Tó Cruz (born António José Ramos da Cruz; 9 July 1967 in
Lisbon) is a Portuguese singer of Cape Verdean descent, best known for his participation in the 1995
Eurovision Song Contest.
Biography
Cruz started out as a studio backing singer and
voiceover performer for television and radio commercials. In 1995, he entered the Portuguese Eurovision selection, Festival da Canção, with the song '"
Baunilha e chocolate" ("Vanilla and Chocolate"), and was the clear winner with the regional juries.[1] "Baunilha e chocolate" went forward to the
40th Eurovision Song Contest, held on 13 May in
Dublin. Cruz's performance was professional, but the song itself did not prove popular with the juries, finishing in 21st place of the 23 entries after receiving points only from France and
Greece. This was Portugal's lowest Eurovision placement at the time.[2]
Cruz provides the voice of Quasimodo in the Portuguese version of
Disney's The Hunchback of Notre Dame, the singing voice of Dodger in Oliver and Company, and Garrett in Quest for Camelot. His first album, Alma nua, was released in 1998, followed two years later by Camaleão, but neither sold well. In 2001, Cruz moved to the United States, where he recorded an English-language album under the name of António TC Cruz.
Returning to Portugal, Cruz provided more voiceover work for Disney's 2007 film Enchanted and has sung with artists such as
Laura Pausini, Paulo de Carvalho and Rão Kyao.