Anja Nissen

Anja Nissen (born 6 November 1995), sometimes known as simply Anja, is a Danish-Australian singer. She was the winner of the third season of The Voice Australia.[1] Following her win, Nissen was signed to Universal Music Group and lists her influences as Celine Dion, Mariah Carey, Whitney Houston, Christina Aguilera, Toni Braxton and Stevie Wonder. In 2015, Nissen was the support act for Olly Murs on his Australian Never Been Better tour.[2]

Anja Nissen
Nissen on the red carpet of the Eurovision Song Contest 2017
Background information
Born (1995-11-06) 6 November 1995
Winmalee, New South Wales, Australia
Genres
Occupation(s)
  • Singer
Years active2002–present
LabelsAnja Nissen Music
Websiteanjanissenmusic.com

In 2016, Nissen competed in Dansk Melodi Grand Prix 2016, Denmark's national final for the Eurovision Song Contest, performing the song "Never Alone". She came in second place with 36% of the vote.[3] In 2017, Nissen competed in Dansk Melodi Grand Prix 2017 with the song "Where I Am", which she co-wrote. Anja went on to win and represented Denmark in the Eurovision Song Contest 2017,[4] where she finished 20th in the final.

Nissen has been an Australia Day ambassador, and performed at the Australia Day Event in Northern Territory.[5] Nissen performed at the 2014 Carols by Candlelight in Melbourne, Australia. Nissen was also the face of Lyla & Co.[6]

Life and career

Early life

Nissen was raised in Winmalee, The Blue Mountains, New South Wales, Australia to Danish-born parents.[7] Her mother and father emigrated from Denmark to Australia when they were 11 and 22 years old, respectively. Nissen grew up on her parents' country property in the Lower Blue Mountains with her older sister. She attended Winmalee High School, where she obtained her HSC in 2013.[8][9] Throughout high school Anja was part of the exclusive Talent Development Program (TDP) and competed in a number of singing competitions.

In 2008, Nissen made it to the semi-finals of Season 2 of popular talent-search TV show, Australia's Got Talent, aged 12.[10] Since then she has appeared on a number of TV shows, including Young Talent Time, Mornings with Kerri-Anne and the annual Schools Spectacular. She also performed the Danish National Anthem in the company of Crown Princess Mary of Denmark.[11]

2014–2016: The Voice Australia

In 2014, Nissen was a contestant on the third series of The Voice Australia. She was a member of Team will.i.am, and went on to win the competition.

  denotes winner.

Immediately following her win on The Voice, Nissen was due to release the track titled "My Girls", co-written by Delta Goodrem,was cancelled at the last minute. Nissen said, "'My Girls' is an awesome song, a great song, it just came down to whether or not it's my style or not... Will wanted to be part of the decision making process when it came to choosing the single. Will wasn’t sure if 'My Girls' was the right style for me. He wanted to have a few more days to think about that and start working on ideas, looking at where to go next."[12]

Nissen's debut self-titled album consisted of songs from The Voice. It was not promoted by a radio single at the time, which impacted sales.

In October 2014, Nissen released a collaboration with will.i.am and Cody Wise titled "I'm So Excited" as her debut single. The song debuted at number 42 on the ARIA Singles Chart, selling 3,023 copies and received a mixed response.[13]

Anja featured on We Love Disney (2014) album singing "A Dream is a Wish Your Heart Makes" from Cinderella.[14] Her rendition of "Joy to the World" was released on The Salvation Army's Spirit of Christmas 2014 album.[15]

On 19 May 2015, Nissen released her follow-up single of Bacharach and David's "Anyone Who Had a Heart" as a part of Nine Network's hit television program Love Child.[16] On 4 August 2015, Nissen released her third single "Triumph".[17] She performed her single on The Voice Australia 2015 to over 1.6 million viewers nationwide.[18]

2016–2018: Denmark in the Eurovision Song Contest

On 10 January 2016, Nissen was confirmed to be taking part in the Dansk Melodi Grand Prix 2016, Denmark's national selection for the Eurovision Song Contest 2016, with the song "Never Alone".[19][20] The song was written by Danish Eurovision winner Emmelie de Forest, producer Rune Westberg, and American singer and songwriter MoZella. She ended up placing second in the final with 36% of the final vote, behind winners Lighthouse X.[21] The following year, she returned to the Dansk Melodi Grand Prix with the song "Where I Am", which was written by Nissen herself, along with Angel Tupai and Michael D'Arcy. Nissen went on to win, getting 64% of the final vote, and represented Denmark in the Eurovision Song Contest 2017.[22] In May, Nissen released a 6-track EP titled Where I Am. As of 2017, Nissen is living in Los Angeles, where she is studying Keyboard Technology and Music Theory at Musicians Institute (Hollywood).[23]

2019–present: Songwriting, Gigging & Networking

Across the Covid years Anja lived between Copenhagen and Los Angeles.

