| Anna Sahlene | |
|---|---|
| Background information | |
| Birth name | Anna Cecilia Sahlin |
| Also known as | Sahlene, Anna Sahlene, Anna Sahlin |
| Born | 11 May 1976 |
| Origin | Söderhamn, Sweden |
| Genres | Pop |
| Occupations | Singer, Actress |
| Years active | 1999–present |
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.[1] 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.[2][3] The song was very successful in the charts, not only in Estonia and Sweden but also in the other Scandinavian 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.
| Awards and achievements | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Tanel Padar, Dave Benton & 2XL with "Everybody" |
Estonia in the Eurovision Song Contest 2002 |
Succeeded by Ruffus with "Eighties Coming Back" |