Anna Abreu
| Anna Abreu | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Background information | |
| Birth name | Anna Eira Margarida Mourão de Melo e Abreu |
| Born | February 7, 1990 |
| Origin | Vantaa, Finland |
| Genres | Pop, R&B, Dance |
| Instruments | Vocals |
| Years active | 2006–present |
| Labels |
Warner Bros. (2012-present) RCA (2007–2012) |
| Associated acts | Ari Koivunen, Antti Tuisku, Kristiina Brask, Christopher, Gracias |
| Website | Official website |
Anna Abreu (Anna Eira Margarida Heiskari, née Mourão de Melo e Abreu born on 7 February 1990) is a Finnish-Portuguese singer who rose to fame as the runner-up of the third series of the Finnish singing talent show Idols in 2007. Her music is primarily pop, though her songs also have R&B, dance and Latin rhythms to them. Since her participation in Idols, Abreu has become one of the best-selling Finnish Idols contestants and one of the most successful Finnish female singers, with certified record sales surpassing 190,000 copies, which places her also among the 100 best-selling music artists of all time in Finland.[1]
Biography
1990–2005: Early life
Abreu's Portuguese father Paulo lives in Sintra, Portugal, while she and her Finnish mother Liisa live in Vantaa. Abreu has a brother Emil, who is four years older than she is. As a young girl she lived in Portugal and outside music, her other hobbies include reggaeton-dance and playing the violin. Abreu became multilingual at a young age, being fluent in Finnish, Portuguese, English, Spanish and a little Swedish.
2006–2007: Idols Series 3
In the summer of 2006, Abreu auditioned for the third season of the singing competition Finnish Pop Idol in the Finnish capital, Helsinki. She sang the Alicia Keys hit "Fallin'" and "Jumala" by Finnish rock band Apulanta. The contest's four judges were all impressed by the power and conviction of her voice, especially as Abreu was only sixteen years old. She passed through to the theatre rounds of the contest and then the live finals. Abreu's performances attracted heavy public support, however, during the top 5 results show, she landed in the bottom two contestants alongside Panu Larnos. Abreu survived the elimination and made it through to the live grand finale at Helsinki Ice Hall with fellow contestant Ari Koivunen, who sang exclusively in the heavy-metal genre. On April 5, 2007, Koivunen won the crown as the third Finnish Idol with 57% of the public vote, with Abreu declared as runner-up.
| Idols season 3 performances and results | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Week no. | Song choice | Original artist | Result |
| Audition (Helsinki) |
"Fallin" "Jumala" |
Alicia Keys Apulanta |
Advanced |
| Theatre Round | "Oon voimissain" "Get the Party Started" |
Vicky Rosti Pink | |
| Semi-finals | "Broken" | Seether featuring Amy Lee | |
| Top 7 | "Nothing Compares 2 U" | Sinéad O'Connor | Safe |
| Top 6 | "A Woman's Worth" | Alicia Keys | |
| Top 5 | "The First Cut Is the Deepest" | Sheryl Crow | Bottom 2 |
| Top 4 | "A Dios le Pido" "Jumala" |
Juanes Apulanta |
Safe |
| Top 3 | "Vahva" "Rakkauden haudalla" |
Irina Juice Leskinen | |
| Top 2 | "Fallin'" "I Love Rock 'n' Roll" "Solta-se O Beijo" "On the Top of the World" |
Alicia Keys Joan Jett Ala dos Namorados Ari Koivunen |
Runner-Up |
2007–2008: Anna Abreu
Following her participation in Idols, Abreu was signed to Sony BMG Finland and her Latino-inspired, debut single "End of Love" was released in July 2007. The song debuted and peaked at number eight on the singles chart[2] and was accompanied by Abreu's first music video. Her self-titled debut album, Anna Abreu, was released a month later on August 22 and was certified platinum within its first week after going straight into the chart at number one and selling 30,000 copies.[3] To date, its first week sales are among the highest in Finnish music history. The album's second single "Ivory Tower" was released in October 2007, and after initially debuting at number seventeen, the song peaked at number five in its seventh week.[4] A third single "Are You Ready" was released for promotional purposes only. In March 2008, Anna Abreu was certified double-platinum having sold over 86,000 copies.[1] In the same month at the MTV Europe Music Awards, Abreu was nominated for Best Finnish Act.
