Saara Aalto

Saara Sofia Aalto was born on May 2, 1987, in Oulunsalo, Finland, into a musical family. She began piano lessons early and wrote her first song at age five. Her foundational musical achievements include winning the Kotka Maritime Festival song contest for children in 1998 with her own composition, and an international singing competition organized in the US in 2003, also with her original work. She represented Finland at the Golden Stag International Song Contest in Romania in 2004. Aalto graduated from the Madetoja secondary school for music in 2005 and continued her studies at the Sibelius Academy and the Helsinki Pop & Jazz Conservatory.

Aalto’s career began to take shape with her participation in reality television competitions and theatrical roles. In 2007, she placed in the top three on “Talent Suomi” (“Talent Finland”). Her stage career includes roles such as Kelsi in “High School Musical on Stage!” and its sequel from 2008 to 2011, and later as Dorothy and Pfannee in “Wicked,” and Mary Magdalene in “Jesus Christ Superstar.” She made two attempts to represent Finland in the Eurovision Song Contest, securing second place in both the 2011 national selection, where she received 40.7% of the public televotes, and again in 2016 through “Uuden Musiikin Kilpailu.” During this period, she also founded her independent record label, Yume Records, with Teemu Roivainen.

International exposure increased significantly when Aalto competed on the thirteenth series of “The X Factor UK” in 2016, finishing as the runner-up. This led to a five-album record deal with Sony Music UK and Sony Music Finland, although she later transitioned to Warner Music Group in October 2017. In 2018, she officially represented Finland at the Eurovision Song Contest with the song “Monsters,” qualifying for the grand final and finishing in 25th place. That same year, she served as a judge on “X Factor Suomi,” mentoring the winning artist. Her participation in the eleventh series of “Dancing on Ice” in 2019 saw her finish in third place. Aalto established her own record label, No Fear Music, in 2019, releasing her “Fairytale – International” EP under it. She also played the lead role in the musical “We Will Rock You” in Helsinki in 2021.