Mayra Andrade (born 1985 in Havana, Cuba) is a Cape Verdean singer who lives and records in Paris, France. Andrade was born in Cuba but grew up in Senegal, Angola, and Germany. However, she spent around two months of the yearin the Cape Verdean island of Santiago.The first song she remembers singing is "O Leãozinho" by the Brazilian musician Caetano Veloso, whom she has cited as a musical influence.Andrade often performed as a teenagerand won the 2001 Jeux de la Francophonie songwriting contest at 16,beginning voice lessons in Paris at 17.During this time, she also met the composer Orlando Pantera and began collaborating with him. Andrade then began to perform in various Portuguese-speaking regions, including the Cape Verdean cities Mindelo and Praia as well as Lisbon.[4] She won the Preis der Deutschen Schallplattenkritik (English: German Record Critics Award) in 2007. She also won the Newcomer award at the BBC Radio 3 Awards for World Music 2008