Natalia Marisa Oreiro Iglesias Poggio Bourié (born May 19, 1977 in Montevideo, Uruguay) is a popular Latin Grammy-nominated Uruguayan singer and actress of Galician origin, who developed most of her career in Argentina.
Natalia studied drama at age eight and at twelve started auditioning for advertisements. During her teens she appeared in more than 30 television commercials for such trade marks as Coca Cola, Pepsi and Johnson & Johnson. At the age of 16 she moved to Argentina to work there and unleash her ambition to be a star. She worked as an MTV VJ and in 1995, she landed a role in the soap opera Dulce Ana. She was then cast in the TV series 90-60-90 modelos (1996) and next in Ricos y famosos (1997) (playing Valeria). Next, she starred in the Argentinian film Un Argentino en New York (1998), In 1998, Natalia Oreiro recorded the theme "Paths of the Soul" with the Kennedy Choir and more than 120 Argentine artists under the direction of Instrumental pianist and conductor Nazareno Andorno. After the movie, Natalia launched her first album, Natalia Oreiro and the single "Cambio dolor" became the opening theme for her next acting project, the prime time show Muñeca Brava (1998-1999). For her performance in Muñeca Brava, Natalia was nominated twice (1998 and 1999) for a Martín Fierro Award as best actress in a leading role. In January 2000, Natalia was named "Celebrity of the Year" by E! Entertainment Television. She became popular in Russia due to the success of Muñeca brava in that country and was even invited to star in a Russian telenovela. She pursued her musical career with the next album Tu Veneno and presentations in "Gala de la Hispanidad", "Gala de Murcia" (both in Spain) and "Festival de la Calle 8" in Miami. Her most important appearance was in the prestigious Latin television show Sábado Gigante Internacional, hosted by Don Francisco. Natalia's major achievement at this time was her music performance in Chile at the Viña del Mar Festival 2000, for which she was crowned Queen of that event. The album scored a Latin Grammy nomination for Best Pop Female Vocal Album, but lost to Christina Aguilera's Mi Reflejo. On December 31, 2001, she married boyfriend Ricardo Mollo, in Fernando de Noronha. Mollo is the leader of Argentinian rock band "Divididos". Prior to her marriage, she was in a relationship with Pablo Echarri for 6 years who she met on the show Inconquistable corazón. Her third album, Turmalina, was released in 2002 along with her new telenovela "Kachorra". In 2006 she joined as the female boxer, Esperanza Munoz, in the cast of the telenovela "Sos mi vida" along with her "Muñeca brava" co-star Facundo Arana. Her fourth album was scheduled for release in 2006 but the production of "Sos mi vida" went on for longer than anticipated (until December 2006), and was rescheduled for release in the end of 2008. Since 2005 Natalia Oreiro is a vegetarian.