Amaia (singer)

Amaia Romero Arbizu (born 3 January 1999), also known as simply Amaia, is a Spanish singer.[1] She gained national recognition when she took part in series nine of the television talent contest Operación Triunfo, where she ended in first place.[2] Romero represented Spain alongside Alfred García at the 2018 Eurovision Song Contest with "Tu Canción".[3]

Not to be confused with Amaia Montero.
This article uses Spanish naming customs: the first or paternal family name is Romero and the second or maternal family name is Arbizu.
Amaia
Amaia at the 33rd Goya Awards in 2019.
Background information
Birth nameAmaia Romero Arbizu
Born (1999-01-03) 3 January 1999
Pamplona, Spain
Genres
Occupation(s)Singer
Instruments
  • Vocals
  • piano
  • guitar
  • ukelele
Years active2010–present
Associated acts

Early life

Romero was born on 3 January 1999 in Pamplona, Navarre.

Daughter of Ángel Romero and Javiera Arbizu, Amaia belongs to a family of musicians. Her uncle, Joaquín Romero, was the manager of the Orfeón Pamplonés concert choir from 2008 until 2016, as well as of the Pablo Sarasate Orchestra for two years.[4] It was her uncle who discovered that as a child, Amaia had absolute pitch.[4][5]

On her mother's side, Amaia is the niece of Carmen Arbizu, professor of singing at the Conservatorio Superior de Música de Navarra since 1990.[4] Amaia is in the last year of studying for a degree in piano at this conservatory.[6][7]

Career

2010–2016: Beginnings

Romero debuted in television in 2009 when she appeared on TVE's television news playing the piano at age ten as part of a children talent contest, where she ended third in her instrument's category.[8] Romero participated in the televised talent show Cántame una canción on Telecinco, where she sang alongside David Civera and Sergio Rivero a year later.[9] In 2011, she was the winner of a scholarship to Rock Camp 2011, and participated in the camp in 2011 and 2012.[10] In 2012, she took part in series one of the talent show El Número Uno on Antena 3, qualifying for the show performing The Beatles' "Here Comes the Sun" with her ukelele. She was eliminated in week six of the series.[11] The jury in the show was made up of David Bustamante, Ana Torroja, Miguel Bosé, Natalia Jiménez and Mónica Naranjo.[12] Romero and Naranjo would meet again on series nine of Operación Triunfo, as Naranjo went on to be part of the jury. In 2012 she also met Felipe VI and Letizia Ortiz, actual King and consort of Spain. They both told Amaia that she "had a future" after they saw her perform in Pamplona with the Pablo Sarasate Orchestra.[13]

In 2016, Amaia collaborated with the Navarrese band Lemon y Tal on the song "Cicatrices de mi realidad".[14]

2017–2018: Operación Triunfo and the Eurovision Song Contest
Amaia and Alfred posing at Eurovision Pre-Party in Madrid in April 2018
Amaia & Alfred rehearsing at the Eurovision Song Contest 2018 stage.

In July 2017, Amaia auditioned in Bilbao for series nine of the reality television music competition Operación Triunfo, a program that was returning to television after a six-year hiatus.[15] On October 23, 2017, she was selected to enter the show's "Academy" on the season premiere: Amaia performed David Bowie's "Starman" and was not selected originally by the show's jury, but she was saved by the Academy's staff of teachers.[16] In January 2018, Amaia became a finalist in the competition after being awarded a perfect score of 40 points from the jury – the highest score in the history of the competition –. On February 5, she was proclaimed the winner of the series with 46% of the final votes from the public.[17] After her win, she signed a record deal with Universal Music.

Additionally, due to being one of the final five finalists on Operación Triunfo, Amaia was a candidate to represent Spain in the Eurovision Song Contest 2018. For the special Eurovision selection show that was held on January 29, 2018, she was allocated three songs: "Camina", which she performed as part of a group made up of the five finalists; "Al cantar", composed by Rozalén, which she performed solo;[18] and "Tu canción", composed by Raul Gómez and Sylvia Santoro, which she sang in a duet with her then boyfriend Alfred García. The latter was selected with 43% of the public vote to represent Spain in the 2018 Contest in Lisbon, Portugal.[19] Amaia and Alfred were the second to perform at the Eurovision final, held on 12 May 2018.[20] They placed twenty-third out of the 26 participating countries with 61 points: 43 from the professional juries and 18 from the televote.[21]

