Agnete Kristin Johnsen Saba (born 4 July 1994), also known as Agnete Saba, Agnete Johnsen or simply Agnete, is a Sami-Norwegian singer and songwriter. Saba is best known for being the lead singer of the Norwegian teen punk band the BlackSheeps. She represented Norway in the

Eurovision Song Contest 2016 The Eurovision Song Contest 2016 was the 61st edition of the Eurovision Song Contest. It took place in Stockholm, Sweden, following the country's victory at the with the song "Heroes" by Måns Zelmerlöw. Organised by the European Broadcasting ...

as a solo artist with the song " Icebreaker".

Life and career

Early life and career

Saba was born as Agnete Kristin Johnsen on 4 July 1994 in Varangerbotn in Nesseby Municipality in Finnmark county, Norway. She is an ethnic Sami and the daughter of Sami children's author

Signe Iversen Signe Iversen (born 22 December 1956 in Nesseby, Norway) is a Sami language consultant and author of children's literature. Iversen is best known for her first book, published in 2011 in North Sami as ''Mánugánda ja Heike'' ("The Moon Boy and He ...

. In 2020, she changed her surname to her grandmother's maiden name Saba. The BlackSheeps were formed in 2008 while its members were attending school in their hometown of Nesseby. They later won ''

Melodi Grand Prix Junior 2008 The Melodi Grand Prix Junior 2008 was Norway's seventh national Melodi Grand Prix Junior for young singers aged 8 to 15. It was held on September 5, 2008 at the Oslo Spektrum, courtesy of NRK NRK, an abbreviation of the Norwegian ''Norsk Rik ...

'' with their song "

Oro jaska, beana "Oro jaska, beana" is a song by Norwegian group The BlackSheeps. It won both the Norwegian MGP jr contest in September 2008 and went on to win MGP Nordic 2008, beating songs from Denmark, Sweden and Finland. The song reached #1 in the official No ...

" ("Be quiet, dog") which was performed in both Norwegian and Northern Sami. The band later performed at MGP Nordic 2008 and won the competition. "Oro jaska, beana" went on to win Song of the Year at the Spellemannprisen Awards and peaked at number-one on the Norwegian singles chart. In 2011, the band were announced as one of the competing acts in ''Melodi Grand Prix 2011'' with the song "Dance Tonight", where they placed second. They later split up the same year. In 2013, Agnete competed in the second season of the Norwegian music TV-competition ', where she placed second in the finale against Silya Nymoen. The same year she also performed as an interval act during ''

Melodi Grand Prix Junior 2013 The Melodi Grand Prix Junior 2013 was Norway's twelfth national Melodi Grand Prix Junior for young singers aged 8 to 15. It was held in Oslo Spektrum, Oslo, Norway and was hosted by Tooji and Margrethe Røed. The show was broadcast live Norwegian ...

''.

2014–present: ''Skal vi danse?''

In 2014, Johnsen was announced as one of the competing celebrities in the tenth season of the Norwegian version of ''

Dancing with the Stars ''Dancing with the Stars'' is the name of various international television series based on the format of the British TV series '' Strictly Come Dancing'', which is distributed by BBC Studios, the commercial arm of the BBC. Currently the forma ...

'', called ''

Skal vi danse? ''Skal vi danse'' is the Norwegian edition of the British television series, ''Strictly Come Dancing''. It is produced by Monster Entertainment and broadcast on TV 2 Jon Peder Olrud and Geir Bie were producers in the first season. The second and ...

'' (Shall we dance?). She went on to win the competition. In 2015, she participated in the Norwegian reality television series ', but withdrew early in the season because of mental health problems.

Eurovision Song Contest 2016

On 19 January 2016, Johnsen was announced as one of the ten competing acts in ''

Melodi Grand Prix 2016 Norway participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 2016 with the song "Icebreaker" written by Agnete Johnsen, Gabriel Alares and Ian Curnow. The song was performed by Agnete. The Norwegian broadcaster Norsk rikskringkasting (NRK) organised the ...

'' with the song " Icebreaker". In the final, held on 27 February, she was declared the winner after receiving 166,728 votes from the Norwegian public. She represented Norway in the

performing on 12 May 2016, during the second semi-final held in

Stockholm Stockholm () is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in Sweden by population, largest city of Sweden as well as the List of urban areas in the Nordic countries, largest urban area in Scandinavia. Approximately 980,000 people liv ...

, but failed to qualify to the 14 May final.

Discography

Extended plays

Singles

As lead artist

As featured artist

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Saba, Agnete 1994 births Living people Norwegian pop singers Norwegian women singers Melodi Grand Prix winners People from Nesseby Norwegian Sámi musicians Eurovision Song Contest entrants for Norway Eurovision Song Contest entrants of 2016 21st-century Norwegian singers 21st-century Norwegian women singers