Florin Cezar Ouatu

Son of the late flautist and former teacher at Mozarteum University of Salzburg, Florin Ouatu, he was born into a family of musicians in Ploiești.{{Cite web |date=10 March 2013 |title=Cine este Cezar Ouatu, câștigătorul Eurovision România 2013 |url=http://adevarul.ro/entertainment/muzica/video-foto-cezar-ouatu-castigatorul-eurovision-romania-20132-1_513be21100f5182b85eb14d3/index.html |publisher=Adevărul |language=ro |access-date=15 May 2013 |archive-date=1 July 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130701120647/http://adevarul.ro/entertainment/muzica/video-foto-cezar-ouatu-castigatorul-eurovision-romania-20132-1_513be21100f5182b85eb14d3/index.html |url-status=live }} Cezar began playing piano at six years of age. He graduated from the "Carmen Sylva" School of Arts in his hometown and the Milan Conservatory. In Italy, Cezar graduated the bel canto classical singing section with maximum mark. He has also studied Baroque music.{{Cite web |year=2013 |title=Eurovision Song Contest: Romania |url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/profiles/1xkLBCy3jrhBVhRbS2SpGHl/romania |access-date=23 January 2015 |website=BBC One |archive-date=6 September 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190906170553/https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/profiles/1xkLBCy3jrhBVhRbS2SpGHl/romania |url-status=live }} In 2001, Ouatu was accepted to the Giuseppe Verdi Music Academy in Milan, and graduated in 2004. In the 2003 International Singing Contest Francisco Viñas and in the 2005 International Voice Competition organized by the Renata Tebaldi Foundation in San Marino he won the "Best Countertenor" prize. Cezar made his professional opera stage debut in 2007 at La Fenice, Venice.{{Cite web |last=Sinziana Boaru |date=23 February 2011 |title=Un contratenor vine în ajutorul lui Iustin Ianău |url=http://adevarul.ro/entertainment/celebritati/un-contratenor-vine-ajutorul-iustin-ianau-1_50ad210d7c42d5a6638f3682/index.html |access-date=23 January 2015 |newspaper=Adevărul Moldova |archive-date=23 January 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150123094632/http://adevarul.ro/entertainment/celebritati/un-contratenor-vine-ajutorul-iustin-ianau-1_50ad210d7c42d5a6638f3682/index.html |url-status=live }} He has since appeared in further opera performances in Baroque opera roles.{{Cite web |last=Bruce Scott |date=29 January 2010 |title='Agrippina,' Handel's Unlikely Comedy |url=https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=122945578 |access-date=23 January 2015 |website=National Public Radio – World of Opera |archive-date=23 January 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150123084905/http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=122945578 |url-status=live }}

Ouatu released his first pop-opera single "Cinema Paradiso" on Christmas Eve, 24 December 2012. In May 2013, Cezar represented Romania in the Eurovision Song Contest 2013 with the song "It's My Life",{{Cite web |date=13 May 2013 |title=Află unde poți să-l asculți LIVE pe Cezar "The Voice" Ouatu, reprezentantul României la Eurovision! |url=http://www.libertatea.ro/detalii/articol/concert-live-cezar-ouatu-eurovision-438997.html |access-date=23 January 2015 |website=Libertatea (Pančevo) |archive-date=25 January 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150125131926/http://www.libertatea.ro/detalii/articol/concert-live-cezar-ouatu-eurovision-438997.html |url-status=live }} and finished in 13th place with 65 points at the end of the contest. A week later, on 25 May 2013, he performed alongside Andrea Bocelli and Angela Gheorghiu at Bocelli's concert in Romania at the Romexpo,{{Cite web |date=11 March 2013 |title=Angela Gheorghiu și Cezar Ouatu vor cânta la concertul pe care Andrea Bocelli îl va susține la București |url=http://www.romanialibera.ro/cultura/muzica/angela-gheorghiu-si-cezar-ouatu-vor-canta-la-concertul-pe-care-andrea-bocelli-il-va-sustine-la-bucuresti-295774.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130702231958/http://www.romanialibera.ro/cultura/muzica/angela-gheorghiu-si-cezar-ouatu-vor-canta-la-concertul-pe-care-andrea-bocelli-il-va-sustine-la-bucuresti-295774.html |archive-date=2 July 2013 |access-date=15 May 2013 |publisher=România Liberă |language=ro}} which led to a collaboration with Vangelis.{{Cite web |date=19 May 2013 |title=Eurovision 2013: Vangelis îl apreciază pe Cezar Ouatu |url=http://www.romaniatv.net/eurovision-2013-vangelis-il-apreciaza-pe-cezar-ouatu_80316.html |access-date=23 January 2015 |publisher=Romania TV |archive-date=23 January 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150123090642/http://www.romaniatv.net/eurovision-2013-vangelis-il-apreciaza-pe-cezar-ouatu_80316.html |url-status=live }}

In 2018, he auditioned for the UK X Factor.{{Cite web |date=22 September 2018 |title=Who is X Factor hopeful Cezar Ouatu? |url=https://metro.co.uk/2018/09/22/who-is-x-factor-hopeful-cezar-oautu-and-where-have-you-seen-him-before-7967089/ |access-date=22 September 2018 |archive-date=22 September 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180922230121/https://metro.co.uk/2018/09/22/who-is-x-factor-hopeful-cezar-oautu-and-where-have-you-seen-him-before-7967089/ |url-status=live }}

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• [https://web.archive.org/web/20150123090435/http://cezarouatu.com/index.php Official Florin Cezar Ouatu web page]
• [http://www.opernglas.de/ePAPER/ePAPER-Ausgabe-10-2011.html Das Opernglas, ePaper Ausgabe 10/2011] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150123090337/http://www.opernglas.de/ePAPER/ePAPER-Ausgabe-10-2011.html |date=23 January 2015 }}
• [https://web.archive.org/web/20121104211007/http://www.liceubarcelona.cat/en/el-liceu/francisco-vinas/contests-pricewinners/from-2001-to-2010.html International Singing Contest Francisco Viñas, Prize winners 2001–2010]
• [http://www.operatoday.com/content/2008/04/a_cut_too_farth.php Sue Loder, "A Cut Too Far…..the new Giulio Cesare in Lausanne". Opera Today, 22 April 2008]

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Category:1980 births

Category:People from Ploiești

Category:Operatic countertenors

Category:21st-century Romanian male opera singers

Category:Romanian pianists

Category:Living people

Category:Articles containing video clips

Category:Male pianists

Category:21st-century Romanian pianists

Category:Milan Conservatory alumni

Category:Eurovision Song Contest entrants