Dina, stage name of Ondina Maria Farias Veloso (June 18, 1956 – April 11, 2019), was a Portuguese singer, known for the single “amor de Água fresca”.
She was born on June 8, 1956, in Carregal do Sal, district of Viseu.
It is in her homeland that she discovers her first chords and during her adolescence, she participates in some plays at the school she attends, but discovers that it is in music that she projects herself. She then made her first compositions and in 1975 joined the group “Quinteto Angola” where, with success and some originality, she gave voice to her songs. She also records two EPs for Rádio Triunfo.
She becomes known to the general public on March 7, 1980, at the XVII Festival RTP da Canção, when she presents her own theme “Guardado em Mim” (with a poem by Eduardo Nobre). She ends up snatching the Revelation Award and takes 8th place.
In 1980, she edited the single “Pássaro Doido” and the single “Há Semper Música Entre Nós” was released in 1981.
She competed in the 1982 RTP Song Festival with the songs “Em Segredo” and “Gosto do Teu Gosto”, reaching 6th place. She gives voice to one of the main themes of the first Portuguese telenovela “Vila Faia”, by Rosa Lobato de Faria and Vítor Mamede. She records the single “Pérola, Rosa, Verde, Limão, Ivory” in 1983.
She collaborates with Carlos Paião on the theme “Quando as Nuvens Chorarem”, released in 1988, and in the play by the Novo Grupo in the play “Ouçam Como Eu Respiro”.
She met Luís Oliveira in 1990, who became the producer of the album “Aqui e Agora”, released the following year. It is on this album that she starts her partnership with Rosa Lobato de Faria and João Falcato. The themes “Acordei o Vento”, “Suco Açúcar”, “Por Alto Mar” and “A Cor da Vida” stand out.
In 1992, she won the RTP Song Contest, with “Amor de Água Fresca” (a poem by Rosa Lobato Faria), but only managed to reach 17th place in Eurovision (Malmö, Sweden).
In 1993, she re-recorded several of her songs on the album “Guardado Em Mim”, which also includes two new songs. The concert that celebrates the fifteen years of his career is held at Teatro da Trindade.
In 1995 she wrote the anthem of the Nova Democracia party, at the invitation of Manuel Monteiro.
In 1996 she recorded the album “Sentidos”, released in 1997. This album has several collaborations with Rosa Lobato Faria. In 1998, he included two of her songs, “Vitorina” and “Aguarela de Junho”, in the soundtrack of the telenovela “Os Lobos”.
In May 2001, she is invited by Producer NBP to compose for the soundtrack of the telenovela “Filha Do Mar” and sees a theme by her and Ana Zanatti being chosen for the generic.
In 2002 she composed some themes for the telenovela “Sonhos Traídos”.
In 2008, the album “Da Cor da Vida” was released, a collection of 18 hits by the singer and two new ones.
She celebrates her 30 years of career with a concert at Jardim de Verão at Teatro São Luiz, in Lisbon, on September 26, 2009.
In 2016, concerts are held in honor of the singer, with the participation of names such as Ana Bacalhau, B Fachada, Best Youth, Da Chick, D’Alva, Márcia, Mitó, Samuel Úria and Tochapestana.
Since 2006, she had suffered from pulmonary fibrosis, which prevented her from singing and led to the end of her career in 2016, and she died at the Pulido Valente Hospital in Lisbon on April 11, 2019. She was 62 years old.
