Aminata Savadogo

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Aminata
Savadogo at Laima Rendez Vous Jurmala 2017 in Jūrmala, Latvia
Savadogo at Laima Rendez Vous Jurmala 2017 in Jūrmala, Latvia
Background information
Birth nameAminata Savadogo
Also known asAminata
Born (1993-01-09) 9 January 1993 (age 31)
Riga, Latvia
Genres
Occupation(s)
  • Singer
  • songwriter
  • record producer
  • model
Instrument(s)
Years active2008–present
Websiteaminatasavadogo.com

Aminata Savadogo (born 9 January 1993), occasionally known as simply Aminata, is a Latvian singer, songwriter, record producer, and model. She represented Latvia in the Eurovision Song Contest 2015 with the song "Love Injected". She released her debut studio album, Inner Voice, in April 2015.

Life and career

1993–2014: Early life and career

Savadogo was born in Riga on 9 January 1993 to a mother of Latvian and Russian descent, and a Burkinabé father. She considers herself primarily Latvian.[1] She started singing at the age of 13 with private tutor Nadežda Buharova, graduated from the Bolderāja Music and Art School in Riga and secondary school with specialisation in flute.[2] At age 15, she took part in the Latvian television show Krodziņā pie Paula and then also competed in Muzikālā banka at age 17. She also took part in Koru kari 3, the Latvian version of Clash of the Choirs as a part of the Golden Choir.[3]

Savadogo achieved international attention when she competed in Dziesma 2014, the Latvian national selection for the Eurovision Song Contest 2014 with the song "I Can Breathe". She qualified from the first semi-final and then placed fifth in the final.[4] Savadogo then won the Latvian television show Jaunā talantu fabrika.[3] Latvian singer Dons, who was judge on Jaunā talantu fabrika, would work with her in the recording studio immediately afterwards as mentor for the next phrase of her career.[5]

2015–2016: Eurovision Song Contest 2015 and Inner Voice

Aminata performing "Love Injected" at the Eurovision Song Contest 2015

In 2015, Savadogo returned to the Latvian Eurovision national selection and was announced as a competitor in Supernova 2015 with the song "Love Injected". She qualified through the televote in both the second heat and the semi-final.[6][7] In the final held on 22 February 2015, she was announced as the winner and represented Latvia in the Eurovision Song Contest 2015.[8] Savadogo released her début studio album Inner Voice on 8 April 2015.[9]

Savadogo performed tenth in the second semi-final of the Eurovision Song Contest 2015, after Israel and before Azerbaijan. She qualified to the final after placing second with 155 points, becoming Latvia's first qualification in seven years. In the final, she performed nineteenth, after Poland and before Romania. She finished in sixth place out of twenty-seven, placing 2nd in the rankings of the national juries, and earning a total of 186 points and three sets of the maximum twelve points a country can award. With her placing, she earned Latvia their best placing since 2005 and their fourth best placing ever.[10][11] She wrote the song "Heartbeat", performed by Justs who represented Latvia in the Eurovision Song Contest 2016.

2016–present: Red Moon and Golos

On 28 February 2016, Savadogo performed her new song "Fighter" during the final of Supernova 2016.[12] The single's music video was later released on 13 April.[13]

She later revealed her second studio album, titled Red Moon, would be released in October 2016.[14] She competed on the fifth season of Golos, the Russian version of The Voice, but was eliminated in the knockout round.[15][16] During her blind audition, she joined Polina Gagarina's team, who also competed in the Eurovision Song Contest 2015.[17]

Savadogo wrote the song "I'm Like a Wolf", for Lithuanian singer Aistė Pilvelytė, who competed to represent Lithuania in the Eurovision Song Contest 2017[18] but lost to Fusedmarc and came second. In 2020, she wrote the song "Still Breathing" alongside Samanta Tīna, who performed the song. The song was selected to represent Latvia in the Eurovision Song Contest 2020, which was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Samanta Tīna was instead internally select to represent Latvia in the Eurovision Song Contest 2021, and her song, "The Moon Is Rising", was also co-written by Aminata.

In September 2021, she co-wrote a song with DJ Rudd for Dons called "Tas rakstīts debesīs (Piena ceļš)" (lit.'It's Written in the Heavens (Milky Way)'), which go onto be nominated for Song of the Year and Top Radio Hit at the 2022 Latvian Music Recording Awards.[19][20]

Discography

Albums

Title Details Track listing
Inner Voice
No.TitleLength
1."Dualism"3:20
2."Leave My Love Bleeding"3:21
3."The Bound"3:15
4."Love Injected"3:19
5."Land of Nibiru"3:05
6."I Can Breathe"3:03
7."Cellphone"2:34
8."Let Me Know"2:57
9."Ring My Bells"2:30
10."Until We Land" (featuring Ralfs Eilands)4:13
Red Moon
  • Released: 13 October 2016
  • Label: Universal Music
  • Format: Digital download, CD
No.TitleLength
1."Red Moon"2:50
2."Your Arms"3:35
3."I Know"3:41
4."I Can't Forget"3:07
5."I'm Not the One You Used To Know"3:56
6."Rude"3:25
7."Bridges"3:40
8."Fighter"3:47

EP

Title Details Track listing
Maiga Vara
  • Released: 2019
No.TitleLength
1."Maiga Vara"3:32
2."Pamet Mani"2:56
3."Šaubas"2:48
4."Paliks Pāri"2:40
5."Dzīvot Citādāk"3:03
6."Maiga Vara (Acoustic)"3:44
Savvaļas Pusē
  • Released: 2022
No.TitleLength
1."Kuur Saule"3:13
2."Afrodīte"2:54
3."Ko tu dari ar mani"2:51
4."Paisums. Bēgums"2:51
5."Savvaļas Pusē"2:56

