Sanna Viktoria Nielsen (born 27 November 1984) is a Swedish singer, television presenter and musical theatre performer.[1] On her seventh attempt, she won Melodifestivalen in 2014 with the song "Undo" and so represented Sweden in the Eurovision Song Contest 2014 in Copenhagen, Denmark, finishing in 3rd place overall. Sanna was one of the Eurovision Song Contest 2015 commentators for Sweden and hosted Melodifestivalen 2015 along with comedian Robin Paulsson. She was announced as the new presenter for the sing-along show Allsång på Skansen for the summer of 2016. She hosted Eurovision The Party at the Tele2 Arena for the Eurovision Song Contest 2016.

Sanna Nielsen
Sanna Nielsen in 2014
Sanna Nielsen in 2014
Background information
Birth nameSanna Viktoria Nielsen
Born (1984-11-27) 27 November 1984 (age 40)
Edenryd, Sweden
Genres
Occupations
  • Singer
  • television presenter
  • musical theatre performer
Years active1996–present
LabelsWarner, Parlophone

Career

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Nielsen was born and grew up in the town of Edenryd in Bromölla Municipality, Skåne. Her paternal grandfather was a Dane from Århus.[2] Nielsen's career started at several talent searches, the first being in 1992 in Olofström. In 1994 she participated in a talent search in Kallinge and won with the song "Can You Feel the Love Tonight". Nielsen performed with the danceband Mats Elmes between 1995 and 1996 at the age of eleven.[3][full citation needed]

 
Sanna Nielsen at Sommarkrysset in 2008.

At the same time she reached the number one spot on the Svensktoppen chart with the song "Till en fågel".[4] Nielsen became the youngest person to reach number one at the chart.[5]

In September 1996, Nielsen's debut album "Silvertoner" was released.[6] A reviewer of the album for Göteborgs-Posten compared Nielsen to Carola Häggkvist and Sissel Kyrkjebø.[7] During the following years Nielsen released the album Min önskejul in 1997 and the single "Time to Say Goodbye" in 1999.[8] During her high school years, she studied the Estetichal programme[clarification needed] and music at Helenehoms Gymnastin in Malmö.[9]

In December 2001, Nielsen participated in a Christmas tour along with Christer Sjögren, Sten Nilsson and Charlotte Perrelli.[10] In 2002 she toured with Roger Pontare and in December the same year she participated in a Christmas concert with Kalle Moraeus and Tito Beltran in both 2003 and 2004.[11]

In February 2006, her second solo music album Nära mej, nära dej was released with lyrics and music by Fredrik Kempe and Marcos Ubeda.[12] In July–August 2007 she was on a new music tour called Sommar, Sommar, Sommar along with Shirley Clamp and Sonja Aldén.[13] In April 2008 the album Stronger was released, an album completely in English language, the first time Nielsen had such an album.[14] The same year the album Our Christmas was released, containing Christmas songs along with Shirley Clamp and Sonja Aldén.[15]

In 2011, she released the album I'm In Love. In December 2013 Nielsen released her seventh studio album called Min jul, which contains Christmas songs.[16]

Participation in Melodifestivalen

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Nielsen has participated seven times in Melodifestivalen, Sweden's annual music competition and national selection for the Eurovision Song Contest. She made her debut in 2001 performing "I går, i dag", which finished third.[4] She returned to the contest again in 2003 with "Hela världen för mig" finishing fifth. After a one-year break, Nielsen returned again in Melodifestivalen 2005 with "Du och jag mot världen", this time as a duet with Fredrik Kempe, which finished eighth.[17]

2007

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On 3 March 2007, Nielsen participated in Melodifestivalen again with "Vågar du, vågar jag".[4][18] During the Second Chance round, the song qualified for the final at the Stockholm Globe Arena on 10 March 2007, where the song ended up in seventh place after the final of Melodifestivalen 2007.

2008

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Nielsen participated in Melodifestivalen 2008, performing "Empty Room", written and composed by Bobby Ljunggren and Aleena Gibson. She reached the final from the Västerås semifinal on 16 February 2008.[19] Although the song won the public televote in the final inside the Stockholm Globe Arena on 15 March, beating Charlotte Perrelli's second-placed song "Hero" by more than 50,000 votes, it was denied the chance to represent Sweden at the Eurovision Song Contest after losing out to Perrelli in the overall points-based scoring system once the jury vote was factored into the results, thus finishing only second in the final official standings.[19]

During 2008, "Empty Room" won the OGAE Second Chance Contest 2008 with a 91 points lead to runner-up Coral from Spain.