Romero co-headlined a 23-date arena concert tour with her fifteen talent show companions in 2018. The tour (named OT 2017 en concierto) began on March 3, 2018 at the Palau Sant Jordi in Barcelona and ended in the same venue on December 28 of that same year.[22] Over 300,000 people attended the tour.[23]

2018–2020: Pero No Pasa Nada
See also: Pero No Pasa Nada

Amaia announced a four-concert tour with The Free Fall Band through 2018. The tour visited Barcelona (as part of the Primavera Sound music festival), Madrid (as part of the Universal Music Festival), Sitges and Pamplona. The tour's setlist included traditional Spanish pop songs as well as other songs in indie pop genre.[24] In 2018 she began working on her debut studio album as she moved to the Eixample district in Barcelona in September. The album was recorded in professional studios in New York City, Barcelona and Buenos Aires.[25] On December 18, 2018, Romero released a minute-and-a-half promotional single titled "Un Nuevo Lugar", which was produced by Spanish producer and guitarist Raül Refree.[26] The song peaked at 37 on the PROMUSICAE sales chart.[27] A month before the promotional single's release, on November 23, Spanish indie pop band Carolina Durante released a collaboration with Amaia titled "Perdona (Ahora Sí Que Sí)".

In January 2019, Amaia announced that she would go on a small festival tour in the summer.[28] The tour began at the Warm Up! Estrella de Levante music festival in Murcia on May 3, 2019 and ended on August 17 in Peñíscola where she performed as part of the Peñíscola From Stage concert festival.[29] The singer visited other important Spanish festivals such as Porta Ferrada or Festival de les Arts.[30] Romero confirmed in February 2019 that her highly anticipated debut album would be released in September.[31] When Universal Music president Narcís Rebollo was asked about Romero's debut studio album he stated that: "she wants to work in the whole part of composition, production, there are profiles of artists who have the ability or ease of making an album in six months and Amaia requires more time".[32] This statement proved that Amaia was the executive producer and principal songwriter of her debut musical project.

After working with Argentine singer and producer Santiago Motorizado throughout 2019, Romero finished recording the album. On May 3, 2019 the lead singer "El Relámpago" was released in digital platforms.[33] The single peaked at number 24 on the PROMUSICAE chart and stayed on the list for over three weeks. A limited hard copy version was made available on June 21 after the singer released its B-side and first promotional single "Nadie Podría Hacerlo".[34] The album spawned other two singles "Quedará en Nuestra Mente" and "Quiero Que Vengas", released in August and September 2019 respectively before the debut album "Pero No Pasa Nada" was released on September 20, 2019.[35] "Pero No Pasa Nada" topped the Spanish albums chart in its debut week.[36] Romero's first solo concert tour, the Pero No Pasa Nada Tour, began on October 5, 2019 in Pamplona and is set to conclude on October 17, 2020 at the Teatro Auditorio in Roquetas de Mar after sixteen shows.[37][38] In that period of time, in June, Amaia also participated in the third season of the Spanish Netflix television series Paquita Salas covering "Tan Pequeñica Y Sincera" by Marisol, which premiered on Spotify on September 19, 2019, a day prior to the album's release.[39] In January 2020, Amaia took part of a Marisol tribute performance at the 34th Goya Awards, where she sang "Canción de Marisol".[40] A month before she had taken part of another audiovisual piece as she sang the main song for the 2019 Spanish film Legado en los Huesos titled "Luz Y Sombra".[41] In August 2020, two self-written songs "Cosas Interesantes Para Decir" and "La Victoria" were released online as promotional singles recorded in a lo-fi studio in Barcelona to, somehow, close this musical era.[42]

On May 1, 2020 Prime Video premiered Una Vuelta Al Sol, a documentary film that shows the making of the album as well as a brief look into the tour.[43]

Discography
Main article: Amaia discography

Studio Albums

Singles

  • "Tu canción" (2018) (with Alfred García)
  • "Perdona (Ahora Sí Que Sí)" (2018) (with Carolina Durante)
  • "El Relámpago" (2019)
  • "Quedará en Nuestra Mente" (2019)
  • "Quiero Que Vengas" (2019)

Promotional singles

  • "Un Nuevo Lugar" (2018)
  • "Nadie Podría Hacerlo" (2019)
  • "Cosas Interesantes Para Decir" / "La Victoria" (2020)

