Quick Facts
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Biography
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 "Voilà", 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 for Valentina and Lissandro, winners of the Junior Eurovision Song Contest.
Early life
Barbara Piévic (Serbian: Пјевић, Pjević) 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 "Amour Impoli", which led to her signing a contract with Capitol Music France. She adopted the stage name Barbara Pravi from the Serbian word pravi (Serbian Cyrillic: прави, 'real', 'authentic', 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 "On m'appelle Heidi" and afterwards was cast as Solange Duhamel in the musical show Un été 44 in November 2016, performing songs written by Jean-Jacques Goldman, Charles Aznavour and Maxime Le Forestier.
In 2017, Pravi released her first official single "Pas grandir". 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 La Sainte famille, 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 chanson 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.
2019–2022: Eurovision Song Contest / Junior Eurovision Song Contest
Participations
- In the year 2019 she wrote the song “Bim Bam toi” with Igit, with which Carla Lazzari represented France at the Junior Eurovision Song Contest 2019 in Gliwice and finally took 5th place; the sixth in jury vote and the third in televoting. “Bim Bam Toi”, reposted millions of times on TikTok, won them their first TikTok gold in history.
- In the year 2020, she wrote the song “J’imagine” with Igit, with which Valentina Tronel represented France at the Junior Eurovision Song Contest 2020 in Warsaw and finally won (1st). This entrant gave France the first JESC victory in history.
- On 30 January 2021 she had won “Eurovision France, c’est vous qui décidez ! 2021”, the French preliminary decision, for the ESC 2021. In the year 2021 she had written the lyrics with Igit and Lili Poe and composed the music with Igit for the song “Voilà”, with which she represented France at the Eurovision Song Contest 2021 in Rotterdam and finally took 2nd place; but only reached third place in the televoting. (Måneskin won ESC 2021 by a margin of 25 points.) This year's french entry achieved the best placement (2nd place) since ESC 1991. Pravi was often asked to represent France at ESC in 2020 with Reviens pour l'hiver but she was turned it down because she ‘didn't feel ready’. As a break act at the JESC 2021, she sang her song “Voilà” from the ESC 2021 again.
- In the year 2022, she wrote the song “Oh Maman !” with Frédéric Château, with which Lissandro Formica represented France at the Junior Eurovision Song Contest 2022 in Yerevan and finally won (1st), but only third place achieved in the televoting. This entrant gave France the second JESC victory in history.
| Contest | year | host country / Host city | place | running order | artist | song | songwriter(s) [L] / composer(s) [M]) | points | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| original | english translation | jury vote score | televoting score | total score | ||||||||
| 17th | Junior Eurovision Song Contest | 2019 |  Poland, Gliwice | 05 | 2 | Carla Lazzari | Bim Bam toi | Bim Bam you | L/M: Barbara Pravi, Igit | 85 | 84 | 169 |
| 18th | Junior Eurovision Song Contest | 2020 | Poland, Warsaw | 01 | 12. | Valentina Tronel | J’imagine | I imagine | L/M: Barbara Pravi, Igit | 88 | 112 | 200 |
| 65th | Eurovision Song Contest | 2021 |  Netherlands, Rotterdam | 02 | 20 | Barbara Pravi | Voilà | See (here) | L: Barbara Pravi, Igit, Lili Poe M: Barbara Pravi, Igit | 248 | 251 | 499 |
| 20th | Junior Eurovision Song Contest | 2022 |  Armenia, Yerevan | 01 | 6. | Lissandro Formica | Oh Maman ! | Oh Mom! | L/M: Barbara Pravi, Frédéric Château | 132 | 71 | 203 |
| 1 | First place |
| 2 | Second place |
| 3 | Third place |
| † | Upcoming event |
2021–2023: On n'enferme pas les oiseaux, Francophonie Games, publishing and acting debut
In July 2021, Pravi announced her first international tour for her debut studio album, On n'enferme pas les oiseaux (English: We don't lock up the birds), which came out on 27 August 2021.
Pravi performed "Voilà" as an interval act at the Junior Eurovision Song Contest 2021, which took place on 19 December in Paris. Pravi also performed the song "L'homme et l'oiseau" (English: The man and the bird) at the 37th edition of the Victoires de la Musique, where she went on to win the Female Revelation of the Year award.
In 2022, Pravi continued releasing songs, including "Prière pour soi" (English: Prayer for yourself) for International Women's Day, and "365", which is dedicated to her fans. Pravi also wrote the song "Oh maman!" 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.
On 21 December, Pravi was announced as Florence in the TV film Adieu vinyle, 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" (English: On the road). 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, Lève-toi, alongside a single of the same name. A collaboration with Editions Julliard, author Huriya Asmahan (who wrote the preface) and Aref Al-Haidari, Lève-toi 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.
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 sang 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 August, Pravi announced a collaboration with Salvador Sobral for his new song "les eaux qui me gardent" which was released on 29 August.
2024-present: La Pieva and continued acting career
On 19 January 2024 she released her new single "Bravo" talking about self-confidence.
On 8 March, Pravi released "Marianne" with Persian singer Golfshifteh Farahani. Soon later, she was announced as part of the cast for the France Televisions TV-series " Rebelle : les aventures de la jeune George Sand".
On 6 June, Pravi announced her sophomore (second) album "La Pieva" (named after her family name, Piévic) and her new eponymous song that would be released on the 7th June. She later announced the twelve song tracklist, which includes previously released singles "La Pieva (Chez Moi)" and "Bravo".
On 23rd July, Pravi (alongside Claude Lelouch and Kad Merad) announced that their upcoming movie Finalement, set to release on November 13th, has been nominated for the 81st Mostra de Venice Fiction Movie competition, being one of three french movies to be selected. Pravi plays the character Barbara (not herself) as well as singing the entire soundtrack for the movie.
