Hanna Pakarinen
Hanna Pakarinen | |
---|---|
Vocals | |
Years active | 2004–present |
Labels | Sony BMG (2004–present) |
Website | Official Website |
Hanna Helena Pakarinen (born 17 April 1981)
Biography
Early life
Hanna was born in Lappeenranta, South Karelia (though she now resides in Helsinki she still proudly speaks the local dialect of the region). Throughout her early twenties she worked as a forklift driver, an unusual occupation for a female, and was part of a local Finnish band named Rained.
Idols Series 1
In the summer of 2003, a twenty-three-year-old Pakarinen auditioned for the inaugural season of the Finnish singing competition
On 3 January 2004 Pakarinen secured a place in the top two grand finale of the contest, alongside Jani Wickholm. During the finale, broadcast a week later on 9 January, Pakarinen performed Tina Turner's The Best, the Bangles' Eternal Flame and the coronation song made especially for the Idols winner, Tulin Voittamaan ("I Came to Win"). She also made an English version of the song titled Love is Like a Song. Later that night, it was announced that Pakarinen had secured 60% (or 413,000) of the viewers' votes, thereby defeating runner-up Jani Wickholm, who had received 40% (or 282,000) of the public vote. Pakarinen was crowned as the first Finnish Idol and was given an advanced payment of €30,000, along with a recording contract with Sony BMG.
Post-Idols career
2004-2005: When I Become Me
Immediately after winning Idols, Pakarinen signed a recording contract with
2005–2006: Stronger
In the late summer of 2005, Pakarinen returned to the music scene with her second commercial single "Kiss Of Life", which would serve as the first single to be taken from her second album Stronger. The song debuted and peaked at number four on the Finnish singles chart, and when the album was released in September, it (like her first album) debuted and peaked at number two. Stronger was not as successful as her first album, falling to number ten within its first three weeks, however it still managed to sell almost 17,000 copies and was certified gold. The songs "Stronger Without You" and "Damn You" were chosen as promotional singles, the first of which was accompanied by a music video. To further support the album, Pakarinen travelled across Finland on her Stronger Tour, performing many songs from the new album as well as several from her previous record.
2007: Lovers and Eurovision
In January 2007, after a short break from the music industry, Pakarinen released the song "Go Go" as a promotional single from her highly anticipated third studio album. The song was accompanied by a music video which became extremely popular, and when Lovers, the third album was released on 14 February, it debuted at number three on the chart. Although it placed lower than her previous record, Lovers went on to become much more critically successful and spent over twice as many weeks on the albums chart. It was certified gold and sold 16,000 copies in Finland. The album also marked Pakarinen's personal debut as a songwriter. She is credited on six of the album's eleven original tracks.
On 17 February 2007 it was announced that Pakarinen had been chosen to represent Finland in the
Following the Eurovision Song Contest, Pakarinen returned to her music and embarked upon her Lovers Tour, again playing to sell-out audiences and receiving rave reviews for her powerful voice and stunning stage performances. On 17 October 2007 she appeared on the soundtrack of the Finnish movie Musta Jää. Pakarinen sang the title song "Black Ice", for which she made a music video to promote the movie.
2008: Love In A Million Shades
Following her highly successful Lovers album, Pakarinen took a break from the music industry in order to write material for her fourth studio album. In late 2008, Pakarien released "Make Believe" as the first single from her upcoming fourth studio album,
2010–present: Paperimiehen tytär
She recorded her first album in Finnish, which includes the singles "Paperimiehen tytär", "Miehet", and "Se yksi ainoa".
Discography
References
- ^ Proffa (22 March 2011). "Hanna Pakarinen". Suosikki. Otavamedia. Archived from the original on 8 November 2012.
- Musiikkituottajat – IFPI Finland. Archived from the originalon 2013-03-29. Retrieved 2011-06-12.
- ^ "Hanna Pakarinen MySpace". MySpace.com. Archived from the original on 2008-01-04. Retrieved 2008-04-12.
External links
- Media related to Hanna Pakarinen at Wikimedia Commons