Daniella Fernandes is on a roll. Having picked up the first place in her category (16-20 years) at Vem Cantar, All Goa Portuguese singing contest held a couple of months ago, she also went on to clinch the top spot at the fifth edition of the Fado de Goa contest (16 and 21 years category) held recently, for the second consecutive year.
Previously she also secured the second place at the second and third edition of Fado de Goa.
And while this may seem like Daniella has been singing all her life, the 20 year old, who is currently doing her bachelors at Rosary College, Navelim, admits that it was only in higher secondary that her principal pushed her to participate in a singing competition for the first time. Although, extremely nervous, she managed to win the competition and singing became a huge part of her life.
Trying her hand at fado however was a challenge given that she didn't come from a Portuguese background. But she was determined. "I used to watch my friend Nadia Rebello and Sonia Shirsat singing fados. The soulful music captivated me and I decided to try it out myself," she said.
Having clinched the second spot in the second and third edition, Fernandes came back stronger for the fourth edition singing Minh'Alma by Mariza to take top spot. "Last year I was really lucky. I was in the 18 years and above category and was the youngest of the lot at 19 years. I was competing against others who were over 30 and 40 years of age. In fact one of the participants was 80 years old! But I somehow pulled it off," she says.
Immediately after winning the contest she enrolled in the Fado de Goa initiative by the Taj Group of Hotels wherein participants were put through an intense course on singing fado which was conducted mainly by Sonia Shirsat.
Post this, Shirsat selected 10 of them, including Daniella for one on one sessions, and all of this greatly helped her to improve her singing. "She would concentrate on the smallest details like where to sustain your voice, when to take a breathe while singing etc. Also she sat down with translations of the song to help us to know what the song was about. After all it is only when you know the song that you can bring out the feelings of the song from within. And fado cannot be sung if you can't feel it," says Daniella. In addition, Shirsat along with the musicians Carlos Meneses and Orlando Noronha also conducted a training session with us before the competition this year.
However, Daniella almost didn't make it to the competition on time. "I was singing in a choir in Margao and got delayed as a result of it. When I was finally done, I realised that there was jsut 15 minutes left for my category to start. It was all thanks to my brother who drove me all the way to Panaji that I managed to get there. In fact as soon as I reached, I had to go up and sing," recalls Daniella who once again chose to sing Mariza's version of the song Chuva. "She is my favorite Portuguese music artist. In fact I chose her song for the Vem Cantar competition too this year," she says. Apart from Mariza, Daniella also loves listening to Sonia Shirsat, Ana Moura, Claudia Duarte and Amalia Rodrigues.
And Daniella hopes to continue to enchant Goans with fados. "Not only do I want to be known by my name as a fadista but I also want listeners to be able to experience all the feelings of the fados," she says.