2008–2009: Now
After a sell-out tour across Finland to promote her debut album, Abreu returned to the recording studio to work on her second album. On July 31, 2008, the lead single "Vinegar" was released. Produced by Patric Sarin and Rauli Eskolin, the dance-oriented song marked a creative step away from the pop and RnB roots of Abreu's debut album. The song hit the number one spot on the Finnish charts and stayed there, not only becoming Abreu's first number one single but also one of the highest-selling singles of 2008. The second single, "Silent Despair", was released in early October, followed by the album Now on 22 October. The album became Abreu's second number one album and was certified platinum, selling over 50,000 copies. It was the highest selling album of 2008 in Finland and spawned two further singles with "Something About U" and "Come Undone", though the songs were used only for promotional purposes. In early 2009, Abreu supported Now with a cross-country tour, which like her first tour, played to sold-out venues.
It was reported that Abreu earned over 145,000 euros in 2008 through a combination of album sales, touring and public appearances, making her one of Finland's highest-earning singers.
2009–2010: Just A Pretty Face?
In August 2009, less than a year after the release of Abreu's second album, her record label Sony BMG announced that Abreu would release her third studio album later that year. The lead single "Music Everywhere" received its radio premiere on 5 August and was released five days later. After initially debuting at number four, the single rose to its peak of number two after Abreu's televised performance on the Finnish Children In Need, narrowly missing out on becoming Abreu's second number one single. Like "Vinegar" from her previous album, the single was dance-oriented, with Abreu stating that her new album would be almost completely dance and club based.
In September 2009 it was announced that Abreu and fellow Idols contestant Antti Tuisku would be embarking on a joint tour across Finland named the Pop Royalty Tour in 2010 to support their new albums. Tickets for the dates sold out within a matter of minutes and further tour dates had to be added to accommodate the huge public demand. At the same time, Abreu's record label announced that a remixed version of "Vinegar", the lead single from Abreu's second album, would be released as her debut single in the UK on 22 November. It went on to peak at number 7 on the UK Club Chart. On October 21, almost exactly one year after the release of her second album, Abreu released her third, Just A Pretty Face? in Finland. After only one day, the album was certified gold, having sold 23,000 copies in its first day of release alone. It peaked at number two on the Finnish albums chart and has since become Abreu's third consecutive platinum album. It was the sixth highest-selling album of 2009, despite only being released in October.
On April 11, 2010, Abreu performed her new promotional single "Slam" on the first series of the Finnish X Factor, which had replaced Idols, the show that had given Abreu the platform from which to launch her music career in 2007.
2010–2012: Rush
In late August 2010, Abreu announced via her official Facebook page that she had begun work on her fourth album, Rush. Abreu stated that she hoped to include a collaboration on the new album, and asked fans whom they would like to hear her duet with.[5] The first single, "Hysteria", was released on 10 January 2011.[6] Her fourth studio album was released on 30 March 2011 and debuted at number 1, becoming Abreu's third chart-topping album. The album's second single has been announced to be "Worst Part Is Over", featuring Finnish-Swedish rapper Redrama. They will perform the song on the 17 April results show of the fifth series of Idols.
2012–present: Greatest Hits and break from music
In 2011, Abreu announced that she would release a Greatest Hits album [7] before taking a break from music.[8]
Personal life
Abreu dated her fellow former Idols contestant Panu Larnos from 2007 but the relationship ended in the spring of 2009. In September of that year, she made her relationship with former model Joonas Wörlin public. The couple moved in together in November 2010 but split the following spring. In 2011, Abreu started dating Finnish professional snowboarder Lauri Heiskari and the couple became engaged in July 2012,[9] marrying on 20 June 2013.[10] Although Abreu officially took Heiskari as her surname, she continued to be known by her maiden name for subsequent music releases.
