Emmelie Charlotte-Victoria de Forest (born 28 February 1993) is a Danish singer and songwriter. De Forest represented Denmark with the song " Only Teardrops" in the

Eurovision Song Contest 2013 The Eurovision Song Contest 2013 was the 58th edition of the Eurovision Song Contest. It took place in Malmö, Sweden, following the country's victory at the with the song "Euphoria" by Loreen. Organised by the European Broadcasting Union (EB ...

Malmö Malmö (, ; da, Malmø ) is the largest city in the Swedish county (län) of Scania (Skåne). It is the third-largest city in Sweden, after Stockholm and Gothenburg, and the sixth-largest city in the Nordic region, with a municipal pop ...

, Sweden, winning the contest. Her debut album '' Only Teardrops'' was released on the

Universal Music Universal Music Group N.V. (often abbreviated as UMG and referred to as just Universal Music) is a Dutch– American multinational music corporation under Dutch law. UMG's corporate headquarters are located in Hilversum, Netherlands and its ...

label on 6 May 2013. Her sophomore studio album ''History'' was released through the Swedish independent label

Cosmos Music Cosmos Music, formerly Bonnier Amigo Music Group (BAMG), is an independent record company based in Stockholm, Sweden. Bonnier Amigo Music Group was formed in 2001 when the record company and distributor Amigo Musik merged with the record compa ...

on 9 February 2018.

Personal life

De Forest was born in

Randers Randers () is a city in Randers Municipality, Central Denmark Region on the Jutland peninsula. It is Denmark's sixth-largest city, with a population of 62,802 (as of 1 January 2022).Mariager, Denmark, and in Stockholm, Sweden.http://www.svt.se/melodifestivalen/danmark-i-eurovision-2013-emmelie-de-forest-only-teardrops read 2015-05-28 She had previously claimed that she was a great granddaughter of Edward VII of the United Kingdom (and thus a great-great-granddaughter of

Victoria of the United Kingdom Victoria (Alexandrina Victoria; 24 May 1819 – 22 January 1901) was Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 20 June 1837 until her death in 1901. Her reign of 63 years and 216 days was longer than that of any previo ...

and Albert, Prince Consort).

Danmarks Radio DR (), officially the Danish Broadcasting Corporation in English, is a Danish public-service radio and television broadcasting company. Founded in 1925 as a public-service organization, it is Denmark's oldest and largest electronic media enter ...

used the story of her claim to royal ancestry in its promotion of the Dansk Melodi Grand Prix, although the claim has been discredited by researchers.

Music career

Early career

De Forest began singing at the age of nine and sang with her mother in the Steve Cameron Gospel Choir for several years. From the age of 14, she began performing at music festivals and small venues with Scottish folk musician Fraser Neill. According to Neill, they made an album together titled ''Emmelié de Forest and Fraser Neill'' that sold only 100 copies. When de Forest was 18 years old, she ended her collaboration with Neill and moved to Copenhagen to study at the Complete Vocal Institute.

2013: Eurovision Song Contest and ''Only Teardrops''

ESC2013 winner's press conference 06 (crop)

De Forest was one of ten acts that performed in the 2013 Dansk Melodi Grand Prix for a chance to represent Denmark at the

, Sweden. On 26 January 2013, she performed the song " Only Teardrops" (written by Lise Cabble, Julia Fabrin Jakobsen and Thomas Stengaard) and won the national selection. Her debut album, '' Only Teardrops'', was released on 6 May, a week before her performance in the Eurovision contest. The album has twelve tracks, including the original and symphonic versions of "Only Teardrops." On 14 May, de Forest reached the final of the Eurovision, being one of the ten finalists that qualified from the first semi-final. According to British bookmakers, de Forest was the odds on favourite to win the contest. De Forest won the 2013 Eurovision final on 18 May with a total of 281 points, 47 points more than second-place finisher

Farid Mammadov Farid Mammadov ( az , Fərid Məmmədov; born 30 August 1991, in Baku) is an Azerbaijani singer. He represented Azerbaijan in the Eurovision Song Contest 2013 in Malmö with the song " Hold Me" and came second after Denmark. Biography Early li ...

Azerbaijan Azerbaijan (, ; az, Azərbaycan ), officially the Republic of Azerbaijan, , also sometimes officially called the Azerbaijan Republic is a transcontinental country located at the boundary of Eastern Europe and Western Asia. It is a part of t ...

