Saara Aalto Is a singer, songwriter and actress of dubbing born in Oulunsalo, Finland, on May 2, 1987 [1] . As an interpreter, he participated in the first season of The Voice of Finland in 2012, where he won second place [2] .
He competed twice for the representation of Finland in the competition of singing Eurovision, in 2011 and 2016 respectively, obtaining the second place in both occasions [3] . In 2016 managed to arrive at the end of the British version of The X Factor, in its thirteenth edition, in which lost before the singer Matt Terry.
Early Years
Saal Aalto was born on 2 May 1987 in the town of Oulunsalo, Finland, a municipality with less than 10,000 inhabitants located 10 kilometers south of Oulu (Finland's fifth largest city in terms of population).
Saara is the granddaughter of visual artist and Finnish documentary director Eeli Aalto [4] . She is the niece of Simo Aalto, a magician born in Finland who in 2000 won the World Magic Championship in the category"foreground" [5] .
Aalto showed musical inclination from very young, composing his first song at the age of five years. She participated and won in the children's singing contest Kotka Maritime Festival at the age of 11, playing a song composed by herself.
She represented Finland at the Golden Stag International Singing Competition in Romania in 2004, before graduating from Madetoja Music High School in 2005. After completing her secondary education, Saara Aalto moved to Helsinki and enrolled in the Sibelius Academy at the same time he studied singing at the Helskinki Pop & Jazz Conservatory.
Musical career
Saara Aalto participated in the Finnish version of the series Got Talent,"Talent Suomi" [6] , Where he got to be part of the group of 8 finalists and obtained the recognition of the judges for his singing and piano act.
In 2008 he entered the musical theater, participating in the production of High School Musical 1 and 2 during 2008 and 2009 in the Theater of the City of Helsinki. During 2010 and 2011 she played the role of Dorothy in the musical Wicked.
In 2011 he was part of the selection process for the representation of Finland in the Eurovision Song Contest for the first time. It obtained the second place, 40.7% of the televotes, with a subject of its authorship,"Blessed with Love". Paradise Oskar achieved first place and represented Finland that year with the theme"Da Da Dam".
After her participation,"Blessed with Love", the subject of Aalto, was published as a single by the label Yume Records, founded by herself and her boyfriend in 2011.
Saara Aalto participated for the second time in the Finnish play-off for the Eurovision Song Contest in 2016. He again took second place by interpreting a theme of his own inspiration called"No Fear". Despite having won the majority of the votes, the judges' vote did not favor her and she lost to the singer Sandhja, who represented Finland that year with the song"Sing It Away."
Following his participation in the Eurovision round, Aalto recorded a Mandarin language version of his song"Blessed with Love"titled"Ai De Zhu Fu". Due to the great acceptance of this version, it records an album directed to the public of China with the same title of the simple one and in which it interprets 9 subjects in Mandarin language.
In 2012, Aalto participated in the first season of the television show The Voice of Finland. During the stage of blind auditions she interpreted the subject"Taking Chances", original of Celine Dion. It obtained the unanimous approval of the judges, who turned their chairs during the interpretation.
Saara Aalto advanced during the season of The Voice of Finland until the end, where it interpreted the subject"I'm Gonna Be Strong"of Frankie Laine as well as an original subject titled"My Love". Mikko Sipola was the winner in the final, leaving Aalto with second place.
In the year 2016 Saara Aalto participated in the British show The X Factor UK, during its thirteenth edition. Under the guidance of series Judge Sharon Osbourne, she performed"Let It Go","River Deep - Mountain High","It's Oh So Quiet","Bad Romance","Sound of the Underground" You Are","No More Tears","My Heart Will Go On","Diamonds Are Forever","Diamonds Are a Girl's Best Friend","White Christmas"and"All I Want for Christmas Is You".
On December 10, 2016, during the final three rounds, he performed"Everybody Wants to Rule the World"as well as"Bohemian Rhapsody", the latter to duet with American singer Adam Lambert.
During the final on December 11, 2016, playing"It's Oh So Quiet"and"I Did not Know My Own Stregth"was defeated by Matt Terry, who got 40.4% of the vote and won first place.
After his participation in The X Factor UK, the singer Adam Lambert [7] And British band Clean Bandit have expressed interest in collaborating with Aalto.
Discography
Saara Aalto has 4 albums published during his career. Blessed With Love was released on May 11, 2011 and reached number 32 on Finland's popularity list. Enkeleitä - Angels was released on November 9, 2011, reaching number 37 on the list.
You Had My Heart, released on May 24, 2013, reached number 43. Tonight, published on April 8, 2015 and collaborating with Teemu Roivainen, reached number 19.
In addition, Saal Aalto published the album Ai De Zhu Fu, with 9 songs in Mandarin language, on August 29, 2013 and achieved the number 3 spot on China's popularity list. All the publications of Aalto have been in charge of its seal Yume Records Oy.
Voice actress
In addition to her musical career, Saara Aalto has performed as a dubbing actress, giving Finnish voice to different movie characters.
His first work in the dubbing was in 2008, with the tape The Tale of Despereaux, giving voice to the personage Princess Pea. In 2010 she played Alice, the central character in Disney's Alice in Wonderland. In 2011 he doubled to Umi in the band From up on Poppy Hill and in 2012 he interpreted the songs of the film Brave of Pixar. Their next paper was of Tooth Fairy in the film of the same year The Origin of the Guardians.
In 2013 and 2015, respectively, she gave voice to Anna in the film Frozen and the short film Frozen Fever, both of Pixar studio.
In addition to her film dubbing, Saal Aalto has given voice to various characters in the television series Bubble Guppies, Pokémon, Winx Club, Hey Duggee, Rocka-Bye Island and K3.
Personal life
Saara Aalto had a romantic relationship with Finnish singer-songwriter Teemu Roivainen for 9 years. Rivainen founded the record label Yume Records, which has published the singer's various albums, along with Aalto. He also appears credited as an author on several of the themes interpreted by the artist.
The couple ended their relationship in 2013. According to Aalto's own statements, she still maintains a good relationship with Roivainen after her breakup and continues her artistic collaboration.
Until December of 2016, Saal Aalto maintains a homosexual relation and is committed in marriage with Meri Sopanen, who before being related to Aalto was a fanatic of the singer. Through messages on Facebook, Sopanen managed to communicate with Aalto and begin a relationship after meeting personally at the end of one of his concerts.
In addition to his fiancee, Meri Sopanen currently serves as manager of the artist [8] .
References
[1] Saara Aalto., (S.f.). In Wikipedia. Recovered on December 14, 2016.
[2] The Voice of Finland, Season 1, (s.f.). In Wikipedia. Recovered on December 14, 2016.
[3] Barclay, S. (2016). The Complete & Independent Guide to the Eurovision Song Contest 2016.
[4] Eeli Aalto. IMDB. Recovered on December 14, 2016.
[5] Simo Aalto Magic. Recovered on December 14, 2016.
[6] Lets Fdoit. October 13, 2016. Talent Suomi Saara Aalto, Audition [Video file].
[7] Adam Lambert hints at collaboration with X Factor runner-up Saar Aalto. Recovered on December 14, 2016.
[8] X Factor finalist Saara Aalto reveals she dumped her boyfriend of nine years to start a lesbian relationship with a superfan. Recovered on December 14, 2016.