Singles

Single Year Peak chart positions Album
LAT
[21]
AUS
[22]
AUT
[23]
GER
[24]
SWI
[25]
UK
[26]
"I Can Breathe" 2014 Inner Voice
"Leave My Love Bleeding"
"Love Injected" 2015 16 87 19 51 74 135
"Bridges" Red Moon
"Fighter" 2016 1
"Red Moon"
"Your Arms" 2017 7
"Prime Time" 4 Non-album singles
"Zero Love" 2018 36
"Last Dance"
(with Markus Riva)
"Don't talk About It" 25
"Catching The Headlights" 2019
"Pamet mani" 5 Maiga Vara
"Dzīvot Citādāk" 6
"Nejauc man pratu" 2020 6 Non-album singles
"Šis ir mans laiks"
"Visām likstām pāri"
"Acis sāļas" 2021
"Uz neatklātām zvaigznēm"
"I'm Letting You Go" 2022
"—" denotes a single that did not chart or was not released.

References

  1. ^ "Uzticamā" (in Latvian). Ieva. 6 November 2013. Archived from the original on 24 February 2015. Retrieved 24 February 2015.
  2. ^ Rudaks, Uldis (19 May 2015). "Aminata: Pret visu, ko daru, esmu diezgan kritiska". Diena.lv (in Latvian). Retrieved 17 May 2019.
  3. ^ a b Clark, Liam (4 February 2014). "Latvia: Aminata Savadogo: "I was afraid to show my songs before, but now it seems nice!" [Interview]". Escxtra.com. Retrieved 19 February 2015.
  4. ^ Mikheev, Andy (23 February 2014). "Eurovision 2014 — Aarzemnieki (Latvia / Латвия)". ESCKAZ.
  5. ^ "Dons nosponsorē Aminatai darbu ierakstu studijā". Jauns.lv (in Latvian). 14 November 2013. Retrieved 9 May 2023.
  6. ^ Roxburgh, Gordon (8 February 2015). "Latvia: Results of second Supernova round". Eurovision.tv. Retrieved 19 February 2015.
  7. ^ Roxburgh, Gordon (15 February 2015). "Latvia has chosen their four finalists". Eurovision.tv. Retrieved 19 February 2015.
  8. ^ Roxburgh, Gordon (22 February 2015). "Aminata to represent Latvia in Vienna". Eurovision.tv. Retrieved 22 February 2015.
  9. ^ Thorne, Liam (27 March 2015). "LATVIA: AMINATA SAVADOGO RELEASES DEBUT ALBUM ON APRIL 8". Wiwibloggs. Retrieved 28 March 2015.
  10. ^ eurovision.tv (24 May 2015). "Eurovision Song Contest 2015 - Semi-final 1 Scoreboard". eurovision.tv. European Broadcasting Union. Retrieved 24 May 2015.
  11. ^ eurovision.tv (24 May 2015). "Eurovision Song Contest 2015 - Semi-final 2 Scoreboard". eurovision.tv. European Broadcasting Union. Retrieved 24 May 2015.
  12. ^ "Latvijas Televīzija pirmo reizi pārraidīs "Supernova" ar surdotulkojumu". lsm.lv (in Latvian). Public Broadcasting of Latvia. Retrieved 26 February 2016.
  13. ^ Shokayan, Antranig (14 April 2016). "Watch: Aminata packs a punch with new single "Fighter"". Wiwibloggs. Retrieved 18 April 2016.
  14. ^ "Aminata Savadogo Latvia 2015 at London Eurovision Party - Interview". Wiwibloggs. 18 April 2016.
  15. ^ Dayana (4 July 2016). "Latvia's Aminata auditions for The Voice of Russia 2016". wiwibloggs.com. Wiwibloggs.
  16. ^ Gallagher, Robyn (26 November 2016). "A turnaround - Aminata Savadogo eliminated from The Voice of Russia". wiwibloggs.com. Wiwibloggs.
  17. ^ Dayana (10 September 2016). "Girl Power! Aminata joins Polina's team on The Voice of Russia 2016". wiwibloggs.com. Wiwibloggs. Retrieved 11 September 2016.
  18. ^ Thomson, Euan (7 December 2016). "Lithuania: Aminata to submit an entry for Eurovizijos". eurovoix.com. Eurovoix. Archived from the original on 20 January 2017. Retrieved 31 December 2016.
  19. ^ "Mūziķis Dons izdod jaunu singlu". TVNET (in Latvian). 16 September 2021. Archived from the original on 16 September 2021. Retrieved 16 September 2021.
  20. ^ "Paziņoti pērnā gada radio hiti, kas pretendēs uz "Zelta mikrofonu"". LSM.lv (in Latvian). 31 January 2022. Retrieved 9 May 2023.
  21. ^ Peak chart positions for singles in Latvia:
  22. ^ Peak chart positions for singles in Australia:
  23. ^ Hung, Steffen. "Discographie Aminata". Austrian Charts Portal. Hung Medien (Steffen Hung).
  24. ^ Peak chart positions for singles in Germany:
  25. ^ Hung, Steffen. "Discographie Aminata". Swiss Charts Portal. Hung Medien (Steffen Hung).
  26. ^ Peak chart positions for singles in the United Kingdom:
Awards and achievements
Preceded by Latvia in the Eurovision Song Contest
2015
Succeeded by