Tour

Headlining

Co-headlining

Awards and nominations
Year Organization Category Nominee/work Result Ref.
2020 Premios Odeón Best Female Artist Amaia Nominated [44]
gollark: I should try finetuning GPT models on religious texts some time!
gollark: If so, I will worship it as my god.
gollark: Can it independently orient each eye and integrate the images? Do some of the eyes see different light spectra?
gollark: ?
gollark: Why does the goat have 8 eyes? What does it do with them

References
  1. Doria, Javier (January 27, 2018). "El éxito de Amaia en 'Operación Triunfo' no es una casualidad". El País (in Spanish). Pamplona. Retrieved February 7, 2018.
  2. Ortiz, Laura (February 6, 2018). "Amaia gana 'OT 2017'". Formula TV (in Spanish). Retrieved February 7, 2018.
  3. Adams, William Lee (January 30, 2018). "Spain: Alfred & Amaia win OT Eurovision Gala with "Tu canción"". Wiwibloggs. Retrieved February 7, 2018.
  4. Fernández, Eva. "La familia de Amaia Romero nos acerca a su lado más desconocido". diariodenavarra.es (in Spanish). Retrieved January 30, 2018.
  5. Méndez, Jesús. "Operación Triunfo: conocer el cerebro de Alfred a través del jazz". heraldo.es (in Spanish). Retrieved January 31, 2018.
  6. "La pamplonesa Amaia Romero participa en la nueva edición de 'OT'". Noticias de Navarra (in Spanish). January 30, 2018. Archived from the original on February 10, 2018. Retrieved February 7, 2018.
  7. Doria, Javier (January 27, 2018). "El éxito de Amaia en 'Operación Triunfo' no es una casualidad". El País (in Spanish). ISSN 1134-6582. Retrieved January 31, 2018.
  8. Operación Triunfo - Amaia ya maravillaba al Telediario con 10 años (in Spanish), 2017-11-15, retrieved 2019-10-05
  9. "Amaia ya conquistó a Noemí Galera en el 'Cántame una canción' de Pilar Rubio". El Huffington Post (in Spanish). January 15, 2018. Retrieved January 30, 2018.
  10. Héctor Miguel (October 27, 2017). "Amaia Romero en Operación Triunfo" (in Spanish). Retrieved January 30, 2018.
  11. Santos, Elena (January 15, 2018). "Amaia ya conquistó a Noemí Galera en el 'Cántame una canción' de Pilar Rubio". Huffington Post (in Spanish). Retrieved February 7, 2018.
  12. "El debut de Amaia Romero ('Operación Triunfo') fue en 'El Número Uno'". Antena3.com (in Spanish). Retrieved 30 January 2018.
  13. "Ficha Amaia 'OT': antes de ser la 'Amaia de España' ya había salido en televisión". El Huffington Post (in Spanish). 2018-01-29. Retrieved 2019-10-06.
  14. Lemon y Tal (29 September 2016). Cicatrices de mi realidad - Lemon y Tal ft. Amaia Romero (En Clave y Amigos) (Ahora Lemon y Tal). Retrieved 30 January 2018.
  15. "La pamplonesa Amaia Romero participa en la nueva edición de 'OT'". Noticias de Navarra (in Spanish). October 23, 2017. Archived from the original on February 10, 2018. Retrieved February 7, 2018.
  16. "OT 2017: Los mejores momentos de la gala de estreno de Operación Triunfo". La Vanguardia (in Spanish). Retrieved 30 January 2018.
  17. Ortiz, Laura (6 February 2018). "Amaia gana 'OT 2017'". FormulaTV (in Spanish). Retrieved 6 February 2018.
  18. "Operación Triunfo: Amaia de OT hace a todos soñar con 'Al Cantar', pero no convence para Eurovisión - Marca.com". Marca.com (in Spanish). Retrieved 30 January 2018.
  19. "Amaia Romero y Alfred García llevarán 'Tu canción' a Eurovisión. Republica.com". Republica.com (in Spanish). 30 January 2018. Retrieved 30 January 2018.
  20. Redacción (11 May 2018). "Amaia y Alfred serán los segundos en actuar en el Festival de Eurovisión". Diari de Terrasa (in Spanish). Retrieved 12 May 2018.
  21. "Lisbon 2018 Grand Final". Eurovision.tv. Retrieved 13 May 2018.
