THE arrival on the Eurovision stage of Latvian singer Aminata this evening is the culmination of years of learning her special style of music Aminata Savadogo who has her roots in a diverse ethnic which is a mix that includes African and Russian ethnicity, which, together with the broad and inspiring Latvian culture, has helped influence her to develop her talent in both composing and singing since early childhood.
Aminata was born in Riga in 1993 to a Latvian mother of Russian descent, and a father from Burkina Faso.
Her voice is a blend of different singing styles which has helped her attract attention from a wide and diverse audience.
Before she entered the arena, we spoke with her about her life and how her music has developed.
She said: “It was a dream of mine from childhood to become a singer and therefore I never considered any other option only to be a singer.
“I started to sing classic rock at the age of 13 but was unaware that singers have to learn, I had thought that they just sing. I did a lot of my learning at music school and when I finished I sang backing vocals for a Latvian singer. However, it was only after I won a TV show in Latvia that people started to recognise me.”
Aminata believes that she was born with a musical voice which was allowed to develop because of the support provided by her parents.
“When I was a child, my parents didn’t take my singing seriously but at the same time they allowed me to do whatever I wanted. I guess, maybe, at that time they didn’t know I was dreaming about becoming a singer.
The Eurovision song she will performer Love Injected has all the sounds of a modern composition with elements of the 1980s including a synthesiser As she explains: “ I wrote the song which is a single from my album. The song is about love and an expression of the feelings going through my head. This song is a reflection of my feelings.
And for Aminata, what will standing on the stage in front of thousands of people in the audience and millions watching across Europe mean to her “It’s a difficult question because I want to feel this moment when you step on the stage in front of the huge audience and then the song starts and I start to sing and I want to feel these emotions that I will remember for the rest of my life.”
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules here