Maria Haukaas Mittet (née Storeng, born 3 August 1979) also known as simply Maria is a Norwegian recording artist. She gained national recognition in 2004 for her participation in the ''

Idol Idol or Idols may refer to: Religion and philosophy * Cult image, a neutral term for a man-made object that is worshipped or venerated for the deity, spirit or demon that it embodies or represents * Murti, a point of focus for devotion or medit ...

'' reality television series, and international recognition in 2008 as Norway's representative in the 53rd Eurovision Song Contest.

Biography

Maria was born in

Finnsnes Finnsnes () is a small List of towns and cities in Norway, town that is the administrative centre of Senja Municipality in Troms og Finnmark county, Norway. The town is located on the mainland part of Norway, just across the Gisundet strait from ...

, but grew up on the island of Senja, in

Troms Troms (; se, Romsa; fkv, Tromssa; fi, Tromssa) is a former county in northern Norway. On 1 January 2020 it was merged with the neighboring Finnmark county to create the new Troms og Finnmark county. This merger is expected to be reversed by t ...

county, Norway. She first received national media attention when she had her first musical role at the age of 11, with the lead in

Annie Annie may refer to: People and fictional characters * Annie (given name), a given name and a list of people and fictional characters with the name * Annie (actress) (born 1975), Indian actress * Annie (singer) (born 1977), Norwegian singer The ...

, at the Bryggeteateret in

Oslo Oslo ( , , or ; sma, Oslove) is the capital and most populous city of Norway. It constitutes both a county and a municipality. The municipality of Oslo had a population of in 2022, while the city's greater urban area had a population of ...

(1991). Maria and her family moved to Oslo for the musical, and when the show run was over, they moved back to

Senja or is an island in Troms og Finnmark county, Norway, Europe. With an area of , it is the second largest island in Norway (outside of the Svalbard archipelago). It has a wild, mountainous outer (western) side facing the Atlantic, and a mild ...

. She has since performed in several musicals, both in the capital Oslo, and in the county Troms where she grew up. At the age of 24, she was part of

Idol (Norway) ''Idol - Jakten på en superstjerne'' is a television show on the Norwegian television channel TV 2, based on the popular British show ''Pop Idol''. The show describes itself as a "Search For A SuperStar". The contestants are first narrowed do ...

in 2004, where she finished 6th. She took part in the ''Idol Tour'' 2004, along with other contestants in the top ten. She released her debut solo album in 2005, which peaked at number 13 on the Norwegian album charts. The single "Breathing" peaked at number 5 and was certified Gold in Norway, while "Should've" peaked at number 20. She went on a four-month national tour to promote the album. "Should've" has the same chord structure as the

Rolling Stones The Rolling Stones are an English Rock music, rock band formed in London in 1962. Active for six decades, they are one of the most popular and enduring bands of the album era, rock era. In the early 1960s, the Rolling Stones pioneered the g ...

song "

Beast of Burden A working animal is an animal, usually domesticated, that is kept by humans and trained to perform tasks instead of being slaughtered to harvest animal products. Some are used for their physical strength (e.g. oxen and draft horses) or for tr ...

" from their album ''

Some Girls ''Some Girls'' is the 14th UK and 16th US album by the English rock band the Rolling Stones, released on 9 June 1978 by Rolling Stones Records. It was recorded in sessions held between October 1977 and February 1978 at Pathé Marconi Studios in ...

''. Maria is the Norwegian representative to perform in the

Eurovision Song Contest 2008 The Eurovision Song Contest 2008 was the 53rd edition of the Eurovision Song Contest. It took place in Belgrade, Serbia, following the country's victory at the with the song "Molitva" by Marija Šerifović. Organised by the European Broadcas ...

with the song "

Hold On Be Strong "Hold On Be Strong" is a song performed by Norwegian singer Maria Haukaas Storeng, written by Mira Craig. It was presented by in the Eurovision Song Contest 2008 in Belgrade, Serbia. Eurovision Song Contest The song was elected through the Melod ...

", written by

Mira Craig Mira Scherdin Craig (born 31 July 1982) is a Norwegian R&B artist. Early life Craig's father is Ronaldo Craig an African American from Baton Rouge, Louisiana. She was born in 1982 in Oslo, and at the age of twelve, Craig performed the Whitney H ...

