She won Dansk Melodi Grand Prix back in February with “Sand”, and now SABA will bring Danish Dynamite across the Öresund Bridge to try and snatch the first Grand Final qualification spot for Denmark since 2019 in semi-final 2.
But now it’s time to find out more about the Danish singstress, so let’s delve in deeper.
Scroll down for 10 Facts about SABA.
10 facts about SABA
1. She is adopted
When she was 8 months old Saba and her twin sister, Sara (now Andrea), were adopted from Ethiopia and brought up in the small Danish town of Ringkøbing in western Jutland. They both went back to Ethiopia in 2020 to find their biological mother, which turned out to be a very beautiful and emotional experience for both of them.
2. Open about mental issues
In 2018 Saba was diagnosed with bipolar disorder which was revealed together with her journey to Ethiopia in the DR documentary “My Crazy Twin” from 2020. She is now ambassador for the Danish Depression Society.
3. Wants to represent minorities
Being the first black solo artist to represent Denmark in Eurovision, and only the second black person from Denmark ever, Saba is proud to represent her cultural heritage in the competition: “I have always wanted to represent Denmark as a brown person. It’s very important to me to be the face of someone I would have wanted to see myself, when I grew up and watched Eurovision”.
Saba is also queer and lives with her girlfriend Aviaja in Copenhagen.
4. Replaced her twin sister in a musical
Her twin sister, Andrea, became pregnant in 2023 while playing the lead role of Dionne in the musical Hair. The sisters had joked about that Saba could just take over the role, and that became a reality when the theatre director asked if she wanted to do it. That was Saba’s debut on the musical theatre stage and the first time she performed in front of a broader audience.
5. Got inspired by Loreen
While on Denmark tour with Hair, Saba watched Loreen win Eurovision 2023 and got inspired to wanting to participate in DMGP herself. She contacted Lise Cabble – songwriter on the Danish Eurovision entries “Only Teardrops” (2013), “New Tomorrow” (2011), “Love is Forever” (2019) and “Fra Mols til Skagen” (1995) – but she was busy with other projects, so she went to Cabble’s record label The Arrangement instead, who saw the potential in Saba.
6. “Sand” could have competed for Malta
Saba’s DMGP-winning entry “Sand” could have been in Eurovision for a whole nother country. The song was written in a song-writing camp held by The Arrangement back in 2019 by Swedish songwriter Melanie Wehbe and Danish popstar Pil, but the song wasn’t entered into any national final. In 2022, after winning Malta’s national final, Emma Muscat and her team wanted to change the song to enter Eurovision with, and they contacted The Arrangement for suggestions.
Two songs were sent down to Malta, and in the end “I Am Who I Am” was preferred over “Sand” – so we could have had Emma Muscat competing with the song already in 2022!
7. Has kept her Ethiopian name
Saba’s full name is Anna Saba Lykke Oehlenschlæger, and she decided to use her Ethiopian name as her artist name, styling it SABA. Her twin sister’s Ethiopian name is Sara, but she chose to use her Danish name Andrea instead.
8. Became a millionaire as an entrepreneur
At the age of 20 Saba moved from the small province town of Ringkøbing to the capital Copenhagen. She founded her own company delivering graphic designs and texts to companies and the vegan tooth bleaching product Coalcure. A year later Coalcure was sold for over 1 million Danish Kroner.
9. Used to play football
Saba was a talented football player in her youth, playing on several Danish Football Union teams up until the age of 14. She had to let go of her dream of becoming a professional footballer as her mental issues became more imminent.
10. Likes French Eurovision entries
Right after winning DMGP Saba was asked what her favourite Eurovision entries were, both of all time and from 2024. She said, that she has a special liking of “Voilá” by Barbara Pravi from 2021 and also Slimane’s entry from this year “Mon Amour”.
Stay tuned to Wiwibloggs for more on Saba, and to find out 10 Facts about more of your favourite artists from Eurovision 2024!
It’s a good song, in my top 10. I think she will qualify.
Nice to be part of twins <3
“Being the first black solo artist to represent Denmark in Eurovision, and only the second black person ever, ……
It’s very important to me to be the face of someone I would have wanted to see myself, when I grew up and watched Eurovision”.
???
There have been so many black artists in Eurovision over the decades, maybe not from Denmark, no idea, but from so many other Eurovision countries.
She should educate herself before posing as trailblazer. France in the 90s, Edsilia twice, Sweden three times in a row recently, Destiny twice… already named more than two without thinking for two seconds.
are they from Denmark? No. Maybe you should read what she said before commenting
Long before she even was born there already were many black artists in Eurovision.
The first in 1966.
Nowadays this is such an irrelevant thing to mention about yourself, especially in entertainment.
but she talked about Denmark and not other countries
Black person from Denmark. I’m sorry if that wasn’t clear enough, but I didn’t want to write “Denmark” twice in the same sentence 🙂
Like there was Dana International who was the first (known) trans woman participant. That was very special.
No-one says nowadays, oh, i am the first Danish trans woman, i never felt represented because there was only an israeli trans and never a Danish trans.
?
“Being the first black solo artist to represent DENMARK in Eurovision”
Learn how to read.
Saba make us proud. You got this!
Does anyone remember the banner Denmark had in Malmö 2013? “See you all at the Eurovision Song Contest Denmark 2014. 14km ->” How times have changed.
Honestly, another Lise Cabble songs sounds wonderful at this stage.
A MESC reject? Yep…
This is my guilty pleasure. I know Sand won’t be among the top but I wish it ranked so I could enjoy this song twice.