lead role of ''

The Sound of Music ''The Sound of Music'' is a musical with music by Richard Rodgers, lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II, and a book by Howard Lindsay and Russel Crouse. It is based on the 1949 memoir of Maria von Trapp, '' The Story of the Trapp Family Singers''. ...

''. In December, Marie N's latest album "On My Own" was released, with songs in Latvian, French, English and Portuguese. New compositions for Marie N are composed by Sergey Manoukyan, Ivar Must and Andrejs Jevsjukovs. Marie N has written several songs herself, as well. There are cover versions of several world-famous songs in the album – for example, two compositions which were originally written in French, but became very popular in English language. Naumova has a law degree from the

University of Latvia University of Latvia (, shortened ''LU'') is a public research university located in Riga, Latvia. The university was established in 1919. History The University of Latvia, initially named as the Higher School of Latvia () was founded on Se ...

. In 2005, she was chosen as the UNICEF goodwill envoy to Latvia. As of 2012, Naumova was on a musical hiatus to concentrate on her personal life, returning in 2016 with the album ''Uz Ilūziju Tilta''. , Naumova was living in France with her family, but still traveled back and forth to Latvia.

Discography

Albums

* 1998: ''До светлых слёз'' * 2000: ''Ieskaties acīs'' * 2001: ''Ma Voix, Ma Voie'' (LV:Gold certification) * 2002: ''On A Journey'' * 2002: ''Noslēpumi'' * 2004: ''Nesauciet sev līdzi'' * 2005: ''Another Dream'' * 2010: ''Lullabies'' * 2016: ''Uz Ilūziju Tilta''

Television

References

External links