Aitana (singer)


Aitana Ocaña Morales, known mononymously as Aitana, is a Spanish singer, songwriter and model. She first gained national recognition in 2017, placing as the runner-up in series nine of the Spanish reality television talent competition Operación Triunfo, behind Amaia Romero. While competing in Operación Triunfo, Aitana released the single "Lo malo" with fellow competitor Ana Guerra. The song went on to become a number-one hit in Spain and was certified five times platinum, additionally being used in International Women's Day demonstrations in Spain.
Following the competition, Aitana signed with Universal Music Spain and released her debut solo single "Teléfono", which became her second number-one single. Its music video became the most-watched Vevo music video within twenty-four hours of all-time in Spain. Her debut extended play Tráiler was released in November 2018, becoming her first chart-topping album and the second most-streamed album within twenty-four hours of all-time in Spain. The extended play's second single "Vas a quedarte" became her third chart-topping hit and the most-streamed song in its first twenty-four hours on Spotify Spain, surpassing the previous record which was also held by her previous release "Teléfono". Her debut studio album Spoiler, was later released in June 2019 and became her second chart-topping album. Then in December 2019 she released the lead single, called "+", from her second studio album. It peaked at number 2 and went on to spend 9 weeks in the top 10 of the Spanish official charts.

Early life

Aitana Ocaña Morales was born in Barcelona on 27 June 1999 to Cosme Ocaña and Belén Morales. She grew up in the municipality of Sant Climent de Llobregat, but her parents often visited France and the Netherlands. In 2014, Aitana began to share cover versions of popular songs on YouTube. In the same year, she composed her first original songs.
In 2017, she completed bachillerato and was admitted to study design the following year. After taking selectividad, she visited Ciudad Universitaria in Madrid, where the auditions for Operación Triunfo were being held. After auditioning, she eventually was chosen for series nine of the competition.

Career

2017–2018: ''Operación Triunfo'' and first releases

In October 2017, Aitana entered musical reality show contest Operación Triunfo. After over three months it ended with her as the show's runner-up. During her participation in the contest, she competed to represent Spain in the Eurovision Song Contest 2018 with two songs: "Arde", which she performed solo, and "Lo malo", composed by Brisa Fenoy and performed as a duet with Ana Guerra. The former song ended in second place and the latter finished third in the selection. Even though "Lo malo" hadn't been selected by the public to represent the country, it became an instant hit in Spain, topping the charts for five non-consecutive weeks and being certified 5x platinum. A remix of the song featuring Greeicy and Tini was released in August 2018. The song was performed at the 2019 Premios Lo Nuestro in Miami.
Aitana embarked on a co-headlining tour with her Operación Triunfo mates from March to December 2018. The tour consisted of 23 dates and was attended by almost 300,000 people. In July, the singer released her first solo single "Teléfono" which received mixed reviews. The song became her first number-one solo song in Spain. It topped the charts for six consecutive weeks and was certified 4x platinum. Its music video became the most watched video on its first twenty-four hours on YouTube's Vevo channel in Spain. "Teléfono" was included in her debut extended play, Tráiler, which she released on November 30, 2018. The EP features six original songs, of which one is a collaboration with the Venezuelan-American singer Lele Pons. A week after, "Vas a Quedarte" was released as the EP's second single. Written alongside Colombian band Morat, it became her third number-one hit in Spain and was nominated for "Song of the Year" at the 2019 LOS40 Music Awards. She also released an illustrated book which she named La Tinta de Mis Ojos, became an ambassador for Stradivarius, took part of a Coca-Cola Christmas campaign, did a cameo in Skam España and presented Bad Bunny alongside Pons at the 19th Annual Latin Grammy Awards.

2019: Breakthrough with ''Spoiler''