Return in 2011

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Nielsen participated in the Melodifestivalen 2011, with the song "I'm in Love".[4][20] She came first at the second semi-final which took place in Gothenburg on 12 February 2011. One month later, she finished fourth at the finale.

Melodifestivalen win and Eurovision 2014

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Sanna Nielsen performing at Eurovision 2014

Nielsen decided to return to the contest in 2014, this time with the song "Undo".[21] She competed in the second semifinal held on 8 February, in which she qualified for the final, held at the Friends Arena, Stockholm on 8 March.[15][22] She won the final and represented Sweden at the Eurovision Song Contest 2014 in Copenhagen, Denmark in the first semifinal on 6 May.[23] Nielsen made it to the final. In the final Nielsen placed third place with 218 points. That also placed Nielsen as the second highest scoring singer for Sweden at the Eurovision after Loreen in 2012. Undo became Nielsens first song to reach the UK Top 40 singles charts at place 40

After Eurovision 2014

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Sanna Nielsen performing at Stockholm Pride 2015

On 29 September 2014, Nielsen was announced as the host for Melodifestivalen 2015 along with comedian Robin Paulsson.[24]

On 10 April 2015, it was announced that Nielsen and Edward af Sillén would commentate the SVT broadcast of the Eurovision Song Contest 2015.[25]

In August 2015 it was announced by SVT that Nielsen would become the new presenter for the all-sing show Allsång på Skansen at Skansen in Stockholm in the summer of 2016.[26][27]

Nielsen returned to Eurovision when she hosted the "Eurovision The Party" event that was held at the Tele2 Arena on the night of the Eurovision Song Contest 2016 final.[28]

Sanna returned to Eurovision travelling to Lisbon in May 2018 as a commentator for the national Swedish broadcaster, Sveriges Television (SVT).

Sanna Nielsen will provide commentary for Sveriges Television (SVT) at Eurovision 2018

Personal life

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Sanna Nielsen got engaged in 2006 in Las Vegas, the couple lived in Lidingö outside Stockholm before splitting up in 2008.[29][30] She is currently living in Årsta south of Stockholm with her boyfriend Joakim Ramsell.[31] Their son was born in October 2021.

Discography

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Musical theatre

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Awards

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  • 2002 – Ulla Billquist-stipendiet, 25,000 kronor[35]
  • 2002 – Birgit Nilssons stipendium[36]
  • 2003 – Skåning of the Year[37]
  • 2008 – Song of the Year for "Empty Room" at the 2009 Gaygalan Awards[38]
  • 2008 – Lidingöbo of the Year
  • 2018-2019 – female presenter of the year