In 2020, relocated to California and released two singles "If We Only Had Tonight" and "Can't Do This".[24]

In February 2023, Nissen released the 6-track EP titled Same Room.[25]

Discography
Main article: Anja Nissen discography

Awards

Mo Awards

The Australian Entertainment Mo Awards (commonly known informally as the Mo Awards), were annual Australian entertainment industry awards. They recognise achievements in live entertainment in Australia from 1975 to 2016. Anja Nissen won one awards in that time.[26]

Year Nominee / work Award Result (wins only)
2013 Anja Nissen Johnny O'Keefe Encouragement Award Won

References
  1. "Anja Nissen wins The Voice Australia". Woman's Day. Retrieved 21 July 2014.
  2. "Olly Murs, Anja Nissen". theMusic. Retrieved 11 May 2017.
  3. Jordan, Paul (4 January 2017). "Lighthouse X to represent Denmark in Stockholm!". Eurovision Song Contest. Retrieved 13 February 2016.
  4. Nilsson, Helena (25 February 2017). "Anja Nissen fulfills her childhood dream". European Broadcasting Union. Retrieved 2 March 2017.
  5. "Australia Day". australiaday.org.au. Archived from the original on 25 March 2015. Retrieved 11 May 2017.
  6. https://sslcam.news.com.au/cam/authorise?channel=pc&url=http%3a%2f%2fwww.dailytelegraph.com.au%2fnewslocal%2fwest%2fvoice-winner-anja-nissen-makes-her-modelling-debut-as-face-of-big-w-clothing-line%2fstory-fngr8i5s-1227099383591
  7. Tesolin, Lauren (18 July 2014). "Can Anja, the little girl from Winmalee win The Voice?". Herald Sun. Retrieved 31 January 2015.
  8. Hjort, Martin (4 July 2014). "Se op Mary: Danske Anja et hit i Australien". BT (in Danish). Retrieved 31 January 2015.
  9. Hansen, Helle Kastholm (21 July 2014). "Danske Anja vandt The Voice i Australien". BT (in Danish). Retrieved 31 January 2015.
  10. "Anja Nissen – Australia's Got Talent". Retrieved 27 July 2014 – via YouTube.
  11. "Anja Nissen profile". The Voice Australia. Archived from the original on 29 July 2014. Retrieved 22 July 2014.
  12. "The Voice winner Anja Nissen reveals will.i.am felt dumped Delta Goodrem song wasn't her style". News.com.au. 28 July 2023. Retrieved 27 February 2023.
  13. "Anja Nissen's first single sells 3023 copies despite will.i.am connection — three months after winning The Voice". news.com.au. 10 November 2014. Retrieved 27 February 2023.
  14. "We Love Disney". jbhifi.com.au. Retrieved 11 May 2017.
  15. "Myer Spirit of Christmas". Archived from the original on 28 September 2015. Retrieved 28 September 2015.
  16. "I'm outside of Australia. Why can't I watch 9Now?". 9Now Help. Archived from the original on 7 April 2016. Retrieved 11 May 2017.
  17. "Triumph - Single by Anja Nissen on Apple Music". iTunes Store. 4 August 2015. Retrieved 11 May 2017.
  18. "Anja Nissen Performing New Single 'Triumph' on Sunday! | the Voice | 9Jumpin". Archived from the original on 28 September 2015. Retrieved 28 September 2015.
  19. Ellegaard, Christian (7 January 2016). "Sangene fundet til Grand Prix: Hør dem 28. januar" (in Danish). DR. Retrieved 7 January 2016.
  20. Lynch, David (10 January 2016). "The 10 Danish Melodi Grand Prix songs revealed – accidentally!". ESCBubble. Retrieved 10 January 2016.
  21. "Lighthouse X vinder Melodi Grand Prix". Politiken (in Danish). 13 February 2016. Retrieved 13 February 2016.
  22. Granger, Anthony (25 February 2017). "DENMARK: SELECTS ANJA NISSEN FOR THE EUROVISION SONG CONTEST 2017". eurovoix.com. Eurovoix.
  23. "Anja Nissen Confirms 'Where I Am' EP". auspOp. 4 May 2017. Retrieved 5 May 2017.
  24. "A very serious investigation into what the past winners of The Voice are doing now". Mamamia. 5 June 2020. Retrieved 27 February 2023.
  25. "Anja Nissen has released the 'Same Room' EP". ESC Covers. 17 February 2023. Retrieved 28 February 2023.
  26. "MO Award Winners". Mo Awards. Retrieved 16 March 2022.
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