Hanna Pakarinen

Hanna Pakarinen performing at the German embassy in Helsinki on May 10, 2007

Hanna Helena Pakarinen (born April 17, 1981 in Lappeenranta ) is a Finnish pop singer who won the first season of the Finnish version of the talent show Pop Idol in 2004 . She achieved international fame as the representative of Finland at the Eurovision Song Contest 2007 in Helsinki.

Career

Hanna Pakarinen grew up in the east of Finland, near the border with Russia in the city of Lappeenranta. She currently lives in Helsinki . Prior to their participation in the talent show Idols , she worked as a forklift driver at a paper mill. During this time she gained her first musical experience in various local rock bands. Together with the group "Rained" she released several albums and singles as a singer.

In 2003, she qualified to participate in the first season of Idols . According to her own statement, she decided to participate when she saw an advertisement for the show and thought that there is nothing left in her life and that it is her chance for a breakthrough, as the professional jury can judge whether she can sing or not . On January 9, 2004, she competed in the final of the show against Jani Wickholm and presented the songs The Best by Tina Turner and Eternal Flame from the Bangles . It received a total of 431,000 out of 713,000 votes (60%). She won € 30,000 and a record deal with Sony BMG . Then she presented the song Tulin voittamaan , composed especially for the show winner .

Pakarinen at the Eurovision Song Contest 2007

Her first single, Love Is Like a Song, is an English version of Tulin voittamaan , entered the Finnish charts at number 1 and was awarded gold . On June 9, 2004, their debut album When I Become Me was released , which occupied number 2 in the charts for several weeks and was awarded platinum . The follow-up album, Stronger , was released on September 7, 2005 and reached number 2 in the album charts and gold status. The decoupled single Kiss Of Life also entered the charts. Her current album Lovers was released on February 14, 2007 and also achieved gold status. It reached number 3 on the Finnish charts.

On February 17, 2007 she was elected to represent Finland at the Finnish qualification at the Eurovision Song Contest 2007 in Helsinki. On May 12th, she presented the song Leave me alone there , with which she took 17th place.

Discography

Chart positions Explanation of the data

Albums

When I Become Me   FI 2  platinum 25/2004 (17 weeks) Stronger   FI 2  gold 37/2005 (7 weeks) Lovers   FI 3  gold 08/2007 (15 weeks) Love In A Million Shades   FI 7th 04/2009 (5 weeks) Paper pulling tytär   FI 9 43/2010 (4 weeks) Olipa kerran elämä   FI 9 35/2013 (4 weeks) Synnyin, elän, kuolen   FI 11 37/2016 (2 weeks)

Singles

Love Is Like A Song   FI 1  gold 10/2004 (14 weeks) Kiss of Life   FI 4th 28/2005 (2 weeks)

Albums

• 2004: When I Become Me (Sony BMG)
• 2005: Stronger (Sony BMG)
• 2007: Lovers (Sony BMG)
• 2009: Love in a million shades
• 2010: Paperimiehen Tytär

Singles

• 2004: Love Is Like a Song
• 2004: Heaven
• 2004: Fearless
• 2004: How Can I Miss You
• 2004: When I Become Me
• 2005: Kiss of Life
• 2005: Stronger Without You
• 2005: Damn You
• 2007: Go Go
• 2007: Leave Me Alone
• 2007: Hard Luck Woman
• 2007: Black Ice

Web links

Commons : Hanna Pakarinen  - Collection of pictures, videos and audio files

• Official website
• Hanna Pakarinen on MySpace
• Hanna Pakarinen at Discogs (English)
• Hanna Pakarinen in the Internet Movie Database (English)

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Official biography of Pakarinen's website
2. ↑ personal.inet.fi ( memento of the original from April 23, 2007 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.  
3. ↑ Interview ( Memento of the original from May 10, 2007 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. eurovision.tv  
4. ↑ Complete results of the Finnish selection
5. ↑ Distribution of points at the Eurovision 2007
6. ↑ Charts FI
7. ↑ Music Sales Awards: FI