Soluna Samay

Last updated
Soluna Samay
7399Soluna Samay.JPG
Background information
Born (1990-08-27) 27 August 1990 (age 32)
Guatemala City, Guatemala
Origin Bornholm, Denmark
Genres Pop, rock, acoustic pop, acoustic rock, pop rock, soft rock, folk rock
Years active2001 (2001)–present (present)
LabelsBaltic Records
Website solunasamay.com

Soluna Samay Kettel[ pronunciation? ] (born 27 August 1990, Guatemala City, Guatemala) is a Guatemalan-Danish singer of Swiss and German origin based in Denmark. Samay represented Denmark in the Eurovision Song Contest 2012 in Baku, Azerbaijan with her entry "Should've Known Better."

Contents

Early life

Soluna Samay Kettel was born in Guatemala City, Guatemala to a German father, musician Gerd G. Kettel (stage name Gee Gee Kettel) and a Swiss mother, artist Annelis Ziegler. She grew up on the shores of Lago de Atitlán, Guatemala and attended the Robert Muller LIFE school. Soluna moved to Denmark in 2000 when her parents purchased a small farm on Bornholm, a Danish island in the Baltic Sea. Soluna is multilingual speaking fluent English, Danish, Spanish and German. Her name is derived from the Spanish words sol and luna, meaning Sun and Moon. Soluna has a Swiss passport, so, officially she is Swiss. [1]

Music career

Soluna's music career began aged 5 when she joined her father on drums and soon after began singing along. At the age of 10 she switched to electric bass, at 16 to upright bass. With her parents she spent her summers touring and playing music on the streets of Europe, and winters living in Guatemala. Soluna started to learn guitar around the age of 12, when she also wrote her first songs.

National final and Eurovision 2012

Soluna was chosen as a wildcard entry by DR1 for the Dansk Melodi Grand Prix (Danish Eurovision Song Contest), singing a song called "Should've Known Better" written by Remee, Isam B (Outlandish) and A Sulaiman and produced by Chief1. She won the Dansk Melodi Grand Prix 2012 on 21 January over Jesper Nohrstedt and Christian Brøns & Patrik Isaksson, and won the right to represent Denmark at the Eurovision Song Contest 2012.

Results from the voting of the Dansk Melodi Grand Prix 2012 [2]
#ArtistSong Flag of Norway.svg
Norway
Flag of Russia.svg
Russia
Flag of Germany.svg
Germany
Flag of Azerbaijan.svg
Azerbaijan
Flag of Denmark.svg
Denmark
Televoting Total
01Soluna Samay"Should've Known Better"101010121256110
02 Jesper Nohrstedt "Take Our Hearts"121212101046102
03 Christian Brøns & Patrik Isaksson "Venter"888884888

The song performed 13th in the first semi-final and finished 9th to qualify for the Eurovision final where she finished 23rd.

Debut album

Soluna recorded her debut album "Sing Out Loud" over a two-year period, produced by Jesper Mejlvang and Michael Friis. It was released by Baltic Records on 23 September 2011.

Discography

Gee Gee & Soluna

Soluna Samay

Albums

TitleAlbum details
Sing Out Loud
Soluna Samay
Golden

Singles

YearTitlePeak chart positionsAlbum
DEN
[3]
AUT
[4]
GER
[5]
SWI
[6]
2003"I Wish I Was a Seagull"Non-album single
2011"Two Seconds Ago"Sing Out Loud
"Should've Known Better"1515167Soluna Samay
2012"Come Again (The Quetzal)" [7] 18
"Humble"
2013"L.O.V.E (If Women Ruled the World)" [8]

Related Research Articles

Rollo & King was a Danish group, formed by Søren Poppe and Stefan Nielsen, who represented Denmark in the Eurovision Song Contest 2001. The two men named themselves after two dog names. They topped the charts with their first album Midt i en løbetid which stayed in the charts for 13 weeks in 2000–2001.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dansevise</span> 1963 song by Grethe and Jørgen Ingmann

"Dansevise" was the winning song of the Eurovision Song Contest 1963, which took place on 23 March in London. It was performed in Danish by husband and wife duo Grethe and Jørgen Ingmann, representing Denmark. This was the first entry performed by a duo to win the contest and also the first Scandinavian win.

Denmark participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 2002 with the song "Tell Me Who You Are" written by Michael Ronson. The song was performed by Malene Mortensen. The Danish broadcaster DR organised the national final Dansk Melodi Grand Prix 2002 in order to select the Danish entry for the 2002 contest in Tallinn, Estonia. Ten songs competed in a televised show where "Vis mig hvem du er" performed by Malene Mortensen was the winner as decided upon through two rounds of jury voting and public voting. The song was later translated from Danish to English for the Eurovision Song Contest and was titled "Tell Me Who You Are".

Anne Mondrup Gadegaard Jensen, better known as Anne Gadegaard, is a Danish singer and songwriter. She is best known for finishing 5th at the Junior Eurovision Song Contest 2003 while representing Denmark.

Denmark participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 2001 with the song "Never Ever Let You Go" written by Søren Poppe, Stefan Nielsen and Thomas Brekling. The song was performed by the duo Rollo and King. In addition to participating in the contest, the Danish broadcaster DR also hosted the Eurovision Song Contest after winning the competition in 2000 with the song "Fly on the Wings of Love" performed by the Olsen Brothers. DR organised the national final Dansk Melodi Grand Prix 2001 in order to select the Danish entry for the 2001 contest in Copenhagen. Ten songs competed in a televised show where "Der står et billede af dig på mit bord" performed by Rollo and King was the winner as decided upon through two rounds of jury voting and public voting. The song was later translated from Danish to English for the Eurovision Song Contest and was titled "Never Ever Let You Go".

