Sahlene
Encyclopedia
Anna Cecilia Sahlin, commonly known as Sahlene, Anna Sahlin or Anna Sahlene, is a singer from Sweden
. She was born in the Swedish town of Söderhamn
on 11 May 1976. She began her career at the young age of eleven when she had a role in the TV-series The Children of Noisy Village, based on a story by Astrid Lindgren
. Seven years later she moved to Stockholm
to start a musical career. She started to sing in a band called Rhythm Avenue.
In 1998 she left Rhythm Avenue to appear as a backing singer for Swedish stars like Eric Gadd, Carola
, Robyn
and Charlotte Nilsson. This included a slice of the action when Nilsson won the 1999 Eurovision Song Contest
in Jerusalem with the song "Take Me to Your Heaven
".
She returned to the Eurovision Song Contest
stage in 2000 as the backing singer for the Maltese entry "Desire" by Claudette Pace
.
Sahlene's first solo single in 2000 was called "The Little Voice". "The Little Voice" did not pick up enormous airplay until it was later covered by Hilary Duff
in 2004 (although the lyrics are totally different and actually gives the song the totally opposite meaning. For example Anna Sahlin sings: "The little voice in my head won't get out of bed with you." Hilary Duff sings: "The little voice in my head just won't let me get with you").
Three videos were made for the album: "Fifth Element"; "The Little Voice", landing in the top 5 of MTV Nordic
's most played list; and "Fishies", filmed on location in Sardinia
, Italy
. Unfortunately, The Little Voice album was never released due to EMG's buyout of Roadrunner Arcade Music and its eventual fall into bankruptcy.
But this did not mean the end of Sahlene's career. In 2002, one of their most famous singers of Estonia
, Ines
, did not want to sing the song "Runaway
" in the national pre-selections for the Eurovision Song Contest
. Sahlene accepted the offer to sing, and won the national finals. Thus, she once again participated in the Eurovision Song Contest, this time as a principal singer, and she secured third place for Estonia. The song was very successful in the charts, not only in Estonia and Sweden but also in the other Scandinavia
n and Baltic countries
, and even in Switzerland
and France
.
Most of the tracks from the Little Voice album were released on a new album in April 2003. The album of course also includes "Runaway".
She participated in the first semi-final of Melodifestivalen 2006
, under the name Anna Sahlene, with the song "This Woman". However, her fifth-place spot in the semi-final ended her chances of representing her native country.
Anna was one of the contestants on the 2007 season of the Swedish TV show Let's Dance on TV4. Anna was voted off the show, losing to Lasse Brandeby
.
She, alongside Maria Haukaas Storeng
, participated in the fourth semi-final of Melodifestivalen 2009
with the song Killing Me Tenderly. They placed seventh, failing to advance further in the competition.
Sweden
Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....
. She was born in the Swedish town of Söderhamn
Söderhamn
Söderhamn is a locality and the seat of Söderhamn Municipality, Gävleborg County, Sweden with 12,056 inhabitants in 2005.The most popular tourist attraction is Oskarsborg, a tower built in 1895 on the top of a hill close to the town centre. The tower is built as a memorial over a visit of king...
on 11 May 1976. She began her career at the young age of eleven when she had a role in the TV-series The Children of Noisy Village, based on a story by Astrid Lindgren
Astrid Lindgren
Astrid Anna Emilia Lindgren , 14 November 1907 – 28 January 2002) was a Swedish author and screenwriter who is the world's 25th most translated author and has sold roughly 145 million copies worldwide...
. Seven years later she moved to Stockholm
Stockholm
Stockholm is the capital and the largest city of Sweden and constitutes the most populated urban area in Scandinavia. Stockholm is the most populous city in Sweden, with a population of 851,155 in the municipality , 1.37 million in the urban area , and around 2.1 million in the metropolitan area...
to start a musical career. She started to sing in a band called Rhythm Avenue.
In 1998 she left Rhythm Avenue to appear as a backing singer for Swedish stars like Eric Gadd, Carola
Carola Häggkvist
Carola Maria Häggkvist , better known as simply Carola, is a Swedish singer and occasional songwriter. She has been among Sweden's most popular performers since the early 1980s, and has released albums ranging from pop and disco to hymns and folk music...
, Robyn
Robyn
Robin Miriam Carlsson , better known by her stage name Robyn, is a Swedish recording artist, singer, and songwriter. Robyn became known in the late nineties for her worldwide dance-pop hit "Do You Know " from her debut album Robyn Is Here . She co-wrote the song "Du gör mig hel igen" for...
and Charlotte Nilsson. This included a slice of the action when Nilsson won the 1999 Eurovision Song Contest
Eurovision Song Contest
The Eurovision Song Contest is an annual competition held among active member countries of the European Broadcasting Union .Each member country submits a song to be performed on live television and then casts votes for the other countries' songs to determine the most popular song in the competition...
in Jerusalem with the song "Take Me to Your Heaven
Take Me to Your Heaven (song)
"Take Me to Your Heaven" was the winner of the Eurovision Song Contest 1999 performed in English by Charlotte Nilsson representing Sweden...
".
