Luciana Abreu

Biography

Luciana Abreu Sodré Costa Real (born 25 May 1985) is a Portuguese singer, actress and television host. Luciana Abreu is known for her participation in Idolos, for representing Portugal in the Eurovision Song Contest 2005 as part of the pop-duo 2B, for her character in 2006 for Floribella as Flor Valente.

== Biography ==

=== Early years === She was first noticed at the age of 14, for her participation in the show "Cantigas da Rua", which she won. During 2002 she took part in the play O Casamento, by the Seiva Trupe theatre company, as both actress and singer. Later, in 2003, she starred in the musical play Cabaret Carioca by Carlos Leça, inspired by Chico Buarque's music, in which she took the role of Beatriz.

=== Idolos (Idols) === In 2004, Luciana auditioned for the second season of Idolos (the Portuguese version of Pop Idol (British original version)). She was a member of the first group of semi-finalists. She sang a rendition of Christina Aguilera's "The Voice Within" which garnered her a top 10 position

==== Song performances on Portuguese Idol ==== Original Audition: "Fallin'" (Alicia Keys), "Run to You" (Whitney Houston) and "Povo Que Lavas no Rio" (Amália Rodrigues) Top 30: "The Voice Within" (Christina Aguilera) (semi-final group 1) Top 10: "Fallin'" (Alicia Keys) Top 8: "Povo Que Lavas No Rio" (Amália Rodrigues), (Portuguese music's week) Top 7: "I Will Survive" (Gloria Gaynor) (Disco's week) Top 6: "Sympathy for the Devil" (Rolling Stones) (Juri's week)

=== Eurovision 2005 === Abreu represented Portugal in the Eurovision Song Contest 2005 in Kyiv, Ukraine as part of the pop-duo 2B with Rui Drumond. The duo performed the pop song Amar. However, many mishaps occurred during the live performance (including Abreu's microphone failing several times). The group failed to qualify for the final, placing 17th with 51 points in the semi-final, although they received the maximum 12 points from France, Germany and Switzerland.

=== After Eurovision 2005 === After Eurovision Song Contest, Luciana became a hairdresser and manicurist in a hair salon. But Luciana's life was soon to change, as she then became the protagonist of the most popular Portuguese soap opera: Floribella.

=== Floribella === After representing Portugal in the Eurovision Song Contest, Luciana auditioned for a role in Floribella. She was selected for the lead role in the show, Flor Valente. The shows tells the story of Cinderella in the 21st century, a poor girl who falls in love with a rich guy, but has her (unknown) bad sister stopping her from being happy. It was one of the most successful TV shows in 2006 and as a result a second season was made in 2007 although it never had the same success. However the music soundtrack reached number one in the Portuguese charts. With the success of Floribella, Luciana became very popular in Portugal. This show beat records.