See also

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References

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  1. ^ "Sanna Nielsen". Discogs. Archived from the original on 24 April 2015. Retrieved 17 December 2014.
  2. ^ "Den handlar om hur Joakim fått mitt hjärta". Expressen. 29 April 2014. Archived from the original on 4 May 2014. Retrieved 30 April 2014.
  3. ^ Helsingborgs Dagblad 15 November 1996, page 39
  4. ^ a b c d "Sanna Nielsen om sina mammaplaner | Nöje KvP". Expressen. 13 December 2013. Archived from the original on 21 December 2013. Retrieved 5 February 2014.
  5. ^ Johan Brännström. "Det 11-åriga stjärnskottet skriver Svensktoppshistoria", Aftonbladet 25 May 1996, page 31.
  6. ^ Eva Kjeller. "Oh, vilken skiva Sanna", Aftonbladet 28 September 1996, page 45
  7. ^ Tore Ljunberg. Göteborgs-Posten 7 October 1996, page 39
  8. ^ Michael Nystås (2 February 1999). "Hon kan bli vår nästa stora stjärna" (in Swedish). Aftonbladet. p. 34. Archived from the original on 4 October 2018. Retrieved 3 October 2018.
  9. ^ "Sanna är redo att möta publiken", Helsingborgs Dagblad, 9 November 2000, page 25
  10. ^ Mikael Forsell. "16-åriga Sanna sjunger med julelefanterna", Västerbottens-Kuriren, 6 June 2001, page 15
  11. ^ Rolf Sundblad. "Sanna Nielsen årets Ulla Billquist-stipendiat", Pressens Mediaservice, 29 April 2002
  12. ^ Karin Bengtsson. "Vuxet och lite tråkigt, Sanna", Borås Tidning, 15 February 2006
  13. ^ Catharina Cavalli. "Nu får publiken höra tre tjejer på en gång", Aftonbladet 5 May 2007, page 39
  14. ^ "Sanna Nielsen: Stronger - Kultur Skivor". UNT.se. 16 April 2008. Archived from the original on 22 February 2014. Retrieved 5 February 2014.
  15. ^ a b "Här firar de sin scheger". Aftonbladet. 8 February 2014. Archived from the original on 21 February 2014. Retrieved 8 February 2014.
  16. ^ "Sweden: Sanna Nielsen releases new album". Esctoday.com. 4 December 2013. Archived from the original on 23 February 2014. Retrieved 5 February 2014.
  17. ^ "Fredrik Kempe och Sanna Nielsen – Du och jag mot världen | Melodifestivalen". Melodifestivalen.nu. 18 April 2011. Archived from the original on 22 February 2014. Retrieved 5 February 2014.
  18. ^ "Sanna Nielsen och Sonja Aldén till final - Melodifestivalen och ESC - Webbkanalen P4 Melodifest | Sveriges Radio". Sverigesradio.se. Archived from the original on 22 February 2014. Retrieved 5 February 2014.
  19. ^ a b "Sjunde gången gillt för Sanna Nielsen? - Nyheter - Tidningen Årsta-Enskede". Direktpress.se. 26 November 2013. Archived from the original on 22 February 2014. Retrieved 5 February 2014.
  20. ^ Fahl, Hanna (12 February 2011). "Brolle och Sanna Nielsen går till final". Dagens Nyheter. Archived from the original on 24 September 2015. Retrieved 5 February 2014.
  21. ^ "Sanna Nielsen om att vara favorittippad: "Jag tar aldrig någonting för givet" - Melodifestivalen". SVT.se. 27 November 1984. Archived from the original on 25 January 2014. Retrieved 5 February 2014.
  22. ^ "YOHIO först på scen – här är startordningen för Melodifestivalen 2014". Svt.se. Archived from the original on 20 December 2013. Retrieved 20 December 2013.
  23. ^ "Sanna Nielsen: "Var nog dags att jag vann"". Aftonbladet. Archived from the original on 11 March 2014. Retrieved 12 March 2014.
  24. ^ "De blir programledare i Melodifestivalen". Svenska Dagbladet. Archived from the original on 1 October 2014. Retrieved 29 September 2014.
  25. ^ "Nöjesbladet avslöjar: Sanna Nielsen och Edward af Sillén nya Eurovision-paret". Aftonbladet. Archived from the original on 14 April 2015. Retrieved 10 April 2015.
  26. ^ "SVT bekräftar: Sanna Nielsen leder Allsång". Expressen. Archived from the original on 25 December 2015. Retrieved 25 December 2015.
  27. ^ "Sanna Nielsen tar över Allsången". Sydsvenskan. Archived from the original on 25 December 2015. Retrieved 25 December 2015.
  28. ^ "Stjärnspäckad storsatsning 2016: Eurovision The Party intar Tele2 Arena". svt.se. Archived from the original on 15 March 2016. Retrieved 14 March 2016.
  29. ^ "Sanna Nielsen singel igen". Nyheter24. 2 December 2008. Archived from the original on 13 March 2014. Retrieved 12 March 2014.
  30. ^ Elisabeth Vedin. "Jag vill ha två barn", Aftonbladet 9 March 2007, page 30
  31. ^ "Den handlar om hur Joakim fått mitt hjärta". Aftonbladet. Archived from the original on 27 June 2014. Retrieved 12 March 2014.
  32. ^ "Doktor Zjivago" (in Swedish). Malmö Opera. Archived from the original on 23 May 2024. Retrieved 23 May 2024.
  33. ^ "Sanna Nielsen" (in Swedish). Malmö Opera. Archived from the original on 23 May 2024. Retrieved 23 May 2024.
  34. ^ "Funny Girl" (in Swedish). Malmö Opera. Archived from the original on 23 May 2024. Retrieved 23 May 2024.
  35. ^ Hannah Sjöström. "Grattis, Sanna Nielsen", Aftonbladet 30 April 2002, page 28
  36. ^ "Nielsen fick pris av Nilsson", Helsingborgs Dagblad 12 July 2002, page 8
  37. ^ "Sanna Nielsen blev Årets skåning", Helsingborgs Dagblad 15 July 2003, page 6
  38. ^ "Andreas blev Årets Homo". QX Sweden (in Swedish). Archived from the original on 2 September 2019. Retrieved 2 February 2009.
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  Media related to Sanna Nielsen at Wikimedia Commons

Preceded by OGAE Second Chance Contest winner
2008
Succeeded by
Preceded by Melodifestivalen winner
2014
Succeeded by
  NODES
Note 1