Raffaela Biography & Awards

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Artist Info

Born

June 01, 1983 Amsterdam, The Netherlands

Biography

Raffaela Paton, better known as Raffaela, became one of the Netherlands' hottest pop singers when she placed first on the 2006 season of the Dutch spinoff of Pop Idol. Born into a musically inclined Surinamese family (her aunt, Ruth Jacott, represented the Netherlands in the Eurovision contest in 1993), Raffaela auditioned for Idols with a cover of India.Arie's "Beautiful Surprise." She went on to win the competition with a cover of Agnes Carlsson's "Right Here, Right Now (My Heart Belongs to You)," beating rival Floortje Smit with 58 percent of the vote. That song went on to sell over 70,000 copies in the Netherlands, going platinum only one week after it was released. Raffaela's chart-topping self-titled debut album hit stores soon after. ~ Margaret Reges, All Music Guide