Toussaint Michael Chiza (born 1 January 2002), better known as Tusse, is a Congolese-Swedish

singer Singing is the art of creating music with the voice. It is the oldest form of musical expression, and the human voice can be considered the first musical instrument. The definition of singing varies across sources. Some sources define singi ...

who represented Sweden in the

Eurovision Song Contest 2021 The Eurovision Song Contest 2021 was the 65th edition of the Eurovision Song Contest. It took place in Rotterdam, Netherlands, following the country's win at the with the song "Arcade (song), Arcade" by Duncan Laurence. The Netherlands was se ...

Life and career

Chiza was born in the

Democratic Republic of the Congo The Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), also known as the DR Congo, Congo-Kinshasa, or simply the Congo (the last ambiguously also referring to the neighbouring Republic of the Congo), is a country in Central Africa. By land area, it is t ...

. When he was five years old, he had to flee his country. He lived in

Uganda Uganda, officially the Republic of Uganda, is a landlocked country in East Africa. It is bordered to the east by Kenya, to the north by South Sudan, to the west by the Democratic Republic of the Congo, to the south-west by Rwanda, and to the ...

in a refugee camp with his aunt for three years and then came to Sweden. There, he lived in the village of Kullsbjörken, near

Leksand Leksand () is a Urban areas in Sweden, locality and the seat of Leksand Municipality in Dalarna County, Sweden, with 5,934 inhabitants in 2010. Leksand is situated on the southern branch of lake Siljan (lake), Siljan, where it flows into river Öst ...

, where he has resided since 2015. He participated as a singer in the Swedish talent show Talang 2018 (as Tousin Chiza) which was also broadcast on TV4; he made it to the semifinals before being eliminated. He received praise for his semifinal performance from judge

Bianca Ingrosso Bianca Melina Elisabeth Wahlgren Ingrosso (born 30 December 1994) is a Swedish blogger, social influencer, television personality, entrepreneur, and singer. Career Performances Ingrosso participated in the Swedish national selection for th ...

. Tusse was a finalist in Swedish Idol 2019, broadcast on TV4, alongside Freddie Liljegren, and was ultimately declared the winner in the final. After winning Swedish Idol, he released three singles, two of them songs he performed on Idol: a cover of

Whitney Houston Whitney Elizabeth Houston (August 9, 1963 – February 11, 2012) was an American singer, actress, film producer, model, and philanthropist. Commonly referred to as "Honorific nicknames in popular music, the Voice", she is List of awards and no ...

's "

How Will I Know "How Will I Know" is a song recorded by American singer Whitney Houston for her self-titled debut studio album. It was released on November 22, 1985, by Arista Records as the album's third single. Written and composed by George Merrill and ...

" on 22 November 2019 as a Top 12 contestant. And as the winner, he released his version of the season's winning song, "Rain", on 3 December 2019. As a result of his victory, he got to release his debut single as a

CD single A CD single is a single (music), music single in the form of a compact disc (CD). Originally the ''CD single'' standard (as defined in the Rainbow Books, Red Book) was an 8 cm (3-inch) "mini CD" (''CD3''); later on the term referred to any si ...

as well as on the iTunes Store. His third single is called "Innan du går" Tusse participated in

Melodifestivalen 2021 Melodifestivalen 2021 was the 61st edition of the Swedish music competition Melodifestivalen. The competition was organised by (SVT) and took place over a six-week period between 6 February and 13 March 2021. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, all s ...

with the song "

Voices Voices or The Voices may refer to: Film and television * ''Voices'' (1920 film), by Chester M. De Vonde, with Diana Allen * ''Voices'' (1973 film), a British horror film * ''Voices'' (1979 film), a film by Robert Markowitz * ''Voices'' (1 ...

". He qualified directly to the final, scheduled for 13 March 2021, and ultimately won with 175 points. As a result, he represented Sweden in the

Rotterdam Rotterdam ( , ; ; ) is the second-largest List of cities in the Netherlands by province, city in the Netherlands after the national capital of Amsterdam. It is in the Provinces of the Netherlands, province of South Holland, part of the North S ...

, the Netherlands. After his first Eurovision rehearsal, Tusse was the victim of racist comments on social media. In the semi-final, Tusse managed to qualify for the final on 22 May. In the final, he reached 14th place with his song. After Eurovision, he did an interview with the magazine Vanity Teen in which he talked about his personal life, his experience in Eurovision and his future career. In June 2023, it was revealed that a film about Tusse's life was to be produced in 2024.

Discography

Singles

Notes

References

External links

* {{Authority control Living people 2002 births Idol (Swedish TV series) winners Idol (Swedish TV series) participants Democratic Republic of the Congo emigrants to Sweden 21st-century Swedish singers 21st-century Swedish male singers Refugees in Sweden Talang (Swedish TV series) contestants Eurovision Song Contest entrants