Aitana began teasing her debut studio album in March 2019 which was intended to be a new EP that would be the second of a trilogy. That same month, the singer announced that she would be embarking on an intimate promotional concert tour the month after produced by Los40. At the tour's first stop, in Barcelona, the singer revealed that she had changed her mind a little bit. Now, she wasn't scheduled to release another 6-track EP but a full album. She announced the album's name, Spoiler and hinted the release date of the album; she said that it would be released by the beginning of summer. In April 2019 she collaborated with Morat in "Presiento". In May she collaborated with former One Direction member Zayn in the revamped version of "A Whole New World" for the live action film of Disney's Aladdin. On May 17, 2019, she released "Nada Sale Mal", the lead single of her upcoming debut studio album. It peaked at number 4 on the Spanish charts and has been certified Gold. The album was released digitally and physically on June 7, 2019. It debuted at the top of the charts and was certified Gold in its first week. Later that month, the collaboration with Lola Indigo "Me Quedo" was released as the album's second single. Thanks to this work, Aitana was nominated for Best New Artist at the 20th Annual Latin Grammy Awards, where she performed "Mi Persona Favorita" alongside Greeicy, Nella and Alejandro Sanz.
The singer embarked on her first concert tour, the Play Tour, in support of the album, on June 22, 2019. With it, Aitana has been given the opportunity to sell-out large arenas like Madrid's Palacio Vistalegre, Seville's Auditorio Rocío Jurado or Barcelona's Palau Sant Jordi, with the last one being the country's largest indoor arena. The singer performed 27 shows around Spain from June to December 2019. It has been confirmed that the tour will continue throughout 2020 in Spain and Latin America. Thus, in February 2020 she announced the "+ Play Tour", its extension.
Shortly after releasing Spoiler, Aitana announced that the album would be reissued. Thus, on December 3, 2019, it was released by accident on Spotify. After removing it shortly after, the singer announced "Spoiler: Re-Play". Released on December 20, 2019, the reissue includes the album, five acoustic versions of her own songs and a tour documentary that features images of her concerts in Madrid, Barcelona and Granada. It hasn't been released in digital platforms but only in physical stores. Aitana ended 2019 being the third most streamed female artist on Sportify in Spain only being surpassed by flamenco fusion singer Rosalía and Colombian singer Karol G.

2020-present: dropplet era and second studio album

On December 18, 2019, Aitana released the lead single of her upcoming second studio album. She anticipated during fall that it would feature an internationally-known artist. Thus on the mentioned day she released "+" featuring Colombian duo Cali Y el Dandee. The song debuted at number 21 on the PROMUSICAE chart with only two days of tracking making it the only song in Spanish music history to reach this position with within this 2 days, later peaking at number 2 and spending 9 weeks in the top 10. On December 28, 2019, it was announced that Aitana would have a cameo role in the third season of the original Spanish Netflix series, Elite. The singer will be back on TV as a judge on the upcoming season of La Voz Kids, which is set to premiere in late 2020.
On 20 January 2020, she won premio Odeón for Best New Artist and in March a Premio Dial for Best Female Artist. In April 2020 she collaborated with Spanish singer and fellow friend David Bisbal on the remix of his song "Si Tú la Quieres", which became a top 20 in Spain and is certified Gold. In May, Aitana announced that she would be collaborating with artists like Reik in "Enemigos" or Piso 21 throughout the year as part of a dropplet era, which means that those songs will not be included in her second studio album, which is set to be released in October 2020. Due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, many shows from her "+ Play Tour" were cancelled or rescheduled in order to accomplish the sanitary restrictions. The tour was scheduled to start in Valencia on May 23. In July, the live album for her debut tour, "" was released in physical stores.

Personal life

Following her contract with Universal Music, Aitana moved from Sant Climent de Llobregat to a flat owned by Spanish actress Blanca Suárez in the centre of Madrid in mid 2018. In 2018, she cut her relationship with former boyfriend Vicente Rodríguez and began a romantic relation with Operación Triunfo companion Luis Cepeda, who she kissed in front of a 60,000 audience at a concert at the Estadio Santiago Bernabéu in June. At that time, Cepeda was 28 and Aitana 18, which caused main controversy due to the age gap. They broke up in September. Two months later she started dating Élite star Miguel Bernardeau.

Discography

Headlining
Co-headlining
YearCeremonyCategoryWorkResultRef.
2018Radio Disney Music AwardsBest Spanish ActAitana y Ana Guerra
2018Cosmo AwardsGirl Gang AwardHerself
2018LOS40 Music AwardsBest New ArtistAitana y Ana Guerra
2018LOS40 Music AwardsSong of the Year"Lo Malo"
2019Kids' Choice AwardsFavorite Spanish ArtistHerself
2019BreakTudo AwardsInternational New ArtistHerself
2019Latin Grammy AwardsBest New ArtistHerself
2019LOS40 Music AwardsArtist of the YearHerself
2019LOS40 Music AwardsSong of the Year"Vas a Quedarte"
2019LOS40 Music AwardsVideo of the Year"Me Quedo"
2019LOS40 Music AwardsDel 40 al 1 Artist AwardHerself
2020Premios OdeónBest Female ArtistHerself
2020Premios OdeónBest New ArtistHerself
2020Premios OdeónBest AlbumSpoiler
2020Premios OdeónBest Song"Presiento"
2020Premios OdeónBest Music Video"Teléfono"
2020Premios DialBest ArtistHerself