Jon Henrik Mario Fjällgren (born 26 April 1987) is a

Colombia Colombia, officially the Republic of Colombia, is a country primarily located in South America with Insular region of Colombia, insular regions in North America. The Colombian mainland is bordered by the Caribbean Sea to the north, Venezuel ...

n-born Swedish-

Sámi Acronyms * SAMI, ''Synchronized Accessible Media Interchange'', a closed-captioning format developed by Microsoft * Saudi Arabian Military Industries, a government-owned defence company * South African Malaria Initiative, a virtual expertise ...

singer and ''jojkare'', an interpreter of Sámi

joik A joik or yoik (anglicised, where the latter spelling in English conforms with the pronunciation; also named , , , or in the Sámi languages) is a traditional form of song in Sámi music performed by the Sámi people of Sápmi in Northern E ...

. He was the winner of '' Talang Sverige 2014'', the Swedish version of ''

Got Talent ''Got Talent'' is a British talent show TV format conceived and owned by Simon Cowell's Syco Entertainment. It has spawned spin-offs in over 60 countries, in what is now referred to as the 'Got Talent' format, similar to that described by Frema ...

''. Upon winning the competition he released the music album '' Goeksegh''. He has participated in Melodifestivalen four times, in

2015 2015 was designated by the United Nations as: * International Year of Light * International Year of Soil __TOC__ Events January * January 1 – Lithuania officially adopts the euro as its currency, replacing the litas, and becomes ...

he placed second, in

2017 2017 was designated as the International Year of Sustainable Tourism for Development by the United Nations General Assembly. Events January * January 1 – Istanbul nightclub shooting: A gunman dressed as Santa Claus opens fire at the ...

he placed third, and in

2019 This was the year in which the first known human case of COVID-19 was documented, preceding COVID-19 pandemic, the pandemic which was declared by the World Health Organization the following year. Up to that point, 2019 had been described as ...

and

2023 Catastrophic natural disasters in 2023 included the Lists of 21st-century earthquakes, 5th-deadliest earthquake of the 21st century 2023 Turkey–Syria earthquakes, striking Turkey and Syria, leaving up to 62,000 people dead; Cyclone Freddy ...

he placed fourth. Fjällgren has been a member of the

Sámi Parliament of Sweden The Sámi Parliament of Sweden (, , , ) is the representative body for people of Sámi heritage in Sweden based in Kiruna. It acts as an institution of cultural autonomy for the indigenous Sámi people. History The Sami Parliament ActSametingsla ...

since the 2021 election. He represents the political party '' Sámit''.

Biography

Fjällgren was born in

Cali Santiago de Cali (), or Cali, is the capital of the Valle del Cauca department, and the most populous city in southwest Colombia, with 2,280,522 residents estimate by National Administrative Department of Statistics, DANE in 2023. The city span ...

. At a very young age, he lived in a Native Colombian village and later moved to an orphanage. Fjällgren later was adopted by a Swedish Sami family, and became part of a ''

siida A is an organisation of humans traditionally present in Sámi people, Sámi societies consisting of several families of reindeer herders whose reindeer graze together. s traditionally encompassed more resources than reindeer, but after changes ...

'' community in Mittådalen, a reindeer foraging area where he worked as a reindeer herder. Fjällgren has revealed in several interviews that he was bullied as a child because of his darker skin and Colombian ancestry. The bullying stopped as he reached teenaged years. Fjällgren started singing local traditional songs when he was 14. He gained exposure when he sang in the presence of

Carl XVI Gustaf Carl XVI Gustaf (Carl Gustaf Folke Hubertus; born 30 April 1946) is King of Sweden. Having reigned since 1973, he is the longest-reigning monarch in Swedish history. Carl Gustaf was born during the reign of his paternal great-grandfather, K ...

and

Queen Silvia Silvia (born Silvia Renate Sommerlath; 23 December 1943) is Queen of Sweden as the wife of King Carl XVI Gustaf. She has held this title since her marriage to Carl XVI Gustaf in 1976. The king and queen have three children: Crown Princess Vict ...

who were attending church services at a church in Funäsdalen. When he was 16, he released an album titled ''Onne vielle''.

Career

At the age of 26, he took part in the Swedish '' Talang Sverige 2014'' competition and won over viewers with his interpretations of traditional Sami songs. He auditioned with a rendition of "Daniel's Joik" dedicated to his best friend Daniel, who died from

diabetes Diabetes mellitus, commonly known as diabetes, is a group of common endocrine diseases characterized by sustained high blood sugar levels. Diabetes is due to either the pancreas not producing enough of the hormone insulin, or the cells of th ...

