Arja Saijonmaa has released a new album in Sweden Dig har jag kär aka My Swedish songbook. It's her first studio album in Swedish since 1999. Her latest studio album is Rakkaus on rohkeutta from 2006 in Finnish. Altogether this is her 25th studio album. Enough of numbers. Arja is coming to Finland this November for a couple of concerts to celebrate her 70th birthday and career that has been going on for over 40 years in Finland, Sweden, Norway and elsewhere including touring the world with Mikis Theodorakis. She has sung everything from Finnish tangos to Swedish schlagerpop, etno music, French chansons and political songs. Besides a singer she is also an actress in theater, movies and television, she's well known human rights activist, she has even written a book about Finnish sauna. And an autobiography that has been published in Finnish, Swedish, Norwegian and Greek. And she's a real diva, too. What else can you ask?
She's no stranger to Eurovision either. In 1986 she lost the Swedish Melodifestivalen victory with one point only with Högt över havet but in 2005 it didn't go that well; Vad än du trodde så trodde du fel came last in her semifinal..... Autsch! In between she took part in Euroviisut 1990 with Gabriela. All was set for her victory and she really deserved it but she came only 3rd. It seems the jury decided that year a song in Swedish MUST win no matter what. And we all know how that ended....
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