. She performed her Eurovision winning entry at the

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on 30 November. In December it was revealed that de Forest had been awarded the European of the Year Award ( da, Årets Europæer Award) by the Danish European Movement.

2014–present: Label change and ''History''

On 7 February 2014, de Forest uploaded a video that spoke about her third single " Rainmaker", explained the meaning of the song, and previewed it. It was the official #JoinUs song for the

Eurovision Song Contest 2014 The Eurovision Song Contest 2014 was the 59th edition of the Eurovision Song Contest. It took place in Copenhagen, Denmark, following the country's victory at the with the song "Only Teardrops" by Emmelie de Forest. Organised by the European B ...

and she performed the song live during the final at the

B&W Hallerne B&W Hallerne (English: ''The B&W Halls'') is a former industrial complex located on the island of Refshaleøen in Copenhagen, Denmark. Built in the early 1960s by Burmeister & Wain, the complex consists of two large halls which were used to build ...

, in

Copenhagen Copenhagen ( or .; da, København ) is the capital and most populous city of Denmark, with a proper population of around 815.000 in the last quarter of 2022; and some 1.370,000 in the urban area; and the wider Copenhagen metropolitan ar ...

. Talking about the song, de Forest said "It is about a tribe joining together to call upon the rainmaker to make their land blossom again. But on a more general level the rainmaker can be anything or anyone – it is about coming together and helping each other out". She also talked about enjoying success after winning Eurovision last year, "I've been performing my music around Europe, released my debut album and written a lot of new songs – to be honest, I'm living my dream!". In a

Wiwibloggs Wiwibloggs is a fansite and YouTube channel focusing on the Eurovision Song Contest, launched in 2009. It has a seasonal audience, peaking at 250,000 page views per day during the week of Eurovision in May 2016, based on Google Analytics data. ...

interview in September 2014, de Forest said she was recording her second studio album, which was originally due to be released in February 2015. On 14 July, de Forest announced that "Rainmaker" was certified Gold. On 3 August 2014, de Forest announced via Facebook that she would perform the first single of her yet untitled album, "Drunk Tonight" at Amsterdam Pride 2014. Via Instagram, de Forest unveiled the cover and snippets of "Drunk Tonight", as well as its music video preview. The single was later released on 18 August, while the music video for the song was released on 25 August. De Forest, who appears in a bikini in the video, has said in interviews that she wanted it to be "elegant and sexy" at the same time. In December 2015, she left her record label

Universal Music Group Universal Music Group N.V. (often abbreviated as UMG and referred to as just Universal Music) is a Dutch– American multinational music corporation under Dutch law. UMG's corporate headquarters are located in Hilversum, Netherlands and its ...

, and later signed with Swedish record company

. De Forest participated in Dansk Melodi Grand Prix 2016 as a songwriter of the song "Never Alone" performed by

Anja Nissen Anja Nissen (born 6 November 1995), sometimes known as simply Anja, is a Danish and Australian singer. She was the winner of the third series of ''The Voice Australia''. Following her win, Nissen was signed to Universal Music Group and lists h ...

. However, it risked disqualification as de Forest had performed the song several times prior to it competing in the competition. It was ultimately approved by the European Broadcasting Union, which organises the Eurovision Song Contest. The song competed in the final on 13 February 2016, where it advanced to the super final and ended in second place. De Forest later participated in the British national selection for the

Eurovision Song Contest 2017 The Eurovision Song Contest 2017 was the 62nd edition of the Eurovision Song Contest. It took place in Kyiv, Ukraine, following the country's victory at the with the song "1944" by Jamala. Organised by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) and ...

as a songwriter for the song " Never Give Up on You" performed by Lucie Jones. The song went on to win the competition, and later placed 15th at the Eurovision Song Contest in

. De Forest went on to release the single "Sanctuary" in November 2017, her first release since her split from Universal. Her second studio album ''History'' was released on 9 February 2018. Under the independent label Day In Day Out Records, a division of Cosmos Music, De Forest released the single "Typical Love Song" on 8 October 2021.

Discography

*'' Only Teardrops'' (2013) *''History'' (2018)

References

External links

Emmelie de Forest official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Forest, Emmelie de 1993 births Eurovision Song Contest entrants for Denmark Danish people of Swedish descent Danish pop singers Danish songwriters English-language singers from Denmark Spanish-language singers of Denmark Eurovision Song Contest entrants of 2013 Eurovision Song Contest winners Living people People from Randers People from Mariager Universal Music Group artists 21st-century Danish women singers