. On 12 February 2008 the song entered the Norwegian single charts at number 5, reaching number 1 on 19 February 2008. Maria released her second studio album, ''Hold On Be Strong'', on 28 April 2008 with help from

Eurovision Song Contest 2008

Maria entered the qualifying rounds of the

Melodi Grand Prix 2008 Norway participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 2008 with the song " Hold On Be Strong" written by Mira Craig. The song was performed by Maria Haukaas Storeng. NRK organised the national final ''Melodi Grand Prix 2008'' in order to select the ...

on 18 January and was voted through directly to the national final. In the final on 9 February, she received the highest number of votes from both the televoting and the jury, which made her the Norwegian representative in the

, which was held in

Belgrade, Serbia Belgrade ( , ;, ; names in other languages) is the capital and largest city in Serbia. It is located at the confluence of the Sava and Danube rivers and the crossroads of the Pannonian Plain and the Balkan Peninsula. Nearly 1,166,763 millio ...

. The song finished fourth in the first semi-final and qualified for the final, which took place on 24 May. Maria and the song did very well in the final, ending up in fifth place.

Eurovision Song Contest 2009

Maria was a co-host (together with

Per Sundnes Per André Sundnes (born June 16, 1966 in Bodø) is a Norwegian journalist and talk show host. He is often described as a trend and pop culture expert with a particular interest for music and fashion. Eurovision commentator In autumn 2006 it be ...

) of

Melodi Grand Prix 2009 Norway participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 2009 with the song " Fairytale" written and performed by Alexander Rybak. NRK organised the national final ''Melodi Grand Prix 2009'' in order to select the Norwegian entry for the 2009 contest in ...

, in which

Alexander Rybak Alexander Igorevich Rybak (russian: Александр Игоревич Рыбак) or Alyaxandr Iharavich Rybak ( be, Аляксандр Ігаравіч Рыбак; born 13 May 1986) is a Belarusian-Norwegian singer-composer, violinist, pian ...

was selected as Norway's entry in the

Eurovision Song Contest 2009 The Eurovision Song Contest 2009 was the 54th edition of the Eurovision Song Contest. It took place in Moscow, Russia, following the country's victory at the with the song "Believe (Dima Bilan song), Believe" by Dima Bilan. Organised by the Euro ...

. Maria also participated in the Swedish

Melodifestivalen 2009 Melodifestivalen 2009 was a Sweden, Swedish song contest held between February and March 2009. It was the selection for the 49th song to represent Sweden in the Eurovision Song Contest, and was the 48th edition of Melodifestivalen. Five heats were ...

, singing " Killing Me Tenderly", with

Anna Sahlene Anna Cecilia Sahlin (born 11 May 1976), known professionally as Anna Sahlene and formerly by the one-word stage name Sahlene, is a Swedish performer best known as a singer: she placed third at the Eurovision Song Contest 2002 with " Runaway" ...

. They competed against seven other contestants in the fourth heat, in Malmö on 28 February 2009, and placed seventh out of eight acts.

Eurovision Song Contest 2010

On 4 December 2009 it was officially announced that Maria would participate in the

Melodi Grand Prix 2010 Norway participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 2010 with the song "My Heart Is Yours" written by Hanne Sørvaag and Fredrik Kempe. The song was performed by Didrik Solli-Tangen. In addition to participating in the contest, the Norwegian broa ...

the national contest which will decide the Norwegian entry for the

Eurovision Song Contest 2010 The Eurovision Song Contest 2010 was the 55th edition of the Eurovision Song Contest. It took place in Oslo, Norway, following the country's victory at the with the song "Fairytale (Alexander Rybak song), Fairytale" by Alexander Rybak. Organise ...

to be held in Oslo after last year's

victory. Maria's song is called "Make My Day" and is written by Merethe La Verdi and Mats Lie Skåre and is described as mid-tempo. On 8 January, the first heat of the Melodi Grand Prix 2010 was held in Orland and Maria won the semi and advanced to the Final in Oslo, where she did not come in the top four.

FIS Nordic World Ski Championships 2011

Maria performed the official theme song "Glorious" for the

FIS Nordic World Ski Championships 2011 The FIS Nordic World Ski Championships 2011 took place from 23 February to 6 March 2011
— accessed 12 March ...

in Oslo, Norway.

