Karina (Venezuelan singer)

Karina (born November 19, 1968, as Cynthia Karina Moreno Elías) is a Venezuelan Latin pop music singer, songwriter, and actress.

Her first major appearance was in the play entitled El Taller Del Orfebre, Karina sang the song, "Zapatos De Tacón Alto" .

She became widely known in Latin America with her debut album Amor a Millón, specifically with the awarded songs "Se Como Duele" and "A Quién".

Amor a Millón was the title of Karina's first album. It was produced by the Venezuelan singer and producer Rudy La Scala, and peaked high on the top ten radio list. After Amor a Millón, in 1987, she recorded her second album, Sin máscara, confirming her status as a serious singer not just in Venezuela, but in Mexico, the country that turned out to be her launchpad as a music star. That same year, she was nominated in six categories of the Ronda Music Awards in Venezuela for her previous album, winning Best Female Breakthrough, Best soap opera song ("Sé Como duele"), Best Videoclip ("A Quién"), Best-selling album of the year ("Amor a Millón") and also Rudy La Scala (writer and composer of "Sé Como Duele"), won an award for Best Composer of the Year. In 1988 she had the leading role in the successful telenovela Alba Marina, broadcast by Venevisión, with Xavier Serbiá, Johnny Lozada and Rene Farrait, then members of Proyecto M and former members of the Puerto Rican band Menudo, and with Venezuelan stars Elluz Peraza and Daniel Alvarado.

That same year she also won two Ronda Music Awards, one for Best Young Female Singer, and another for Best Videoclip ("La Noche es Mágica", composed by the former Mecano member Nacho Cano)

In 1989, she recorded a third album, Desde mi sueño, which showed her artistic evolution. With Desde Mi Sueño, Karina made her debut as a composer with the songs "Lamento de la Jungla" and "Soni". She also made hits out of the songs "Desde mi Sueño", "No Puedo Vivir Sin Amor", "En el Amor" and "No Sé".

In 1990, however, she left her music career to pursue other ambitions, only appearing briefly in the mid-90s participating at the The Violinist in the Roof musical, directed by Michel Hausmann.

On June 20, 1998, Karina married Brazilian Jewish entrepreneur Marcello Azevedo in a religious ceremony which was broadcast by Venevisión. Their first daughter, Yasha Marcella, arrived in January 1999, followed on July 9, 2005 by her sister Hannah.

Years after her huge success portraying an image of a good girl with a warm smile, she made a comeback on June 13, 2002, declaring to the newspaper Últimas Noticias that she missed singing and acting very much. She also worked as her husband's representative, though she had no previous experience.

In July 2004, she presented her show, "Intimamente Karina", in which she performed acoustic versions of her hits, and on October of that same year, she recorded another album, with which she expected to return to all the success she experienced in the decade of the 1980s. The album Siempre Karina was introduced slowly in pubs and clubs and later in 2005 it was officially launched. This album was produced by her busband Azevedo, producer of other Latin American singers such as Chayanne and Paulina Rubio. This album contained new versions of her hits like "Se Como Duele", "Salvame" and "A Quien", plus seven new songs, among which "Sin Ti" was widely listened in Latin America and she recently launched another single, named "Borrón y Cuenta Nueva"

Her comeback to the stage was on April 30, 2005 at the Lia Bermudez Arts Center in Maracaibo, where she sang during more than an hour and a half. Nine months later, she returned to Mexico, where she participated as one of the judges-teachers in the Televisa reality show Cantando por un sueño. In 2010 she released "De Pie", produced by Marcello Azevedo with all new songs.

• 1985 Amor a millón (Sonorodven)
• 1987 Sin máscara (Sonorodven)
• 1988 A Millón (TH-Rodven) (in the US) (#11 Billboard Latin Pop Albums)
• 1989 Desde mi sueño (Rodven Discos)
• 1993 Esta es mi vida (Sonorodven)
• 1996 Renacer (independent label)
• 1998 Karina (Caimán Music)
• 2005 Siempre Karina (Maxximusic Productions)
• 2009 De Pie (Sonográfica, Maxximusic)