On 30th July, Pravi was announced to be featuring on Coline Rio's sophomore LP (Long Play) album "Ce qui nous lie" in the song "Homme" which is also featuring Camille, Clou, Emily Loizeau, La Chica, Laura Cahen, Nach, Poppy Fusee and Raphaële Lannadére. This is set to release on August 30th, a week before "La Pieva" and a week after "Finalement".
On 23rd August, the soundtrack for Finalement was released on all streaming platforms, with the soundtrack directed by Ibrahim Maaloud and Didier Barbelivien. She also teased on her Instagram story a possible release, an extract of the album "La Pieva" before its release.
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 adolescence, Pravi endured 3 abortions in "terrible conditions". Pravi's partner at the time, who remains anonymous, was abusive and caused her to have severe injuries that have scared her. Pravi was also a domestic violence and abuse survivor because of this partner who she 'kept on coming back to' because she thought that it was the right thing to do. On January 30, 2024, Pravi helped introduce the law of France's constitutional right for abortion by retelling her prior experiences with the controversial medical procedure.
On 9 April 2022, Pravi celebrated the 37th 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 29 August 2024, it was reported in the French media that Pravi had broken up with Molkhou, however neither Pravi or Molkhou have made official announcements on their social media pages. The press have made several mistakes on Pravi's personal and musical life since she debuted, so this is unconfirmed information.
Pravi has been vocal in her support of Ukraine since the 2022 invasion of Russia and Palestine during the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
Discography
Studio albums
| Title | Details | Peak chart positions | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| FRA | BEL(FL) | BEL(WA) | NLD | SWI | ||
| On n'enferme pas les oiseaux |
| 6 | 52 | 8 | 35 | 32 |
| La Pieva | Released: 6 September 2024 (expected) Label: Virgin Records France, Universal Music Group Format: Digital, CD, LP, streaming | - | - | - | - | - |
Extended plays
| Title | Details |
|---|---|
| Barbara Pravi |
|
| Reviens pour l'hiver |
|
| Les prières |
|
| Les prières - racines |
|
| Les prières - guérir |
|
Singles
| Title | Year | Peak chart positions | Album | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| FRA | BEL(FL) | BEL(WA) | GER | IRE | NLD | NOR | SWE | SWI | UK | |||
| "On m'appelle Heidi" | 2016 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | Heidi |
| "Pas grandir" | 2017 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | Barbara Pravi |
| "You Are the Reason (French Duet Version)" | 2018 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | |
| "Le Malamour" | 2019 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | Non-album single |
| "Reviens pour l'hiver" | 2020 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | Reviens pour l'hiver |
| "Chair" | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | Non-album single | |
| "Voilà" | 24 | 36 | 34 | 62 | 40 | 3 | 19 | 18 | 24 | 62 | On n'enferme pas les oiseaux | |
| "Le jour se lève" | 2021 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | |
| "L'homme et l'oiseau" | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| "Saute" | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| "Priére pour soi" | 2022 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | Non-album single |
| "365" | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| "Lève-toi" | 2023 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | |
| "Bravo" | 2024 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | La Pieva |
| "Marianne" | 2024 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | Non-album single |
| "La Pieva (Chez Moi)" | 2024 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | La Pieva |
Soundtracks
| Year | Album Name | Songs Featured |
|---|---|---|
| 2016 | Un Été 44 | "Ma chambre", "Les Rochambelles", "Juste", "L'amour est tombé", "Lili sans sommeil", "Whisky vodka", "Paris au ciel d'été", "Seulement connu du Dieu", "Ne m'oublie pas", "Passer le nuit" |
| 2023 | Adieu Vinyle | "Adieu Vinyle" |
| 2024 | Finalement | "La folie de sentiments", "L'aventure sera toujour l'aventure", "Finalement" (with Kad Merad) |
Featurings
| Year | Song Title | Other Featured Artists |
|---|---|---|
| 2018 | You Are The Reason | Calum Scott |
| 2018 | Debout les femmes | 39 femmes (a group with 39 french artists) |
| 2019 | À Vide | Molitor |
| 2020 | Le temps de revenir à la vie | Terrenoire |
| 2020 | La fin du monde | Terrenoire |
| 2022 | Les nouveaux rêves | Florent Pagny |
| 2023 | Les eaux qui me gardent | Salvador Sobral |
| 2024 | Homme | Coline Rio, Camille, Clou, Emily Loizeau, La Chica, Laura Cahen, Nach, Poppy Fusee, Raphaële Lannadére |
Filmography
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 | Un été 44 | Solange Duhamel | Musical role |
| 2017 | La Sainte Famille | Marion | TV movie |
| 2021 | Révélations | Self | Amazon Music Documentary |
| 2023 | Adieu Vinyle | Florence | TV movie |
| 2024 | Goodbye Vinyle | Florence | English dub of "Adieu Vinyle" |
| Nan, Me & Barbara Pravi | Self | Comedy role | |
| Finalement | Barbara | Cinema role | |
| 2024–present | On fait quoi maintenant? | Self | Web series |
| Unknown | Rebelle: les aventures de la jeune George Sand | Marie Dorval | TV series |
| Un été 44 No2 | Solange Duhamel | Rumoured, not confirmed, musical role |
Awards and nominations
| Award | Year | Nominated work | Category | Result | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Grands Prix Sacem | 2021 | "Voilà" | Rolf Marbot Award | Won | |
| W9 D'or Award | 2021 | "Voilà" | Female Revelation of the Year | Won | |
| Victoires de la Musique | 2022 | Herself | Female Revelation of the Year | Won | |
| Prix Inter'val d'automne | 2022 | Herself | 2022 Favourite | 1st |
