Barbara Piévic (born 10 April 1993), known professionally as Barbara Pravi, is a French singer, songwriter and actress. She represented France in the Eurovision Song Contest 2021 with the song "Voilà", securing second place, the best result for France since 1991.[1] Her debut album On n'enferme pas les oiseaux was released on 27 August 2021.
Barbara Piévic[2] (Serbian: Барбара Пјевић, Barbara Pjević) was born in Paris on 10 April 1993.[3] Her family primarily consists of artists and musicians. Pravi's father is of Serbian and Algerian Jewish descent, while her mother is of Polish Jewish and Iranian origin.[4] Pravi's maternal grandfather is the Iranian painter Hossein Zenderoudi.[3][1]
She was born and grew up in Asnières-sur-Seine, before moving to Montmartre. Her parents are Emmanuelle and Marc Piévic. She has notably also lived in Paris, Strasbourg Saint Denis and Burgundy. She also has a younger sister, Clémence Piévic, who is a psychologist. Clémence and Barbara also regularly donate and spread awareness to charities.
Career
2014–2018: Early career
Pravi began her music career in 2014, after meeting French musician Jules Jaconelli. With Jaconelli, she began composing songs. The following year, she released an original song titled "Amour Impoli",[5] which led to her signing a contract with Capitol Music France. She adopted the stage name Barbara Pravi from the Serbian word pravi (Serbian Cyrillic: прави, lit. 'real', 'authentic', in the masculine), as a homage to her Serbian grandfather.[6] Pravi has cited her musical influences as Barbara, Jacques Brel, Georges Brassens, Françoise Hardy, and Aragon.[7] Upon beginning her professional recording career, Pravi performed on the soundtrack of the French version of the Swiss film Heidi with the song "On m'appelle Heidi" and afterwards was cast as Solange Duhamel in the musical show Un été 44 in November 2016, performing songs written by Jean-Jacques Goldman, Charles Aznavour and Maxime Le Forestier.[8][9]
In 2017, Pravi released her first official single "Pas grandir".[10] The single was later included on her self-titled debut extended play, which was released the following year. Also in 2017, Pravi starred in the television film La Sainte famille, as the role of Marion,[11] was later broadcast on France 2 in December 2019.[12] From 2017 until 2018, Pravi performed on the 55 Tour, supporting French singer Florent Pagny.[13] At the end of 2018, Pravi decided to alter her musical style by adopting a more traditional French chanson style, rather than the pop style that had dominated her early releases.[14]
In December 2020, Pravi was announced to compete in the French national final for the Eurovision Song Contest 2021. On 31 January 2021 she won the competition, gaining the right to represent France at the contest in Rotterdam and finally took 2nd place; but only reached third place in the televoting. Ultimately, Måneskin won the contest by a margin of 25 points, representing Italy. "Voilà" achieved France's best placement at the contest since 1991 as well as the highest points ever for a French entry in the competition (499).
2021–2023: On n'onferme pas les oiseaux, Francophonie Games, publishing and acting debut
In July 2021, Pravi announced her first international tour for her debut studio album, On n'enferme pas les oiseaux, which came out on 27 August 2021.[23][24]
Pravi performed "Voilà" as an interval act at the Junior Eurovision Song Contest 2021, which took place on 19 December in Paris.[25] Pravi also performed the song "L'homme et l'oiseau"at the 37th edition of the Victoires de la Musique, where she went on to win the Female Revelation of the Year award.[26][27]
On 21 December, Pravi was announced as Florence in the TV film Adieu vinyle, set to be shown on France 2 on 18 September 2023, after being premiered at the Angoulême Festival on 26 August 2023.[32]
Pravi announced on 6 January 2023 that she had signed to Virgin Records France after eight years at Capitol Music France.[33] She revealed two days later that she was in the process of writing and recording her second studio album.
