Debi Nova

**Deborah Nowalski Kader**, better known by her stage name **Debi Nova** (born August 6, 1980), is a Costa Rican singer-songwriter who resides in Los Angeles.

She was involved in six Grammy award nominated projects, including a dance song, "One Rhythm", which reached #1 on the Billboard Dance charts, which was featured on the EA FIFA 2005 video game. She has collaborated with artists including Boney James, Mark Ronson, Q-Tip, Sérgio Mendes, the Black Eyed Peas, Sean Paul, Ricky Martin, Franco De Vita and many more.

She represented Costa Rica at the I Eurovision Americas Song Contest, in her country, with the song '*No Nos Sobran los Domingos*', obtaining the 3rd place.

## Biography

Debi was born August 6, 1980, in San José, Costa Rica and is of Polish Jewish descent. She started playing piano at age four, and played classical music for ten years. She became a singer-songwriter and a multi-instrumentalist at the age of 14. She moved to Los Angeles at 17 when she signed her first record deal. She is a graduate of LAMA College for Music Professionals.

Nova started as a backing vocalist for Gandhi, with whom she had the chance to open for Deep Purple. She has also worked with Ricky Martin, with whom she recorded a Spanish version of the song "I Don't Care". Nova sang background vocals for Britney Spears in her song "Lace and Leather", from her album *Circus*.

In 2004 she scored a #1 track on Billboard Hot Dance Music/Club Play chart with "One Rhythm". A remix of the song was featured on the soundtrack for the EA Sports video game FIFA Football 2005.

She was featured in projects by Illa J (brother of J Dilla) and Sa-Ra as well as Urban Legend's Tropical Techniques.

On April 20, 2010, she made her US television debut on Dancing with the Stars. Nova also participated in the Colgate MaxWhite Charging Up The Music campaign.

She released her first studio album *Luna Nueva* in 2010, which featured her single "Drummer Boy".

In 2011, MTV Latin America awarded her the prize MTV Chiuku for her work in the United Nations campaign "UNITE to end violence against women" organized by UN Women, and in April 2012 she was named ambassador of YUNGA (Youth and United Nations Global Alliance).

Nova was one-third of the group "LR1" (Latinos are One) for a while, along with Jean Shepherd (of the electro-Latin funk band, Navegante) and Velcro. Their single "Maña y Corazón" was produced by Andres Levin and released on September 13, 2011, to kick off Latino Heritage Month.

Nova was selected as the official voice of the Central American Games, San José 2013, with the song "Arriba Arriba" (Get Up, Get Up) and was also invited to participate in the TEDx Joven Pura Vida (Youth Pure Life) conference, where she shared her story, her music and encouraged young people to follow their dreams.

On December 17, 2013, she released her EP "Un Dia a la Vez". The project was entirely in Spanish and served as a preview for her next album, "SOY", which was released on June 24, 2014. The album was produced by Grammy-winning producer Cachorro López. The album released four singles, "Un Día A La Vez", "Amor", "Emergencia" and "Cupido". The latter was released in two versions, one featuring Puerto Rican singer Sie7e, and the other featured Jamaican Reggae/Dancehall singer Ce'Cile.

"SOY" was nominated at the 2014 Latin Grammy Awards in the Best New Vocal Pop Album category.

in 2016, Debi won the first season of Colombia's Version of "Dancing with the Stars".

She released her third album "Gran Ciudad" in 2017, on Sony Music Latin for which she was nominated at the Latin Grammys 2017 in the category "Best Singer-Songwriter Album".