Hanna Pakarinen

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Hanna Pakarinen
Promo shot of Hanna for Stronger
Promo shot of Hanna for Stronger
Background information
Born April 17, 1981 (1981-04-17) (age 27)
Origin Lappeenranta, Finland
Genre(s) Pop, pop rock, adult contemporary
Occupation(s) Singer-songwriter
Instrument(s) Vocals
Years active 2004–present (singer-songwriter)
Label(s) Sony BMG
Website Official website
MySpace


Hanna Helena Pakarinen (born April 17, 1981 in Lappeenranta, Finland) is a Finnish pop singer who was the first winner of Finland's version of Idols in 2004.

Hanna is most famous for participating in the Eurovision Song Contest 2007 although she is well known in Finland and the majority of Continental Europe.

Contents

[edit] History

Hanna was born in Lappeenranta, Eastern Finland. She proudly speaks the dialect of the region. She currently lives in Helsinki, Finland. Before she won the first Finnish Idols in 2004, she worked as a forklift driver. Pakarinen also had previous musical experience in a band called Rained.

From her first performance in the show, Hanna was one of the favourites to win. She was praised by the judges and even went so far as hugging one of them. They described her as "the first real singer in this competition".

During the finale of Idols (Finland), which was held on Friday, January 9th, 2004, Pakarinen got 431,000 votes out of 713,000, which was 60% of the total votes. The rest (40% or 282,000 votes) went to Jani Wickholm. Pakarinen received a cheque worth €30,000 and a recording contract with BMG Finland. In the finale, Pakarinen performed Tina Turner's The Best, the Bangles' Eternal Flame and the first song made for the Idols winner, Tulin Voittamaan ("I Came to Win"). Pakarinen also made an English version of the song titled Love is Like a Song.

Her debut album When I Become Me went platinum. Her second album Stronger went gold. Her third album Lovers was released on February 14, 2007 and it went gold.

[edit] Eurovision

Pakarinen performing her ESC-song "Leave Me Alone" in Helsinki.
Pakarinen performing her ESC-song "Leave Me Alone" in Helsinki.

On February 17, 2007, Pakarinen was chosen to represent Finland in the Eurovision Song Contest 2007 in Helsinki with the song Leave Me Alone. The song was directly qualified for the Final of Eurovision Song Contest in Finland on the 12th of May due to Lordi's win of last years contest. In the finals, the song received 53 points and finished 17th. However, it became a big hit in Sweden, topping the radio Tracks List for three weeks in a row. It reached number 8 in Sweden, number 11 on the Finnish Download Chart and number 122 in the UK.

[edit] 2007-Present

She performs the theme of the new Finnish movie, Musta jää (Black ice). The theme name's Black Ice. This was released on 17 October 2007. Visit http://www.mustajaa.fi for more details

[edit] Music

[edit] Albums

[edit] When I Become Me

  1. "When I Become Me" (Sarin) - 5:03
  2. "Run" (Elofsson/Thornally/Venge/Wennerberg) - 3:12
  3. "Fearless" (Finneide/Rydningen/Ziggy) - 3:21
  4. "How Can I Miss You" (Röhr/Swede) - 3:59
  5. "Ejected" (Asikainen) - 3:42
  6. "Love's Run Over Me" (Asikainen) - 4:44
  7. "Don't Hang Up" (Nylén/Rose) - 3:51
  8. "Save My Life Tonight" (Fridh/Leonard) - 4:25
  9. "Sorry" (Björk/Malm/Eklund) - 3:46
  10. "Heaven" (Adams/Vallance) - 3:53
  11. "Superhero" (Finneide/Eide) - 3:42
  12. "Love Is Like A Song" (Elofson/Kolehmainen/Lipp) - 4:02

[edit] Stronger

  1. "Out Of Tears" (Aldeheim/Leonard) - 3:25
  2. "Stronger Without You" (Landin/Larsson/Junior) - 3:27
  3. "Wasted" (Elofson/Kvint/Lindvall) - 3:32
  4. "Falling Again" (Eklund/Björk/Malm) - 3:42
  5. "Tears In Your Eyes" (Eriksson/Molin/Funemyr) - 3:55
  6. "We Don't Speak" (Hansson) - 3:41
  7. "Damn You" (Ringqvist/Gibson) - 4:17
  8. "Kiss Of Life" (Johansson/Lipp) - 4:00
  9. "Paralyzed" (Eriksson/Björk) - 3:57
  10. "One Way Or The Other" (Björk/Eklund/Krabbe) - 3:18
  11. "Run (Acoustic Studio Jam 2005)" (Elofsson/Thornally/Venge/Wennerberg) - 3:56 [Bonus Track]

[edit] Lovers

  1. "It Ain't Me" (Magnusson/Rämström/Vuorinen) - 3:35
  2. "Go Go" (Lofts/Wermerling) - 3:03
  3. "Leave Me Alone" (Vuorinen/Huttunen/Pakarinen) - 3:34
  4. "Tell Me What To Do" (Kurki/Pakarinen) - 3:53>
  5. "You Don't Even Know My Name" (Laine/Vuorinen) - 3:43
  6. "Heart Beating Steady" (Kurki/Pakarinen) - 3:24
  7. "Tears You Cry" (Korkeamäki/Kettunen) - 3:05
  8. "Free" (Kurki/Pakarinen) - 3:33
  9. "It Ain't Gonna Happen" (Korkeamäki/Pakarinen/Kettunen) - 3:09
  10. "Lovers" (Laiho/Kurki/Pakarinen) - 3:48
  11. "Hard Luck Woman" (Rake) - 4:18
  12. "Stronger Without You" (Landin/Larsson/Junior) - 3:27 [Bonus Track]
  13. "Love Is Like A Song" (Elofson/Kolehmainen/Lipp) - 4:02 [Bonus Track]

[edit] Singles

[edit] 2004

  • "Love is Like a Song" #1 FIN
  • "Heaven" (Promo)
  • "Fearless" (Promo)
  • "How Can I Miss You" (Promo)
  • "When I Become Me" (Promo)

[edit] 2005

  • "Kiss of Life" #4 FIN
  • "Stronger Without You" (Promo)
  • "Damn You" (Promo)

[edit] 2007

  • 2007 - "Go Go" (Promo)
  • 2007 - "Leave Me Alone" #8 SWE, #122 UK, (promo in Finland)
  • 2007 - "Hard Luck Woman" (Promo)
  • 2007 - "Black Ice" (Promo)

[edit] Music videos

Preceded by
Lordi		 Finland in the Eurovision Song Contest
2007		 Succeeded by
Teräsbetoni

[edit] External links