On 13 January 2023, Pravi was announced as a temporary host on the BBC Sounds podcast show Music Life. The first episode she hosted included November Ultra, Pi Ja Ma, Yaël Naïm and Melissa Lauveux as guests, and the second episode described Pravi's tour playlist, "Sur la route" (English: On the road). This appearance followed her French radio debut on RTL2's Foudre with Waxx, during which she co-hosted several episodes with Waxx.
In late February 2023, Pravi announced her first book, Lève-toi, alongside a single of the same name. A collaboration with Editions Julliard, author Huriya Asmahan (who wrote the preface) and Aref Al-Haidari, Lève-toi was written in French and Arabic. The song was released on 8 March, while the book was released the following day.[34] In late May, Pravi was announced to star in Finalement, a film directed by Claude Lelouch.[35]
On 28 July, Pravi was announced as the opening act of the 9th edition of the Francophonie Games. which took place in Kinshasa, the capital of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the same night. She sang the song "Lève toi" at the ceremony.[36]
On 27 August, Pravi announced a collaboration with Salvador Sobral for his new song "Les eaux qui me gardent" which was released on 29 August.
2024-present: La Pieva and continued acting career
On 19 January 2024 she released her new single "Bravo"[37] talking about self-confidence.[38]
On 8 March, Pravi released "Marianne" with Persian singer Golfshifteh Farahani. Soon later, she was announced as part of the cast for the France Televisions TV-series " Rebelle : les aventures de la jeune George Sand" (in French) which has also been trademarked as "GEORGE: Untamed Spirit" (in English).
On 6 June, Pravi announced her sophomore (second) album "La Pieva" (named after her family name, Piévic) and her new eponymous song that would be released on 7 June.[39] She later announced the twelve song tracklist, which includes previously released singles "La Pieva (Chez Moi)" and "Bravo".
On 23 July, Pravi (alongside Claude Lelouch and Kad Merad) announced that their upcoming movie Finalement, set to release on 13 November, has been nominated for the 81st Mostra de Venice Fiction Movie competition, being one of three French movies to be selected. Pravi plays the character Barbara as well as singing the entire soundtrack for the movie.[40] On 23 August, the soundtrack for Finalement was released on all streaming platforms, with the soundtrack directed by Ibrahim Maaloud and Didier Barbelivien.[41][42]
In October 2024, she commenced the first leg of the La Pieva tour, named after her sophomore album of the same name. On 23 October, it was announced that she would be on the French talent show Star Academy. Since October 2024, she has been a regular guest on Vivement dimanche to promote Claude Lelouch's Finalement. She has also been apart of some other movies and television shows.
Personal life
Health
Pravi has been open about her experiences undergoing abortions in her youth. After her third abortion, she was diagnosed with hyperfertility.[43][44] Pravi has also experienced abuse from former partners.[45]
In 2022, she was also diagnosed with depression.[46]
In her adolescence, Pravi endured three abortions in "terrible conditions".[54] Pravi's husband at the time, who remains anonymous, was abusive towards her. They are now divorced.[55]
Philanthropy
In 2018, Pravi participated (as part of 39 Femmes; a project group which was formed of 39 French female musicians) in the song "Debout les femmes", which raised money for charitable causes.[56] The song was later used in the Amazon Prime movie Flashback.[57]
She is also the marianne (godmother) of the charity La Collective Arles. [58]
In October 2024, she participated in the Belgian charity show CAP48Heures, singing her latest song "Qui j'étais" as well as co-hosting their 48-hour live stream. Ultimately, it was announced that over 6 million euros had been raised.[59]
"Ma chambre", "Les Rochambelles", "Juste", "L'amour est tombé", "Lili sans sommeil", "Whisky vodka", "Paris au ciel d'été", "Seulement connu du Dieu", "Ne m'oublie pas", "Passer le nuit"
Pravi got involved in the making of the film Finalement in 2021 as an actress but also behind the scenes. She worked as multiple roles for this movie.[76]
Her other roles in TV shows, movies, podcasts and music videos are available on her IMDb page.
