Anja Nissen won the Dansk Meldoi Grand Prix in 2017 and as such will go on to represent Denmark at Eurovision 2017 in May with the song ‘Where I Am’. Get to know her a little bit better with our feature article 10 Things About…Anja Nissen!
1. Anja Nissen was born near Sydney Australia on 6 November 1995 to Danish-born parents and is a Danish-Australian singer, songwriter, dancer and actress.
2. Anja 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. Throughout high school Anja was part of the exclusive Talent Development Program (TDP) and competed in a number of singing competitions.
3. Anja has a history of competing in a number of TV talent search shows. The first of these was when she was 12 and made it to the semi-finals of Season 2 of Australia’s Got Talent. She has also appeared on a number of TV shows, including Young Talent Time, Mornings with Kerri-Anne and the annual Schools Spectacular.
4. Her most notable TV appearance however is perhaps when she competed in the third series of the Voice Australia, joining Will I Am’s team after he turned for her performance of Mariah Carey’s song ‘Vanishing’. All four judges turned their chairs for her and she went on to win the entire series.
5. She is signed to Universal Music Group where she released her debut album ‘Anja Nissen’ which mainly consisted of songs that she covered on the Voice. This included ‘When Love Takes Over’, ‘Vanishing’, ‘Free Fallin”, ‘Irreplaceable’ and ‘Stop and Stare’.Soon after the release of her debut album, Anja began writing material for her follow up album in Los Angeles and Denmark. It is unknown when or if it will see a release.
6. Original songs of Anja’s include the 2014 collaboration with Voice mentor Will.I.Am and Cody Wise ‘I’m So Excited’, and follow up songs ‘Anyone Who Had A Heart’ and ‘Triumph’.
7. Anja cites Patti LaBelle, Aretha Franklin, Celine Dion, Mariah Carey, Whitney Houston, Toni Braxton and Stevie Wonder among her musical influences.
8. In 2015, Nissen was the support act for Olly Murs on his Australian Never Been Better tour.
9. Anja has performed the Danish National Anthem in the company of Crown Princess Mary of Denmark.
10. 2017 was not Anja’s first attempt at representing her country at Eurovision. She also competed at Dansk Melodi Grand Prix in the previous year, but her song ‘Never Alone’ came in second to Lighthouse X’s ‘Soldiers of Love’.
Check out Anja’s Eurovision 2017 song ‘Where I Am’:
Eurovision NI 