Discography
- Anna Abreu (2007)
- Now (2008)
- Just A Pretty Face? (2009)
- Rush (2011)
- Greatest Hits (2012)
- V (2014)
Tours[11]
|
Headlining
|
As supporting act
|
Awards and nominations
Emma Awards
| Year | Recipient/Nominated work | Award | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2008 | Anna Abreu | Emma Award for Female Soloist of the Year[12] | Won |
| Emma Award for Domestic Artist of the Year[13] | Nominated | ||
| Anna Abreu | Emma Award for Debut Album of the Year[13] | Nominated | |
| Emma Award for Pop Album of the Year[13] | Nominated | ||
| "End of Love" | Emma Award for Song of the Year[13] | Nominated | |
| 2009 | Anna Abreu | Emma Award for Female Soloist of the Year[14] | Won |
| Emma Award for Domestic Artist of the Year[14] | Won | ||
| Now | Emma Award for Album of the Year[15] | Nominated | |
| Emma Award for Pop Album of the Year[16] | Nominated | ||
| "Vinegar" | Emma Award for Song of the Year[17] | Nominated | |
| 2010 | Anna Abreu | Emma Award for Female Soloist of the Year[18] | Nominated |
| Emma Award for Domestic Artist of the Year[19] | Nominated | ||
MTV Europe Music Awards
| Year | Recipient/Nominated work | Award | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2008 | Anna Abreu | MTV Europe Music Award for Best Finnish Act | Nominated |
| 2011 | Anna Abreu | MTV Europe Music Award for Best Finnish Act | Nominated |
See also
References
- 1 2 "Anna Abreu" (in Finnish). Musiikkituottajat – IFPI Finland. Retrieved June 12, 2011.
- ↑ Steffen Hung. "finnishcharts.com - Anna Abreu - End Of Love". finnishcharts.com. Retrieved August 4, 2014.
- ↑ Steffen Hung. "finnishcharts.com - Anna Abreu - Anna Abreu". finnishcharts.com. Retrieved August 4, 2014.
- ↑ Steffen Hung. "finnishcharts.com - Anna Abreu - Ivory Tower". finnishcharts.com. Retrieved August 4, 2014.
- ↑ "Redirecting...". facebook.com. Retrieved August 4, 2014.
- ↑ "Redirecting...". facebook.com. Retrieved August 4, 2014.
- ↑ "www.mtv3.fi - Internet Archive Wayback Machine". web.archive.org. Retrieved August 4, 2014.
- ↑ http://starlounge.fi.msn.com/gallery.aspx?cp-documentid=159170596
- ↑ "Seiska: Anna Abreu meni kihloihin - kesähäät tulossa!". iltalehti.fi. Retrieved August 4, 2014.
- ↑ "Anna Abreu julkaisi herkän hääkuvansa - tällainen on Katri Niskasen suunnittelema upea puku - Viihde - Viihdeuutiset - Ilta-Sanomat". iltasanomat.fi. Retrieved August 4, 2014.
- ↑ "Anna Abreu Concert Setlists | setlist.fm". setlist.fm. Retrieved August 4, 2014.
- ↑ "VUODEN 2007 EMMA-VOITTAJAT!" (in Finnish). Musiikkituottajat – IFPI Finland. Archived from the original on 20 July 2011. Retrieved August 8, 2011.
- 1 2 3 4 "EHDOKKAAT" (in Finnish). Musiikkituottajat – IFPI Finland. Retrieved August 8, 2011.
- 1 2
- ↑ "VUODEN ALBUMI" (in Finnish). Musiikkituottajat – IFPI Finland. Retrieved August 8, 2011.
- ↑ "VUODEN POP-ALBUMI" (in Finnish). Musiikkituottajat – IFPI Finland. Retrieved August 8, 2011.
- ↑ "VUODEN BIISI" (in Finnish). Musiikkituottajat – IFPI Finland. Retrieved August 8, 2011.
- ↑ "VUODEN NAISSOLISTI" (in Finnish). Musiikkituottajat – IFPI Finland. Retrieved August 8, 2011.
- ↑ "VUODEN KOTIMAINEN ARTISTI" (in Finnish). Musiikkituottajat – IFPI Finland. Retrieved August 8, 2011.
External links
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