Denmark participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 2012 with the song "Should've Known Better" written by Chief 1, Remee and Isam B. The song was performed by Soluna Samay. The Danish broadcaster DR organised the national final Dansk Melodi Grand Prix 2012 in order to select the Danish entry for the 2012 contest in Baku, Azerbaijan. Ten songs competed in a televised show where "Should've Known Better" performed by Soluna Samay was the winner as decided upon through the combination of jury voting and public voting over two rounds.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jesper Nohrstedt</span> Danish singer

Jesper Nohrstedt Boesgaard is a Danish singer. He made his debut on the Danish X Factor in 2010. Two years later he reached second place in the music contest Dansk Melodi Grand Prix; had he won, he would have represented Denmark in the Eurovision Song Contest 2012. He is currently making music with Danish producer and DJ Morten Hampenberg.

"Come Again (The Quetzal)" is a single by Danish singer Soluna Samay. It was released as a Digital download in Denmark on June 15, 2012. The song entered the Danish Singles Chart at number 18.

Denmark participated in and won the Eurovision Song Contest 2013 with the song "Only Teardrops" written by Lise Cabble, Julia Fabrin Jakobsen and Thomas Stengaard. The song was performed by Emmelie de Forest. The Danish broadcaster DR organised the national final Dansk Melodi Grand Prix 2013 in order to select the Danish entry for the 2013 contest in Malmö, Sweden. Ten songs competed in a televised show where "Only Teardrops" performed by Emmelie de Forest was the winner as decided upon through the combination of jury voting and public voting over two rounds.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">L.I.G.A</span> Danish urban pop trio

L.I.G.A is a Danish urban pop trio formed in 2012 made up of Nicky Russell, Feras Agwa and Ihan Haydar. They are signed to RE:A:CH and for distribution with Universal Music in Denmark. After Feras Agwa leaving in 2015, the formation continued as a duo consisting of Nicky Russell and Ihan Haydar.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Carl Espen</span> Musical artist

Carl Espen Thorbjørnsen, better known as simply Carl Espen, is a Norwegian singer and songwriter, who represented Norway in the Eurovision Song Contest 2014. He performed his song "Silent Storm".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Anti Social Media</span> Danish pop rock band

Anti Social Media is a Danish pop rock band that represented Denmark in the Eurovision Song Contest 2015 with the song "The Way You Are". The group consists of Philip Thornhill, Nikolaj Tøth, David Vang and Emil Vissing.

This is a list of Danish television related events from 2012.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kjetil Mørland</span> Musical artist

Kjetil Mørland, better known as simply Mørland, is a Norwegian singer and songwriter. He represented Norway in the Eurovision Song Contest 2015 along with Debrah Scarlett with his song "A Monster Like Me".

Joanna Deborah Bussinger, known professionally as Debrah Scarlett and as of 2019 known under the moniker Red Moon, is a Norwegian-Swiss singer and songwriter. She represented Norway in the Eurovision Song Contest 2015 along with Mørland with the song "A Monster Like Me". She competed on the Norwegian version of The Voice in 2013. Since 2020, she has been releasing music as Red Moon.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lighthouse X</span> Danish pop group

Lighthouse X was a Danish boyband consisting of Søren Bregendal, Johannes Nymark and Martin Skriver.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rasmussen (singer)</span> Musical artist

Jonas Flodager Rasmussen, known professionally as simply Rasmussen, is a Danish singer and actor. He represented Denmark in the Eurovision Song Contest 2018 in Lisbon, Portugal, with the song "Higher Ground".

Denmark participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 2021 with the song "Øve os på hinanden" written by Laurits Emanuel. The song was performed by the duo Fyr og Flamme. The Danish broadcaster DR organised the national final Dansk Melodi Grand Prix 2021 in order to select the Danish entry for the 2021 contest in Rotterdam, Netherlands. Eight songs competed in a televised show where "Øve os på hinanden" performed by Fyr og Flamme was the winner as decided upon through two rounds of public voting.

Fyr og Flamme is a Danish music duo consisting of Jesper Groth and Laurits Emanuel, that represented Denmark in the Eurovision Song Contest 2021 in Rotterdam with the song ”Øve os på hinanden”.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Silent Storm (song)</span> 2014 song by Carl Espen

"Silent Storm" is a song by Norwegian singer and songwriter Carl Espen, released as a single on 18 February 2014. It represented Norway in the Eurovision Song Contest 2014 in Copenhagen, Denmark. It was performed during the second semi-final on 8 May 2014, and qualified for the final. It placed sixth in the semi-final with 77 points and finished in eighth place with 88 points overall.

References

  1. "Soluna Samay Interview: Meet Denmark's Eurovision 2012 Contestant". 8 February 2012.
  2. First an international jury gave points to each of the final three contestants and afterwards the points from the Televoters were given.
  3. "Soluna Samay - Danish Charts". danishcharts.dk/ Hung Medien.
  4. "Soluna Samay - Austrian Charts". austriancharts.at/ Hung Medien.
  5. "Soluna Samay - Music Charts". αCharts.us.
  6. "Soluna Samay - Swiss Charts". hitparade.ch/ Hung Medien.
  7. "Stories".
  8. "L.O.V.E. - Single by Soluna Samay". iTunes . 29 April 2013.
Preceded by Denmark in the Eurovision Song Contest
2012
Succeeded by