Jonna Christensen (née Pirinen, born 28 December 1982), better known by her stage name Jonna, is a pop and R&B singer/songwriter from
Finland
Finland ( fi, Suomi ; sv, Finland ), officially the Republic of Finland (; ), is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It shares land borders with Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of B ...
.
She has released three albums, over ten singles and several music videos.
She became known in 2002 for her participation to the Finnish edition of talent scouting show
Popstars
''Popstars'' is an international reality television
Reality television is a genre of television programming that documents purportedly unscripted real-life situations, often starring unfamiliar people rather than professional actors. Realit ...
, where she was selected as fourth member of the girls' group
Gimmel
Gimel is the third letter of the Semitic abjads, including Phoenician Gīml , Hebrew Gimel , Aramaic Gāmal , Syriac Gāmal , and Arabic (in alphabetical order; fifth in spelling order). Its sound value in the original Phoenician and in all d ...
. However, after less than a month she quit from the group and embarked on a solo career.
Jonna was successful in her solo career, but wanted to start singing in English but her record label
Sony BMG
Sony BMG Music Entertainment was an American record company owned as a 50–50 joint venture between Sony Corporation of America and Bertelsmann. The venture's successor, the revived Sony Music, is wholly owned by Sony, following their buyout o ...
did not support her proposal to now focus on English-language songs. As a result, the contract ended. Jonna decided to move to Los Angeles to start working on her English-language album and find new influences for her music. After a stay of one and a half years in Los Angeles, she returned to Finland.
Back in Finland, in December 2010, Jonna released her first independently produced song ''Puppets''. On 14 January 2011, she participated with ''Puppets'' to the first semi-final for the Finnish national selection for the
Eurovision Song Contest 2011
The Eurovision Song Contest 2011 was the 56th edition of the Eurovision Song Contest. It took place in Düsseldorf, Germany, following the country's victory at the with the song "Satellite" by Lena. Organised by the European Broadcasting Union ...
. She released her second single "Simple life" from her upcoming album in June 2011 and during the summer of 2011 she played the female lead part in a summer theater production called ''Rölli ja Metsänhenki'' (''The Troll and the Forest Spirit'') in
Joensuu
Joensuu (; krl, Jovensuu; ) is a city and municipality in North Karelia, Finland, located on the northern shore of Lake Pyhäselkä (northern part of Lake Saimaa) at the mouth of the Pielinen River (''Pielisjoki''). It was founded in 1848. Th ...
, Finland.
Jonna has previously performed in the musicals ''
Hair
Hair is a protein filament that grows from follicles found in the dermis. Hair is one of the defining characteristics of mammals.
The human body, apart from areas of glabrous skin, is covered in follicles which produce thick terminal and f ...
'' (2003) and ''
Grease'' (2002–2003) and ''
Hello Dolly!'' (2000) and she was hosting a TV-show called ''Voice out!'' on
Yle TV2
Yle TV2 ( fi, Yle TV Kaksi; sv, Yle TV Två) is a Finnish television channel owned and operated by Yle. TV2 was launched in 1965 as the successor to the former television channels TES-TV (Tesvisio) and Tamvisio, and broadcasts public service p ...
in 2004. She has worked as a backup dancer for a dance artist called K-System and performed as a dancer in show dance groups "Step up" (2001–2002) and "Cat people" (1996–2001). She has won three Finnish championships with show dance and hip-hop group formations and was the best female solo dancer in the disco and show dance competition in 2002.
Jonna has worked as a dance teacher since 1996 in such dance schools as "Pohjois-Karjalan tanssiopisto" and "Helsingin tanssiopisto". She has been making dance choreographies to her music videos such as "Tyytyväinen" ("Pleased"), "Kaikki talossa" ("All in the house"), and "Puppets".
Jonna has written all the lyrics and melodies to her songs. She has worked with such song writers as Jim Holvay (
The Buckinghams
The Buckinghams are an American sunshine pop band from Chicago. They formed in 1966 and went on to become one of the top-selling acts of 1967, charting their only five top 40 hits in the U.S. that year. The band dissolved in 1970, but re-formed ...
), Miika Colliander (
Husky Rescue
Husky Rescue is a Finnish electronic music band from Helsinki, formed in 2002. The group consists of Marko Nyberg, Johanna Kalén, and Antony Bentley.
History
2002–2010
Husky Rescue was formed by Marko Nyberg, who began composing under the n ...
), Nikki Forova and
Jukka Immonen Jukka Immonen (born 14 April 1978) is a Finnish musician, record producer and composer.
Career beginnings
Immonen started to develop an interest in music as a teenager when his parents bought him a computer. Although his family was not especially ...
.
Jonna became a member of
the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, informally known as the LDS Church or Mormon Church, is a Nontrinitarianism, nontrinitarian Christianity, Christian church that considers itself to be the Restorationism, restoration of the ...
at the end of 2003.
She currently lives in San Francisco.
Her most recent release is an album aimed at the American market, ''Sound Mind''.
Discography
Albums
Singles
* ''Tyytyväinen'' (2003)
* ''Ei heru'' (mukana
Elastinen
Kimmo Ilpo Juhani Laiho (born 1981), better known by his stage name Elastinen (meaning ''elastic'' in Finnish), is a Finnish rap musician and also known as one of the founders and is the CEO of the Finnish independent rap label Rähinä Records ...
) (2003)
* ''Kaikki talossa'' (2003)
* ''Perhonen'' (2004, radiopromo)
* ''Paljon tarjolla'' (2004)
* ''Sateen jälkeen'' (2004)
* ''Kasvot Vedessä'' (2005, promo)
* ''Minä vs. Minä'' (2005)
* ''Jäässä'' (2006)
* ''Vive La Vida'' (mukana
Norlan) (2006, radiopromo)
* ''Yhdessä'' (2006, radiopromo)
* ''Summer Jam'' (2007)
* ''Puppets'' (2010)
* ''Simple Life'' (2011)
* ''Still Breathing'' (2014)
* ''Smile'' (2015)
Videos
* ''Tyytyväinen'' (2003)
* ''Kaikki talossa'' (2003)
* ''Sateen jälkeen'' (2005)
* ''Jäässä'' (2006, ohjaus
Lauri Haukkamaa)
* ''Puppets'' (2010)
* ''Smile'' (2015)
Guest shots
Notes
References
*
*
Q&A WITH FINNISH R&B STAR JONNA
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Pirinen, Jonna
1982 births
Converts to Mormonism
21st-century Finnish women singers
Finnish Latter Day Saints
Living people
Finnish expatriates in the United States