In honour of the deceased fadista Amália Rodrigues, the winners of the Amália Rodrigues Awards are announced each years on her birthday, 23 of July. Seventeen awards are given for different categories such as 'best writer', 'best portuguese guitar', 'best emerging talent' and 'best career'. This year, André Baptista (singer), José Manuel Barreto (singer), Jorge Wheat (researcher) and Manuel Alegre(poet), among others, were awarded. Ana Moura received the 'Best Album' award for her release Desfado.This isn't the first time that this fadista won an Amália Rodrigues Award: she was announced as 'Best Performer' in 2008 as well. The awards ceremony takes place on the day Amália Rodrigues died, so the successful artists will have to wait until 6 October to receive their awards. 

Amália Rodrigues, known as the ‘Rainha do Fado’ (Queen of Fado) is one of the most important figures in fado history, renowned for her consuming performances both at home and on the international stage. Her sister Celeste Rodrigues must also be credited for her deep-rooted influence on the genre. Celeste is also the grandmother of the forthcoming Rough Guide To Fado Legends expert compiler: the filmmaker Diogo Varela Silva. Diogo created the 2010 documentary Fado Celeste about his relative, charting her career as one of the oldest fadistas still active on the contemporary live scene.

The Rough Guide To Fado Legends

With its raw passion and elegance, fado is one of the world’s great living musical traditions – its melancholic songs about lost love and tragic stories of the sea have a bewitching beauty. Listen to tales of lament and longing from the greatest fado legends including Amália Rodrigues, Maria de Fé and João Ferreira-Rosa.

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