  22. MACÍAS @fmacias_, FERNANDO (2018-03-03). "Operación Triunfo 2017: Concierto de OT 2017 en Barcelona". RTVE.es (in Spanish). Retrieved 2019-10-06.
  23. RTVE.es (2018-09-19). "OT 2017 realizará su último concierto el 27 de diciembre en Barcelona". RTVE.es (in Spanish). Retrieved 2019-10-06.
  24. Navarro, Fernando. "Amaia actuará en el Primavera Sound". El País (in Spanish). Retrieved 28 May 2018.
  25. "Amaia de 'OT' graba su primer disco: conoce todos los detalles". Mundo Deportivo. 2018-11-09. Retrieved 2019-08-03.
  26. "Amaia Romero anuncia el lanzamiento de su primer single, "Un nuevo lugar", el martes 18 de diciembre" (in Spanish). FormulaTV.com. 12 December 2018. Retrieved 12 December 2018.
  27. "Los primeros singles de los triunfitos de 'OT 2017', de peor a mejor". Odi O'Malley (in Spanish). 2019-01-06. Retrieved 2019-10-06.
  28. Lema, Katy (2019-01-15). "Amaia, cabeza de cartel del WARM UP 2019". El País (in Spanish). ISSN 1134-6582. Retrieved 2019-08-03.
  29. Lema, Katy (2019-01-15). "Amaia, cabeza de cartel del WARM UP 2019". El País (in Spanish). ISSN 1134-6582. Retrieved 2019-10-06.
  30. Ajuntament. "Amaia a la 57a edició del Festival Porta Ferrada". www.guixols.cat (in Catalan). Retrieved 2019-10-06.
  31. "Universal confirma cuando saldrá el nuevo disco de Amaia Romero". cuore.es (in Spanish). 2019-02-14. Retrieved 2019-08-03.
  32. País, El (2019-02-12). "El misterioso disco de Amaia saldrá en septiembre". El País (in Spanish). ISSN 1134-6582. Retrieved 2019-08-03.
  33. Europa Press (3 May 2019). "Amaia publica 'El Relámpago', un adelanto de su primer álbum". ABC (in Spanish). Vocento. Retrieved 5 June 2019.
  34. Redacción Yotele (12 June 2019). "Amaia anuncia el lanzamiento de 'Nadie podría hacerlo', el nuevo single de su esperado disco". El Periódico de Catalunya (in Spanish). Retrieved 13 June 2019.
  35. Europa Press (28 June 2019). "Amaia anuncia Pero no pasa nada, su álbum de debut, junto a las primeras 14 fechas de presentación" (in Spanish). Retrieved 28 June 2019.
  36. "Amaia Romero, número uno de ventas y streaming con "Pero no pasa nada"". El Televisero (in Spanish). 2019-10-01. Retrieved 2019-10-06.
  37. "Pero no pasa nada: Amaia presenta la portada de su álbum debut". 100x100 Música (in Spanish). 2019-07-02. Retrieved 2019-10-06.
  38. "Amaia llenará el Gran Teatro del Liceu el próximo 20 de diciembre". La Vanguardia. 2019-09-23. Retrieved 2019-10-06.
  39. "Amaia lanza una versión de la jota aragonesa 'Tan pequeñica y sincera'". EuropaFM (in Spanish). 2019-09-18. Retrieved 2020-04-28.
  40. Moda, S. (2020-01-26), La emotiva interpretación de Amaia en el homenaje a Marisol de los Goya (in Spanish), retrieved 2020-08-11
  41. SensaCine. "'Legado en los huesos': Amaia compuso la canción para que tuviese un significado abierto". SensaCine.com. Retrieved 2020-04-28.
  42. Pizá, Carlota (2020-08-11). "Amaia estrena las versiones en estudio de dos temas inéditos de la gira". El Rescate Musical (in Spanish). Retrieved 2020-08-11.
  43. 20minutos (2020-04-27). "Amaia Romero anuncia el estreno de un documental sobre la grabación de su disco". www.20minutos.es - Últimas Noticias (in Spanish). Retrieved 2020-04-28.
  44. Basanta, Carmen (2020-01-15). "Premios Odeón: Aitana, Rosalía, Beret y Don Patricio, favoritos en las nominaciones". Europa FM (in Spanish). Retrieved 2020-01-18.
Awards and achievements
Preceded by
Manel Navarro
with "Do It for Your Lover"		 Spain in the Eurovision Song Contest
2018
(with Alfred García)		 Succeeded by
Miki Núñez
with "La venda"
Preceded by
Nahuel Sachak		 Operación Triunfo winner
Series 9		 Succeeded by
Famous Oberogo
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