Sandra Pires

Born in East Timor, Sandra was raised by her grandparents in Portugal. At age 13 she moved to live with her parents in Australia, where they had fled to during Timor's civil war. She was only 15 when she won the nation's biggest and most important singing-competition. Watched by millions of Australians on TV, Sandra captured the audience with her rendition of Whitney Houston's "Greatest Love of All". Eroll Budell, saxophonist for Frank Sinatra, Billie Holiday and 'Nat 'King' Cole' , was so impressed by her talent that he made the young girl the lead singer of his band. Playing countless live-gigs and TV shows, Sandra gained a lot of stage experience over the following months. When she received contract offers from several record labels, she knew she had to take some time off - she decided to take a vacation to make up her mind about her future plans. Her journey led her to Vienna (Austria), a city the travel agent had highly recommended - this was the beginning of another chapter in her unusual life. On her first day, she went to a club to hear some live music. Missing singing already, she asked the club's owner if she could participate in that day's jam session. Being a little resistant at first, he later agreed and after hearing Sandra's unique voice, he immediately offered her an engagement. She did not hesitate, but took the offer and stayed. In 1998, she attracted the attention of Italy's superstar Eros Ramazzotti, who gave her permission to record the only authorized English cover version of one of his great hits, "Adesso Tu". Sandra's interpretation called "Here I Am" hit the charts immediately after its release. The single achieved gold status almost instantly and led to an enormous increase in Sandra's popularity. At a Vienna concert, Eros and Sandra electrified ten thousands of people with a duet. Sandra speaks six languages fluently which makes her a perfect artist for the music market of the 21st century in a world with (almost) no boundaries. In the year 2001 she shot her first cinema film, _She Me and Her (2001)_. Sandra played a double role, that of twins Maggie and Lisa. In the humorous comedy everything concerns the music business. Sandra could not have found a better part for her screen debut.