Barbara Pravi

Barbara Pravi is a French singer, songwriter and actress, best known for "Voilà", which came second for France at the Eurovision Song Contest 2021. She was born Barbara Piévic (Pjević in Serbian) on 10 April 1993 in Paris. She is on Muzika-Balkan because of her Serbian family line: her father is of Serbian and Moroccan Jewish descent, and she chose the stage name Pravi, the Serbian word for "real" or "authentic", as a homage to her Serbian grandfather. Her song "Deda", Serbian for grandfather, tells her family's story.

She grew up in Asnières-sur-Seine near Paris and then lived for ten years in Montmartre, in the Abbesses quarter of Paris; she has also lived around Strasbourg–Saint-Denis in Paris and in Burgundy. Her mother is of Polish Jewish and Iranian origin, and she grew up in a family of artists, among books and music.

She began writing songs in 2014 with the musician Jules Jaconelli, and her song "Amour impoli" (2015) brought a contract with Capitol Music France. She sang in the musical Un été 44, toured as the support act of Florent Pagny, and in 2017 released her first official single, "Pas grandir". At the end of 2018 she turned from pop to classic French chanson, with Barbara, Jacques Brel, Georges Brassens and Françoise Hardy among her models. The EP Reviens pour l'hiver followed in 2020, and "Chair". She also wrote "Bim Bam toi" and "J'imagine" for France at Junior Eurovision; "J'imagine" won in 2020, and "Oh maman!" won again in 2022.

"Voilà" won the French selection in January 2021 and took second place in Rotterdam with 499 points, France's best result since 1991. Her debut album On n'enferme pas les oiseaux came out on 27 August 2021, and in 2022 she won the Victoires de la Musique as Female Revelation of the Year. She writes all her lyrics herself, largely from her own life, and has written for Yannick Noah, Chimène Badi, Louane, Kylie Minogue and Jaden Smith.

In 2023 she moved to Virgin Records France and sang "Lève-toi" at the opening of the Francophonie Games in Kinshasa. Her second album, La Pieva (2024), is named after her family name. She also starred in Claude Lelouch's film Finalement (2024) and sang its whole soundtrack. The playlist gathers her official music videos.