. After winning the competition and prize money of 1 million Swedish kronor, he released his studio album ''Goeksegh'' on 19 May 2014, based primarily on materials he had performed during the contest. According to a statement he gave in an interview on Colombian TV, he started a diabetes foundation with the prize money in honor of his deceased friend, Daniel. On 31 May 2014, he performed at the "Saepmie Welcomes Festival" a festival of

culture that coincided with the ConIFA World Football Cup held in

Östersund Östersund (; ) is an Urban areas in Sweden, urban area (Stad (Sweden), city) in Jämtland in northern Sweden. It is the seat of Östersund Municipality and the capital of Jämtland County. Östersund is located at the shores of Sweden's fifth-larg ...

. In July he performed his winning song in

Allsång på Skansen ''Allsång på Skansen'' (''Sing-along at Skansen'') is a Sweden, Swedish show held at Skansen, Stockholm, every summer on Tuesdays between 8pm and 9pm. The audience is encouraged to sing-along, sing along with musical guest stars to well-known ...

which was broadcast on SVT. Fjällgren participated in Melodifestivalen 2015 in the third semifinal with the song Jag är fri (Manne leam frijje), and made it to the final in

Friends Arena Nationalarenan, known as Strawberry Arena since 2024 for sponsorship reasons, is a retractable roof multi-purpose stadium in Stockholm, Sweden. Located next to the lake Råstasjön in Solna, just north of the City Centre, it is the largest stadi ...

. In the final he placed second after the jury and televoting results. He participated again in

Melodifestivalen 2017 Melodifestivalen 2017 was the 57th edition of the Swedish music competition Melodifestivalen, which selected Sweden's entry for the Eurovision Song Contest 2017. The competition was organised by (SVT) and took place over a six-week period betwe ...

with the song " En värld full av strider (Eatneme gusnie jeenh dåaroeh)" alongside Aninia on 25 February 2017, which coincided with the release of his second full album titled ''Aatjan goengere''. He won '' Let's Dance 2018'' broadcast on TV4. He participated in

Melodifestivalen 2019 Melodifestivalen 2019 was the 59th edition of the Swedish music competition Melodifestivalen and was held from 2 February to 9 March 2019. Presenters were Sarah Dawn Finer, Kodjo Akolor, Marika Carlsson and Eric Saade. Edward af Sillén retur ...

with the song "Norrsken". His three songs: Daniel's Joik, Jag är fri (Manne leam frijje) and Norrsken, have all appeared in

Stockholm Stockholm (; ) is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in Sweden by population, most populous city of Sweden, as well as the List of urban areas in the Nordic countries, largest urban area in the Nordic countries. Approximately ...

Åre Åre () is a Urban areas in Sweden, locality and one of the leading Scandinavian ski resorts situated in Åre Municipality, Jämtland County, Sweden with 3,200 inhabitants in 2018. It is, however, not the seat of the municipality, which is Järpe ...

's bid films to host the 2026 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games.

Awards

During the 2025 edition of the

Sámi Grand Prix The Sámi Grand Prix, often abbreviated as SGP, is a Sámi yoik and song music competition, competition organized annually by the Sámi Music Festival organization (, ), featuring participants from all corners of Sápmi. While the majority o ...

, Fjällgren received the

Áillohaš Music Award The Áillohaš Music Award is an annual Sámi music award created to commemorate Nils-Aslak Valkeapää, Nils-Aslak ''Áillohaš'' Valkeapää's 50th birthday in 1993. The winner of the award is announced on Holy Saturday in conjunction with ...

, a Sámi music award conferred by

Kautokeino Municipality Kautokeino (; ; ; ) is a List of municipalities of Norway, municipality in Finnmark Counties of Norway, county, Norway. The administrative centre of the municipality is the Kautokeino (village), village of Guovdageaidnu/Kautokeino. Other villag ...

and the Kautokeino Sámi Association to honor the significant contributions the recipient or recipients has made to the diverse world of Sámi music.

Discography

Studio albums

Singles

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Fjällgren, Jon Henrik 1987 births Living people Swedish Sámi people Colombian emigrants to Sweden Swedish adoptees Swedish people of Colombian descent Got Talent winners Swedish-language singers Dancing with the Stars winners 21st-century Swedish singers People from Härjedalen Municipality 21st-century Swedish male singers Talang (Swedish TV series) contestants Members of the Sámi Parliament of Sweden Áillohaš Music Award winners