Barbara Pravi

Barbara Pravi
Barbara Piévic (born 10 April 1993), known professionally as Barbara Pravi, is a French singer and songwriter. After signing with Capitol Music France in 2015, she released five extended plays with the label. She represented France in the Eurovision Song Contest 2021 with the song "", securing second place, the best result for France since 1991. Her debut album On n'enferme pas les oiseaux was released on 27 August 2021.
As a songwriter, Pravi has written songs for a number of artists, including Yannick Noah, Julie Zenatti, Chimène Badi, and Jaden Smith. She additionally composed "" by Valentina, which won the Junior Eurovision Song Contest 2020, and "" by Lissandro, which won the Junior Eurovision Song Contest 2022.
Early life
Barbara Piévic was born in Paris on 10 April 1993. Her family primarily consists of artists and musicians. Pravi's father is of Serbian and Algerian Jewish descent, while her mother is of Polish Jewish and Iranian origin. Pravi's maternal grandfather is the Iranian painter Hossein Zenderoudi.
Career
2014–2018: Early career
Pravi began her music career in 2014, after meeting French musician Jules Jaconelli. With Jaconelli, she began composing songs. The following year, she released an original song titled "", which led to her signing a contract with Capitol Music France. She adopted the stage name Barbara Pravi from the Serbian word (in the masculine), as a homage to her Serbian grandfather. Pravi has cited her musical influences as Barbara, Jacques Brel, Georges Brassens, Françoise Hardy, and Aragon. Upon beginning her professional recording career, Pravi performed on the soundtrack of the French version of the Swiss film Heidi with the song "" and afterwards was cast as Solange Duhamel in the musical show in November 2016, performing songs written by Jean-Jacques Goldman, Charles Aznavour and Maxime Le Forestier.
In 2017, Pravi released her first official single "". The single was later included on her self-titled debut extended play, which was released the following year. Also in 2017, Pravi starred in the television film , as the role of Marion, was later broadcast on France 2 in December 2019. From 2017 until 2018, Pravi performed on the 55 Tour, supporting French singer Florent Pagny. At the end of 2018, Pravi decided to alter her musical style by adopting a more traditional French style, rather than the pop style that had dominated her early releases.
Along with writing and composing her own songs, Pravi has written for several other artists including Yannick Noah, Julie Zenatti, Chimène Badi, Jaden Smith, Louane and Florent Pagny.
2019–2021: Eurovision participations
In 2019, Barbara Pravi wrote the song "" with Igit, with which the performer Carla Lazzari represented France in the Junior Eurovision Song Contest 2019 in Gliwice and ultimately placed fifth. After the contest, this song went viral on TikTok, ultimately receiving a TikTok viral disc, a first for a France-based act. In 2020, Pravi and Igit wrote the song "", performed by Valentina, which won the Junior Eurovision Song Contest 2020 in Warsaw. "" gave France the first out of its two Junior Eurovision Song Contest victories.
On 30 January 2021, Pravi won , the French national selection for the Eurovision Song Contest 2021. With her song "", she scored 204 points, and went on to represent France at the contest in Rotterdam. She finished in second place with 499 points, the best placement for France in the contest since .
2021–present: Post-Eurovision ventures
In July 2021, Pravi announced her first international tour for her debut studio album which came out on 27 August 2021.
Pravi performed "" as an interval act at the Junior Eurovision Song Contest 2021, which took place on 19 December in Paris. Pravi also performed the song "" at the 37th edition of the , where she went on to win the Female Revelation of the Year award.
In 2022, Pravi continued releasing songs, including "" for International Women Day, and "365", which is dedicated to her fans. Pravi also wrote the song "" with Frédéric Château, with which Lissandro Formica represented France at the Junior Eurovision Song Contest 2022 in Yerevan and ultimately won, bringing France its second Junior Eurovision win in the history of the competition.
On 21 December, Pravi was announced as Florence in the TV film , set to be shown on France 2 on 18 September 2023, after being premiered at the Angoulême Festival on 26 August 2023.
Pravi announced on 6 January 2023 that she had signed to Virgin Records France after eight years at Capitol Music France. She revealed two days later that she was in the process of writing and recording her second studio album.
On 13 January 2023, Pravi was announced as a temporary host on the BBC Sounds podcast show Music Life. The first episode she hosted included November Ultra, Pi Ja Ma, Yaël Naïm and Melissa Lauveux as guests, and the second episode described Pravi's tour playlist, "". Sur la route has been deleted, as of November 2023, on BBC Sounds however the first episode is still available. This appearance followed her French radio debut on RTL2's Foudre with Waxx, during which she co-hosted an episode with Waxx.
In late February 2023, Pravi announced her first book alongside a single of the same name. A collaboration with Editions Julliard, author Huriya Asmahan, translator Aref Al-Haidari, singer-songwriter Emel and manager Élodie Filleul, was written in French and Arabic. The song was released on 8 March, while the book was released the following day. In late May, Pravi was announced to star in Finalement, a film directed by Claude Lelouch. She was later revealed to play the character Barbara in an interview with Lelouch, which he described the character as very similar to Pravi's personality.
On 28 July, Pravi was announced as the opening act of the 9th edition of the Francophonie Games. which took place in Kinshasa, the capital of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the same night. She sung the song Lève toi at the ceremony. The following day (29 July), Ferre Gola announced an "upcoming collaboration" with Pravi, no other details have been given thus far. Pravi was seen at his house in Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of the Congo on the same day as it was reported.
On 27 September, Pravi announced a collaboration with Salvador Sobral for his new song "les eaux qui me gardent" which was released on 29 September.
On 26 October, Pravi was announced to do a new karaoke session of Dalida on January 26th, 2024.
Personal life
Pravi has a deep connection with Persian literature, as her maternal grandfather is of Iranian descent. As a survivor of domestic violence, Pravi is active in the fight to end violence against women. She has frequently contributed to music initiatives intended to promote causes involved with women's rights. Pravi was also invited to perform "Notes pour trop tard" and speak at Emlyon Business School through TEDx to speak about her career and how she found self-confidence.
In her young adult years (17, other ages are unknown) she was forced to experience 3 abortions in terrible conditions by a family planning agency.
On 9 April 2022, Pravi celebrated the 36th birthday of her partner Antoine Molkhou. Molkhou is a French DJ and podcast host, best known for being the artistic director of Rex Club and a host of Arte Radio. He also released his own music under the stage name Siler.
On 2 April 2023, Pravi opened up to her battles with domestic violence in her teenage years, exclusively with Konbini, she commented upon her near-death experiences with her violent ex, which she got back together with several times.
Discography
Studio albums
Extended plays
Singles
Awards and nominations
Non-Eurovision Participants
Eurovision Participations
2018: L'un près de l'autre - Songwriter - Destination Eurovision - 5th place in Semi 1
2019: Bim Bam Toi - Songwriter - Junior Eurovision 2019 - 5th place
2020: J'imagine - Songwriter - Junior Eurovision 2020 - 1st place
2021: Voilà - Singer - Eurovision France, C'est Vous Qui Décidez - 1st place
Voilà - Singer - Eurovision 2021 - 2nd place
2022: Oh Maman! - Songwriter - Junior E Eurovision 2022 - 1st place
References
External links
1993 births
21st-century French singers
21st-century French women singers
Eurovision Song Contest entrants for France
Eurovision Song Contest entrants of 2021
Musicians from Paris
French women singer-songwriters
French singer-songwriters
French people of Algerian-Jewish descent
French people of Polish-Jewish descent
French people of Iranian descent
French people of Serbian descent
French pop singers
Living people
People of Montmartre