Anita Guerreiro

On March 1st I had the pleasure of getting to know and performing with Anita Guerreiro in Virginia. If you haven't seen her in one of her many plays or soap operas, then I'm positive that you are familiar with her 1969 mega-hit "Cheira Bem, Cheira a Lisboa." Anita Guerreiro shared with me some of her experiences and memories from her successful career on television , theaters, stages around the world, and Fado houses. We also spoke about other Fadistas: her relationship with the Diva of Fado, Amalia Rodrigues; her Madrinha de Casamento, Herminia Silva; Lenita Gentil with whom she sings with at O Faia, the Fado house she sings at; and younger Fadistas like Mariza, Raquel Tavares, Ricardo Ribeiro, and Ana Moura.

It was a lot of fun hanging around Anita Guerreiro. There's a soap opera that she was in "Olhos de Agua" that is currently airing in the United States where she plays "Celeste." Every where she went, she was bombarded with many surprised and excited fans calling her "Celeste" and begging to take pictures with her and bribing her to tell them how the soap opera ends. She was really cool about it and never turned anyone down.

When it was time to perform, I was really nervous because at this event we were singing Fado the traditional way, without microphones which I love, but when a professional singer from a Fado house is in the same room who sings without a mic every night for a living for so many years, I started to doubt myself. Luckily my performance went great. But when Anita Guerreiro performed, the audience was singing along with her and interacting with her and everyone loved her jokes. She was a huge hit. It was amazing and she claimed she was tired from her flight the day before, I can't imagine a better or more energetic performance.

After performing at the event, I was hoping she would critique my performance even though I knew it would take a lot to impress someone like her. It wasn't until the next day that she mentioned my performance. She told me to call her the next time I go to Portugal because she wants to go with me to Joao Baiao's daytime television show "Portugal no Coracao" and introduce me herself. I was extremely honored when she also offered to be my Madrinha do Fado!!

I will have the privilege of performing once again with Anita Guerreiro March 15th at "Lar Dos Leoes" in Newark, New Jersey. Come watch if you're in the area. She gives a show that you don't want to miss!!

Anita Guerreiro's Biography from Fado.com

Uma das atracções mais típicas e queridas da revista, Anita Guerreiro continua ainda hoje a trabalhar e a ser uma autêntica preferida do público, embora actualmente na televisão, onde participa regularmente em telenovelas e séries de comédia.

Tal como muitos outros, Anita Guerreiro começou, com apenas sete anos, por ser uma das "miúdas", fadistas infantis que ficavam identificados com o bairro de onde vinham - sendo "a miúda do Intendente", bairro onde nascera em 1936.

Com apenas quinze anos de idade, em 1952, Anita Guerreiro (nome artístico, pois o seu verdadeiro nome é Bebiana Cardinalli) concorria a um passatempo do popular programa radiofónico Combóio das Seis e Meia.

Espantado com o que ouvia, o produtor do programa, Marques Vidal, convidou-a imediatamente para se juntar ao elenco e, poucas semanas depois, estreava-se como fadista no Café Luso. E antes de completar os vinte anos, era já vedeta de revista, género em que se estreou em 1955.

A Anita Guerreiro se deve a criação de um fado-canção que ficou na boca do povo e até Amalia gravou: Cheira a Lisboa, que criou em 1969 na revista Peço a Palavra.

Ironicamente, pouco depois desse sucesso colossal, Anita Guerreiro afastou-se da revista durante mais de uma década, apenas regressando em 1982. Mantém-se entretanto activa como fadista, cantando em casas de fados e actuando no estrangeiro.