Francisca Urio (born February 6, 1981 in Meiningen, Germany) is a German singer-songwriter and radio presenter of Afro-German heritage who lives in Berlin.

Personal life

Francisca Urio was born in Meiningen, a small town in Thuringia but grew up in Berlin as the only child of her German mother Monica and her father Geoffrey from Tanzania, both architects who met while studying in Dresden. Her father's RnB, Soul and Pop music collection influenced her music taste from an early age. Her first stage experience was at pre-school age as an extra in a Porgy and Bess performance at the Berlin Theater des Westens. She attended the Paul-Natorp-Oberschule and the Heinrich-Hertz-Gymnasium in Berlin. After finishing school with the Abitur in 2000 she decided to pursue her singing career full time.

Music career

Silvashado band
In 1996 Francisca Urio founded together with Priscilla Harris, N'gone Thiam and Boussa Thiam the band Silvashado in Berlin. They performed regularly in clubs in Berlin and at festivals in Germany, Austria and Switzerland. In 2002 the band took part at a performance in Dresden in front of the Sempera Opera House for eighty-thousand helpers in the 2002 100-year flood. The band toured and performed with singers like O-Town, Mary J. Blige, Ben, Seal, Mousse T., Shakira and Wyclef Jean and featured on concert DVDs with Ben and Seal (One Night to Remember, recorded live in Düsseldorf). After first Boussa and later N'gone Thiam left the band, Urio and Harris continued as duo until their last concert in October 2006 when they started to concentrate on their solo careers.

Deutschland sucht den Superstar
Francisca Urio gained national recognition as contestant and 'Top 10' finalist in the 2007 German "Idol" version Deutschland sucht den Superstar (DSDS) broadcasted by RTL. She was considered a unique talent, having the best voice and being the favorite in this competition, not only by the jury but also gaining acclamation by professional singers like the bass-baritone Thomas Quasthoff.

On 6. February 2007 the German newspaper Bild appeared with an article accusing Francisca Urion and her friend Priscilla Harris (who was also a contestant at the casting show) to be professional singers, having already recorded CDs and are therefore not entitled to take part in the competition. However the accusations where quickly dismissed as the rules of the DSDS show only prohibit participants to have a current recording contract but not to have previous professional experience.

Despite the praise her performances received from the jury Francisca Urio was unexpectedly eliminated in the 4th motto show, which equally surprised the jury, the other candidates and the viewers. However, in an online voting with over hundred thousand votes organized by the newspaper Bild after the casting show was finished, Francisca Urio won the voting by a small margin ahead of the DSDS winner Mark Medlock.

Solo career
In 2006 Francisca Urio toured through Germany with the musical show The Magic Night of Dancing Musicals in which she presented 5 songs as solo singer. Since 2003 she is a presenter at the Berlin radio station Jazz Radio.

The radio station Spreeradio 105.5 arranged for Francisca Urio to perform and record with the Filmorchester Babelsberg in May 2007.

Urio was invited to take part on 22 and 23 May 2007 in the semi finals of the International Competition Of Young Singers of Popular Music "New Wave 2007" in Moscow and qualified for the finals which took place in Jurmala, Latvia from 25 to 30 July 2007. She reached the 5th place in the competition.

On 7 July 2007 Urio sung the American national anthem before the fight between IBF/IBO heavyweight champion Wladimir Klitschko and challenger Lamon Brewster in Cologne in front of an audience of 19500 spectators and millions of television viewers.

In 2008 she started recording her debut album with producer Dieter Falk.

Discography

Singles
2001 Silvashado: Die Reise durch mein ich (Sony Music Entertainment/BERLIN RECORDS)

Sampler
2007 Power of Love (joined release of all finale participants of Deutschland sucht den Superstar)
If I Ain't Got You
If You Don't Know Me By Now (Francisca Urio and the DSDS-Top-10)

DVD appearances
2003 Ben Hörproben Live
2005 Seal One Night to Remember

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