Kudai

Kudai is a Chilean pop rock group founded in Santiago, Chile. Its original members were Tomás Cañas, Pablo Holman, Nicole Natalino and Bárbara Sepúlveda. In 2006 Nicole Natalino left the group citing personal reasons, and was replaced by Ecuadorian Gabriela Villalba. The band's name comes from the Mapudungun word küdaw, meaning "work."

The group is hugely popular mostly among teenagers in South America, the Caribbean, Panamá, Central America, and Mexico, though they rank highly among teenagers in Canada, the United Kingdom and the United States as well.

Biography.-

Kudai was formed in the year 2000, when a band of children was put together to sing tribute songs of Italian hits of the '80s. This band was called "Ciao", and produced only one disc with relative success. Afterwards, they begun to perform group-submitted songs and musical interpretation of diverse instruments and changed their name to "Kudai". This word comes from the mapudungun kudau (meaning young worker). Kudai released their first album "VUELO" (Spanish for flight) in 2004, and their first single "Sin Despertar" quickly escalated to the first places of Chilean music rankings. Soon they released their second single "Ya Nada Queda", which achieved great success as did their third single "Escapar". "VUELO" became platinum in August 2005.

Kudai was nominated for "Best Artist—Central Region" and "Best New Artist—Central Region" in the MTV Video Music Awards Latin America 2005. They released their first DVD, which included their 2004-2005 Tour, in September 2005. They are successful all over South America and Mexico.

In 2006 they recorded their second album. It's single "Déjame Gritar" reached number 1 at Latin MTV's TRL "Los 10 + Pedidos". They also released a video for "Quiero Mis Quinces"

During their promotional tour Nicole Natalino left the group, and she was replaced temporarily by Gabriela Villalba, an ecuatorian singer who was part of an Ecuadorian group called "Kiruba". Gabriela was part of Kudai's tour opening act. Villalba became a permanent member of the group, and now contributes to the group's excellent trajectory.

They also perform the theme for the MTV Latin America's show "Quiero mis Quinces" (English:"My Super Sweet 15").

They re-record their second album after the defarture of Nicole Natalino and released on September 26 the new album featuring Gabriela's voice.

On October 19, 2006 the group won the MTV VMA Latin America award for "Best Pop Artist", which they dedicated to their fans and Nicole, ex-member of the group. After the success of the group, they were invited to the Viña del Mar Festival that was celebrated on February, 2007.

They moved to Mexico to launch their international career and leaving Chile. To say goodbye to their country, they played at Festival of Viña del Mar.

2. Kudai is an industrial metal group.