Saara Aalto

Saara Aalto
Birth name Saara Sofia Aalto
Born (1987-05-02) May 2, 1987
Oulunsalo, Finland
Origin Oulunsalo, Finland
Genres Pop
Occupation(s) Singer-songwriter
Instruments Vocals, piano
Years active 2004–present
Labels Yume Records
Website www.saaraaalto.com
Notable instruments
Vocals

Saara Sofia Aalto (born May 2, 1987)[1] is a Finnish singer-songwriter and voice actress. In 2011, she finished second in the selection to represent Finland in the Eurovision Song Contest 2011, with the song "Blessed With Love". She also placed second in the first season in The Voice of Finland, losing to Mikko Sipola.

Early life

Born in Oulunsalo, Finland, she focused on her musical career since her childhood. She wrote her first song at the age of five. Her close relatives include painter and documentary director Eeli Aalto and magician Simo Aalto. In 1998, at the age of 11, she won the Kotka Maritime Festival with one of her own works. She represented Finland in the Golden Star International Song Contest in Romania in 2004. She went to the Madetoja secondary school for music, where she graduated in 2005. After high school, she moved to Helsinki to study music education at Sibelius Academy. At the same time she also studied in the Helsinki Pop & Jazz Conservatory.[2]

Television

In 2007, she participated in Talent Suomi, coming in the top three.[3]

She decided to participate in the qualifying rounds to represent Finland for Eurovision 2011, with "Blessed With Love". She reached the television qualifiers and placed second to Paradise Oskar, with the song "Da Da Dam".

She participated in the Voice of Finland 2012 with the coach, Michael Monroe, placing second.[4]

In 2016, Aalto competed in Uuden Musiikin Kilpailu with the song "No Fear" in a bid to represent Finland at Eurovision Song Contest 2016. She placed second again.[5]

Musicals

She appeared in the Helsinki City Theater musical, Wicked, as Dorothy,[6] making her the only person to portray the character in any production of the musical.

Discography

Blessed With Love

Saara's debut album, Blessed With Love was released on May 11, 2011.

Tracks
  1. You Are Home
  2. Shelter
  3. Blessed with Love
  4. I Breathe You
  5. Can I Keep The Pictures?
  6. Out of Sight, Out of Mind
  7. Empty Show
  8. Letting Go
  9. Meant to Be
  10. Hope
  11. Forgiveness
  12. Ready To Go Home
  13. Cage Bird (feat. Petteri Sariola)
  14. Varpaisillaan

Angels-Angels

Angels-Angels was released in November 2011.

Tracks
  1. Me käymme joulun viettohon
  2. Varpunen jouluaamuna
  3. Enkeleitä (feat. Linda Lampenius, säv. san. Saara Aalto)
  4. Walking in the air (feat. Linda Lampenius)
  5. O Holy Night (feat. Linda Lampenius)
  6. Jul, jul, strålande jul (feat. Linda Lampenius)
  7. Pie Jesu
  8. Snowflakes (säv. san. Saara Aalto)
  9. Muistan joulun (feat. Tomi Metsäketo, säv. san. Teemu Roivainen & Leevi Lauri)
  10. En etsi valtaa loistoa

You Had My Heart

You Had My Heart was released on May 24, 2013.[7]

Tracks
  1. Intro - Life Reborn
  2. You Had My Heart
  3. Walk You Through
  4. You Gotta Go
  5. Higher
  6. My Bird
  7. Can I Keep The Pictures? (2013 version)
  8. 10 O'Clock
  9. My Love (2013 version)
  10. Without You
  11. Je Suis Malade (2013 version)

Other

In December 2011, Aalto was involved in Santa Claus Season's Greetings Song Contest, singing the Chinese version of "Blessed with Love" (Ai De Zhu Fu).[8]

Music Videos

Dubbing

Saara has been a dub-actor in a few film and television series:

Year Movie / Series Role
2008 The Tale of Despereaux Princess Pea
2010 Alice in Wonderland Alice
2011 Bubble Guppies Molly
From Up on Poppy Hill Umi
2011 - present Pokémon Iris
2012 Brave Songs
Rise of the Guardians Tooth Fairy
Winx Club Musa
2013 Frozen Anna

Personal life

Aalto had been dating the Tangoking of Finland Teemu Roivainen for 9 years when they broke up in 2013. On her 28th birthday Saara came out of closet by publishing a picture of herself and her 27-year-old girlfriend Meri Sopanen to Facebook and Instagram. The next day she told the public that she falls in love with a person and it doesn't matter if the person is a boy or a girl.

Aalto and Sopanen moved from Helsinki to Järvenpää on March 2016. Before that they got a dog, kleinspitz named Lilli (who is 3,5 months). They have also another dog, Liisa (6yo) that Meri adopted from Petersburg before she met Saara. They have been dating since autumn 2014.

References

  1. ↑ Nimimerkki. "Saara Aalto". Anna.fi. Retrieved 2013-09-04.
  2. ↑ http://www.saaraaalto.com/bio/
  3. ↑ "Saara Aalto konsertoi Helsingissä » Umami". Umami.fi. Retrieved 2013-09-04.
  4. ↑ "Voice of Finland: Riitaa laulajista! | Viihde". Iltalehti.fi. Retrieved 2013-09-04.
  5. ↑ "Ensimmäiset UMK-finalistit valittu – onko joku heistä Suomen euroviisuedustaja?". Yle. 2016-02-06. Retrieved 2016-02-07.
  6. ↑ "Audios - A Wicked and Phantom Trading Site". Wickedandphantomforlife.weebly.com. 2010-10-02. Retrieved 2013-09-04.
  7. ↑ "Saara Aalto julkaisi uuden albumin - luvassa levyllinen eeppistä rakkauspoppia - Radio Nova". Radionova.fi. Retrieved 2013-09-04.
  8. ↑ "Negative voitti joululaulukilpailun - Suomen suurlähetystö, Peking -Suomen pääkonsulaatti, Shanghai : Ajankohtaista". Finland.cn. Retrieved 2013-09-04.

External links

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the Saturday, April 23, 2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.