Sanna Nielsen

Sanna Viktoria Nielsen (born 27 November 1984) is a Swedish singer, television presenter and musical theatre performer. 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.

Career

Nielsen was born and grew up in the town of Edenryd in Bromölla Municipality, Skåne. Her paternal grandfather was a Dane from Århus. 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 in 1995 and 1996 at the age of eleven.

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

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