She returned to the Eurovision Song Contest
Eurovision Song Contest
The Eurovision Song Contest is an annual competition held among active member countries of the European Broadcasting Union .Each member country submits a song to be performed on live television and then casts votes for the other countries' songs to determine the most popular song in the competition...
stage in 2000 as the backing singer for the Maltese entry "Desire" by Claudette Pace
Claudette Pace
Claudette Pace is a Maltese singer born in Naxxar in 1968.Claudette Pace has participated in many local and international song festivals, and won several prestigious awards. In 1995, Claudette won the Best female artist award at the Malta Music Awards, an award she has been nominated for almost...
.
Sahlene's first solo single in 2000 was called "The Little Voice". "The Little Voice" did not pick up enormous airplay until it was later covered by Hilary Duff
Hilary Duff
Hilary Erhard Duff is an American actress, singer-songwriter, entrepreneur, and author. After working in local theater plays and television commercials in her childhood, she achieved fame playing the title role in the Disney Channel television series Lizzie McGuire. She also reprised her role in...
in 2004 (although the lyrics are totally different and actually gives the song the totally opposite meaning. For example Anna Sahlin sings: "The little voice in my head won't get out of bed with you." Hilary Duff sings: "The little voice in my head just won't let me get with you").
Three videos were made for the album: "Fifth Element"; "The Little Voice", landing in the top 5 of MTV Nordic
MTV Nordic
MTV Nordic was a pan-European cable television network launched on June 5, 1998. A 24-hour English-language network aimed at viewers in the Nordic countries and other European territories. Between 1998 and 2006 MTV Nordic served the majority of European territories under the branding MTV Europe &...
's most played list; and "Fishies", filmed on location in Sardinia
Sardinia
Sardinia is the second-largest island in the Mediterranean Sea . It is an autonomous region of Italy, and the nearest land masses are the French island of Corsica, the Italian Peninsula, Sicily, Tunisia and the Spanish Balearic Islands.The name Sardinia is from the pre-Roman noun *sard[],...
, Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
. Unfortunately, The Little Voice album was never released due to EMG's buyout of Roadrunner Arcade Music and its eventual fall into bankruptcy.
But this did not mean the end of Sahlene's career. In 2002, one of their most famous singers of Estonia
Estonia
Estonia , officially the Republic of Estonia , is a state in the Baltic region of Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland, to the west by the Baltic Sea, to the south by Latvia , and to the east by Lake Peipsi and the Russian Federation . Across the Baltic Sea lies...
, Ines
Eda-Ines Etti
Eda-Ines Etti is a singer and celebrity in Estonia, also known for her participation in the Eurovision Song Contest 2000. Under her abbreviated stage name Ines, she was Estonia's representative for the contest in Sweden. Her song "Once in a Lifetime" received fourth place in the contest...
, did not want to sing the song "Runaway
Runaway (Eurovision song)
"Runaway" was the Estonian entry in the Eurovision Song Contest 2002, which took place in Tallinn, Estonia. It was performed in English by Sahlene...
" in the national pre-selections for the Eurovision Song Contest
Eurovision Song Contest
The Eurovision Song Contest is an annual competition held among active member countries of the European Broadcasting Union .Each member country submits a song to be performed on live television and then casts votes for the other countries' songs to determine the most popular song in the competition...
. Sahlene accepted the offer to sing, and won the national finals. Thus, she once again participated in the Eurovision Song Contest, this time as a principal singer, and she secured third place for Estonia. The song was very successful in the charts, not only in Estonia and Sweden but also in the other Scandinavia
Scandinavia
Scandinavia is a cultural, historical and ethno-linguistic region in northern Europe that includes the three kingdoms of Denmark, Norway and Sweden, characterized by their common ethno-cultural heritage and language. Modern Norway and Sweden proper are situated on the Scandinavian Peninsula,...
n and Baltic countries
Baltic states
The term Baltic states refers to the Baltic territories which gained independence from the Russian Empire in the wake of World War I: primarily the contiguous trio of Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania ; Finland also fell within the scope of the term after initially gaining independence in the 1920s.The...
, and even in Switzerland
Switzerland
Switzerland name of one of the Swiss cantons. ; ; ; or ), in its full name the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in Western Europe,Or Central Europe depending on the definition....
and France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
.
Most of the tracks from the Little Voice album were released on a new album in April 2003. The album of course also includes "Runaway".
She participated in the first semi-final of Melodifestivalen 2006
Melodifestivalen 2006
Melodifestivalen 2006 was the selection for the 46th song to represent Sweden at the Eurovision Song Contest. It was the 45th time that this system of picking a song had been used. Five semifinals had taken place to select the ten songs for the final, in Leksand, Karlstad, Karlskrona, Gothenburg...
, under the name Anna Sahlene, with the song "This Woman". However, her fifth-place spot in the semi-final ended her chances of representing her native country.
Anna was one of the contestants on the 2007 season of the Swedish TV show Let's Dance on TV4. Anna was voted off the show, losing to Lasse Brandeby
Lasse Brandeby
-External links:...
.
She, alongside Maria Haukaas Storeng
Maria Haukaas Storeng
The following article is a discography of albums and singles released by Norwegian artist Maria Mittet.-Albums:2011: , med Oslo Gospel Choir-Singles:-Featured-on albums:*1991 "Annie" - den norske suksessversjonen...
, participated in the fourth semi-final of Melodifestivalen 2009
Melodifestivalen 2009
Melodifestivalen 2009 was a Swedish song contest held between February and March 2009. It was the selection for the 49th song to represent Sweden in the Eurovision Song Contest, and was the 48th edition of Melodifestivalen...
with the song Killing Me Tenderly. They placed seventh, failing to advance further in the competition.