Colombian singer Amparo Sandino started playing guitar at the age of eight -- a first step in the way to stardom. Sandino's passion for music allowed her to get a pedagogical degree, getting involved in the media as a jingles singer, participating in local pop/rock acts, and finally having the opportunity to join the band of Carlos Vives in 1992. Two years later, during a performance at New York's Radio City Music Hall, Amparo Sandino was discovered by a major-label executive who convinced her to start a solo career, issuing her debut album called Punto de Partida in 1996, including "Bailame," a song recorded along with French-based Gypsy Kings. In 1999, after performing at Billboard's Tenth Annual International Latin Music in Miami Beach, Sandino's second album called El Año Del Gato was released .