Maria Cristina Mel de Almeida Costa (born March 10, 1964) is a Brazilian devotional/gospel/pop singer-songwriter, Christian minister, teacher and missionary. She made her recording debut in 1990 under the guidance of Bompastor executive Isaias Costa, and became one of the most notable voice in gospel and secular media. Born primogenitus from Elmiro Nunes de Almeida and Marli Asmar de Almeida, Cristina Mel has, since early years, been sorely tested. At age 16, a stage of grief at her parents' divorce, she was invited by a friend Gopel to attend a church in Rio de Janeiro, an American Christian group, The Continental Singers an Orchestra, under the pretext of practicing English. Cristina gave her life to Jesus Christ and "saw the bitterness of her life to become a honey". New heart, new life, with forgiveness, restoration, joy and peace. Cristina Mel had born just at that moment — as reported by herself. Today, with its 20-year career, established as one of the most beautiful voices and powerful music, gospel and secular, national and international, selling over five million copies, with gold in all the burned CDs without the awards have achieved with simple platinum and double platinum. Her musical career has reached both the gospel market in Portuguese (in Brazil and abroad), as the Latin market. Cristina Mel has also produced, with special focus on whole albums, dedicated exclusively to children.