By Shirley Farmer 
Singer Artur Garcia, very popular in the 1960s, passed away Wednesday at Aldeia de Juzo, in Cascais, to celebrate his 84th birthday.
Contemporary and competitive Antonio Calvario – Or at least suggested by magazines at the time, like flame Or when public He composed some successes for Portuguese light music from the 1960s and 1970s, such as The secret door, Which led to the RTP da Canção Festival in 1967, the loveAnd the sad girlAnd the Blue and gold jacketAnd the With the passage of timeAnd the Velvet eyes or Leader.
Born on April 14, 1937 in Lisbon, he began singing at an early age. He was working in a ready-to-wear store in Armazéns Grandela when, motivated by colleagues, he went to test Emissora Nacional, where he entered 1955, at the age of 18, to attend the Artist Preparation Center. . In 1960 he joined Emissora Nacional and in the same year he recorded his many first albums.
In 1964, he competed in the first RTP da Canção Festival, which was called Grande Prémio TV da Canção, and won eighth place with finally. At first it was Prayer, The song that was sanctified by Antonio Calvario.
Unlike Calvário, but also two singers of the time – Madalena Iglésias and Simone de Oliveira – Artur Garcia never won a song festival. His most remembered performance was in the competition in 1967, with The secret doorWhich reached fifth place and is probably still his most famous song today.
The late 1960s marked the peak of its popularity. In 1967 he won the Portuguese-Spanish festival Aranda de Duero with Dance the world, Next year She won the Figueira da Fos Festival with Velvet eyes An achievement that was repeated with him Leader – Between 1967 and 1969, he was successively elected by popular vote “Rei da Rádio”, which led to the deposition of Antonio Calvario.
Success in Spain
He worked in many countries and was especially successful in Spain, where he became very popular. Many of his records appeared in the Spanish seal of Marfer. distance April 25 His career slowed down, but he continued acting and recording, and in 1977 he toured with Amalia Rodrigues By the United States and Canada.
Son of an amateur actor, he was also passionate about magazine theater. Debut at Teatro Maria Victória with All at the same time, 1965, and participated in many other shows, such as Seven hills or Chicken on the grill.
In 2005 he celebrated 50 years of his career with a performance in Lisbon, and in 2007 the city in which he was born awarded him the Municipal Medal of Merit within the scope of the celebrations for International Day of Theater. According to a note published by the Lisbon Chamber, Artur Garcia has recorded around 250 albums.