Theatre (selected)

* 1991–1992 ''

'' – as

(at Bryggeteateret in

) * 1995–1996 ''Trollmannen fra Oz'' ( en. '' The Wizard of Oz'') – as

Dorothy Dorothy may refer to: *Dorothy (given name), a list of people with that name. Arts and entertainment Characters *Dorothy Gale, protagonist of ''The Wonderful Wizard of Oz'' by L. Frank Baum * Ace (''Doctor Who'') or Dorothy, a character playe ...

(at Det norske teatret in Oslo) * 2002 ''Thank You for the Music'' –

ABBA ABBA ( , , formerly named Björn & Benny, Agnetha & Anni-Frid or Björn & Benny, Agnetha & Frida) are a Swedish supergroup formed in Stockholm in 1972 by Agnetha Fältskog, Björn Ulvaeus, Benny Andersson, and Anni-Frid Lyngstad. The group's ...

Tribute (at Scene West in Oslo) * 2003 '' Fame'' – as Mabel Washington (at Chat Noir in Oslo) * 2005 ''

Hamlet ''The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark'', often shortened to ''Hamlet'' (), is a tragedy written by William Shakespeare sometime between 1599 and 1601. It is Shakespeare's longest play, with 29,551 words. Set in Denmark, the play depicts ...

'' – as

Ophelia Ophelia () is a character in William Shakespeare's drama ''Hamlet'' (1599–1601). She is a young noblewoman of Denmark, the daughter of Polonius, sister of Laertes and potential wife of Prince Hamlet, who, due to Hamlet's actions, ends up in ...

(by Nordnorsk Scenekompani in

Harstad ( se, Hárstták) is the second-most populated municipality in Troms og Finnmark county, Norway. It is mostly located on the large island of Hinnøya. The municipal center is the Harstad (town), town of Harstad, the most populous town in Centra ...

and

Tromsø Tromsø (, , ; se, Romsa ; fkv, Tromssa; sv, Tromsö) is a List of municipalities of Norway, municipality in Troms og Finnmark county, Norway. The administrative centre of the municipality is the Tromsø (city), city of Tromsø. Tromsø lies ...

) * 2006–2007 ''

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 ...

'' – as Sheila Franklin (at Det Norske Teatret in Oslo)

Discography

The following article is a discography of albums and singles released by Norwegian artist Maria Haukaas Storeng.

Albums

Singles

Featured-on albums

* 1991 ''"Annie" – den norske suksessversjonen'' * 2004 ''Idol – de 11 finalistene'' – track 3, "Don't Give a Damn" – (Album charts: number 2) * 2008 ''

'' (Album charts: number 28) * 2009 ''

'' * 2010 ''

Filmography

* ''

Kim Possible ''Kim Possible'' is an American animated action comedy-adventure television series created by Bob Schooley and Mark McCorkle for Disney Channel. The title character is a teenage girl tasked with fighting crime on a regular basis while coping wi ...

'' (TV) (Norwegian audio version) – sings the theme song – sings a ballad in one episode * ''

Chicken Little "Henny Penny", more commonly known in the United States as "Chicken Little" and sometimes as "Chicken Licken", is a European folk tale with a moral in the form of a cumulative tale about a chicken who believes that the world is coming to an end ...

'' (Norwegian audio version) – sings "Ta Den Ut" * ''

Shrek the Third ''Shrek the Third'' (also known as ''Shrek 3'') is a 2007 American computer-animated comedy film loosely based on the 1990 picture book '' Shrek!'' by William Steig, produced by DreamWorks Animation and distributed by Paramount Pictures. The se ...

'' (Norwegian audio version) – Rapunsel (voice) Self * 1999 Beat for Beat (TV) (Norwegian music show) * 2001 Du skal høre mye (TV) * 2003 Beat for Beat (TV) * 2004 Idol (TV) * 2004 Beat for Beat (TV) * 2005 Heia Tufte (TV) * 2007 Beat for Beat (TV) * 2008 Beat for Beat (TV)

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Mittet, Maria Haukaas 1979 births Living people People from Lenvik Bonnier Amigo Music Group artists Melodi Grand Prix contestants Melodi Grand Prix winners Eurovision Song Contest entrants for Norway Eurovision Song Contest entrants of 2008 Idol (Norwegian TV series) participants Norwegian pop singers Melodifestivalen contestants 21st-century Norwegian singers 21st-century Norwegian women singers English-language singers from Norway