Aminata Savadogo

Aminata Savadogo
Savadogo at the opening ceremony of the 2015 Eurovision Song Contest in Vienna, Austria
Background information
Also known as	Aminata
Born	9 January 1993 Riga, Latvia
Genres	Pop electronic R&B soul funk
Occupation(s)	Singer songwriter record producer model
Instruments	Vocals flute
Years active	2008–present
Associated acts	Justs Sirmais
Website	aminatasavadogo.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 father from Burkina Faso. She considers herself foremostly Latvian.^[1] She started singing at the age of 13 with private tutor Nadezhda Buharova, graduated from the Bolderaja Music and Art School and secondary school with specialisation in flute. 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 choir Golden.^[2]

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.^[3] Savadogo then won the Latvian television show Jaunā talantu fabrika.^[2]

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.^[4][5] In the final held on 22 February 2015, she was announced as the winner and represented Latvia in the Eurovision Song Contest 2015.^[6] Savadogo released her début studio album Inner Voice on 8 April 2015.^[7]

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.^[8][9] 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.^[10] The single's music video was later released on 13 April.^[11]

In June 2016 Savadogo graduated the Economics and Managment Faculty of the University of Latvia.

She later revealed her second studio album, titled Red Moon, would be released in October 2016.^[12] She competed on the fifth season of Golos, the Russian version of The Voice, but was eliminated in the knockout round.^[13][14] During her blind audition, she joined Polina Gagarina's team, who also competed in the Eurovision Song Contest 2015.^[15]

Discography

Albums

Title	Details	Details
Inner Voice	Released: 8 April 2015 Label: Universal Music Format: Digital download, CD	Track listing No. Title Length 1. "Dualism"   3:20 2. "Leave My Love Bleading"   3:21 3. "The Bound"   3:15 4. "Love Injected"   3:19 5. "Land of Nibiru"   3:05 6. "I Can't 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	Track listing No. Title Length 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

Singles

Single	Year	Peak chart positions						Album
		AUS	AUT [16]	GER [17]	ICE	SWI [18]	UK [19]
"I Can Breathe"	2014	—	—	—	—	—	—	Inner Voice
"Leave My Love Bleeding"		—	—	—	—	—	—
"Love Injected"	2015	87	19	51	42	74	135
"Bridges"		—	—	—	—	—	—	Red Moon
"Fighter"	2016	—	—	—	—	—	—
"Red Moon"		—	—	—	—	—	—
"—" denotes a single that did not chart or was not released.

References

1. "Uzticamā" (in Latvian). Ieva. 6 November 2013. Retrieved 24 February 2015.
2. 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.
3. Mikheev, Andy (23 February 2014). "Eurovision 2014 — Aarzemnieki (Latvia / Латвия)". ESCKAZ.
4. Roxburgh, Gordon (8 February 2015). "Latvia: Results of second Supernova round". Eurovision.tv. Retrieved 19 February 2015.
5. Roxburgh, Gordon (15 February 2015). "Latvia has chosen their four finalists". Eurovision.tv. Retrieved 19 February 2015.
6. Roxburgh, Gordon (22 February 2015). "Aminata to represent Latvia in Vienna". Eurovision.tv. Retrieved 22 February 2015.
7. Thorne, Liam (27 March 2015). "LATVIA: AMINATA SAVADOGO RELEASES DEBUT ALBUM ON APRIL 8". Wiwibloggs. Retrieved 28 March 2015.
8. eurovision.tv (24 May 2015). "Eurovision Song Contest 2015 - Semi-final 1 Scoreboard". eurovision.tv. European Broadcasting Union. Retrieved 24 May 2015.
9. eurovision.tv (24 May 2015). "Eurovision Song Contest 2015 - Semi-final 2 Scoreboard". eurovision.tv. European Broadcasting Union. Retrieved 24 May 2015.
10. "Latvijas Televīzija pirmo reizi pārraidīs "Supernova" ar surdotulkojumu". lsm.lv (in Latvian). Public broadcasting of Latvia. Retrieved 26 February 2016.
11. Shokayan, Antranig (14 April 2016). "Watch: Aminata packs a punch with new single "Fighter"". Wiwibloggs. Retrieved 18 April 2016.
12. "Aminata Savadogo Latvia 2015 at London Eurovision Party - Interview". Wiwibloggs. 18 April 2016.
13. Dayana (4 July 2016). "Latvia's Aminata auditions for The Voice of Russia 2016". wiwibloggs.com. Wiwibloggs.
14. Gallagher, Robyn (26 November 2016). "A turnaround - Aminata Savadogo eliminated from The Voice of Russia". wiwibloggs.com. Wiwibloggs.
15. Dayana (10 September 2016). "Girl Power! Aminata joins Polina's team on The Voice of Russia 2016". wiwibloggs.com. Wiwibloggs. Retrieved 11 September 2016.
16. Hung, Steffen. "Discographie Aminata". Austrian Charts Portal. Hung Medien (Steffen Hung).
17. Hung, Steffen. "Aminata". German Charts Portal. Hung Medien (Steffen Hung).
18. Hung, Steffen. "Discographie Aminata". Swiss Charts Portal. Hung Medien (Steffen Hung).
19. Peak positions in the United Kingdom:
    • For "Love Injected": "CHART: CLUK Update 6.06.2015 (wk22)". Zobbel.de.