Uku Suviste

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Uku Suviste
Uku Suviste in 2013
Born	(1982-06-06) 6 June 1982 (age 42) Võru, Estonia
Occupations	Singer songwriter music producer
Musical career
Genres	Pop R&B soul funk
Instruments	Vocals Keyboard Piano Guitar Bass guitar Drums
Years active	2008–present
Musical artist
Website	ukusuviste.com

Uku Suviste (born 6 June 1982) is an Estonian singer-songwriter, pianist and music producer. He was scheduled to represent Estonia in the Eurovision Song Contest 2020 in Rotterdam, Netherlands, before cancellation of the competition that year. Instead, he represented Estonia in the Eurovision Song Contest 2021.

At the age of six, Suviste began his education in specialised music class at Tallinn School No. 21. At the same time, he started attending in Tallinn Boys Choir and in school's boy choir under the guidance of Lydia Rahula. She was also his solfeggio teacher and prepared him well for the time when he entered the Tallinn Music School. In 1997, he graduated specializing in piano.

In 2000, he graduated high school at Tallinn School No. 21 with commendations in music and P.E. After high school, he underwent eight months of military service at the Guard Battalion.

In 2001, he was admitted to the

For one and a half years starting in 2006, he studied at Berklee College of Music in Boston, Massachusetts, USA, majoring in singing, contemporary writing and music production.^[1]

Starting 2004, Suviste has participated in Uno Naissoo youth singing and music composition competition for many years. In 2004, he was awarded a special prize for his original song "Never Have To". The following year his polyphonic a cappella song "Sõbrad" ("Friends") for six-voice vocals ensemble won 2nd place. In 2008, the song "Refreshing" written by Suviste and his friend Mairo Marjamaa won the competition.^[2]

In 2005, Suviste participated in the well-known Estonian singing contest "Kaks Takti Ette" and came in 3rd place. Subsequent to the contest, he got the opportunity to work in Elmar Liitmaa's music studio "Rockhouse" as a music producer. While working in the studio and producing songs for many well-known Estonian artists, he gained valuable experience and had the opportunity to record a lot of his own original songs.

In 2005, he self-produced and released his first original CD album, titled "It’s Christmas Time".^[3]

Throughout 2006, Suviste was a part of an Estonian

In November 2008, he collaborated with the 2007 "Estonian Idol" winner

In 2010, Suviste took part in Russia's largest song contest "New Wave", finishing in 3rd place.^[1][4]

In 2012, Suviste produced the music video "Võitmatu" ("Invincible"), with the support and cooperation of the Estonian Defence Forces and the Estonian Ministry of Defence.^[5] The music video was dedicated to all the soldiers, who had served in the armed forces in Afghanistan, and to the servicemembers' families. Two guest performers made a cameo appearance in the beginning and end of the video, to also show their support for Estonian soldiers. The first was Estonian discus thrower and Olympic gold medalist Gerd Kanter, and the other was Justin Gatlin, an American sprinter and Olympic gold medalist in the 100-metre run.^[6]

In Autumn 2014, Suviste took part in the Estonian television parody show "Sinu Nägu Kõlab Tuttavalt" ("Your Face Sounds Familiar").

Suviste competed in the

Suviste has performed as an ensemble member in several stage musicals, such as Bart's "Oliver!" and Kander's "Chicago". In "West Side Story" and "Grease", however, he was cast on leading roles, Tony and Danny, respectively. In the latter, he played against Getter Jaani, who was then cast as Sandy.

2005 – won 3rd place, and best male singer.

In 2010, Suviste took part in Russia's largest song contest "New Wave" (Russian: Новая волна, translit. Novaya volna), which took place in Jūrmala, Latvia, and won 3rd place.^[4][7] There were 12,000 participants, and the contest was broadcast in 31 countries.

Suviste's father is Estonian TV producer Raivo Suviste, and his mother is Dana Suviste.^[12][13]

Dana Suviste graduated the Tallinn State Conservatory (now the Estonian Academy of Music and Theatre) under the guidance of Hendrik Krumm, specialising in classical singing.^[14]

Suviste's uncle Väino Puura and Puura's wife Sirje Puura are well-known opera singers in Estonia.^[15]

• In 2010, readers of the magazine Kroonika rated Suviste "Estonia's Sexiest Man".^[16][17]
• In late 2010, Suviste performed with dance instructor and show host Kaisa Oja in Kanal 2's Tantsud tähtedega, the local variety of "Dancing with the Stars".
• In 2011, Suviste became a patron of UNICEF Estonia.^[7]

As lead artist

As featured artist

• "Võitmatu" (2012)^[6]
• "Show me the love" (2010)^[18]
• "Valge Lumi"
  Anzhelika Agurbash and Uku Suviste (2013)^[19]
• "I wanna be the one" Uku Suviste & Kéa (2014)[20]
• "What Love Is" (2020)^[21]
• "Müüdud ja Pakitud" (2020)^[22]
• "The Lucky One" (2021)^[23]

• Uku Suviste ametlik koduleht