Maria Haukaas Mittet (née Storeng, born 3 August 1979) also known as simply Maria is a Norwegian recording artist. She gained national recognition in 2004 for her participation in the '' Idol'' reality television series, and international recognition in 2008 as Norway's representative in the 53rd Eurovision Song Contest.

Biography

Maria was born in Finnsnes, but grew up on the island of Senja, in

Troms Troms (; ; ; ) is a Counties of Norway, county in northern Norway. It borders Finnmark county to the northeast and Nordland county in the southwest. Norrbotten Län in Sweden is located to the south and further southeast is a shorter border with ...

county, Norway. She first received national media attention when she had her first musical role at the age of 11, with the lead in Annie, at the Bryggeteateret in

Oslo Oslo ( or ; ) is the capital and most populous city of Norway. It constitutes both a county and a municipality. The municipality of Oslo had a population of in 2022, while the city's greater urban area had a population of 1,064,235 in 2022 ...

(1991). Maria and her family moved to Oslo for the musical, and when the show run was over, they moved back to Senja. She has since performed in several musicals, both in the capital Oslo, and in the county Troms where she grew up. At the age of 24, she was part of Idol (Norway) in 2004, where she finished 6th. She took part in the ''Idol Tour'' 2004, along with other contestants in the top ten. She released her debut solo album in 2005, which peaked at number 13 on the Norwegian album charts. The single "Breathing" peaked at number 5 and was certified Gold in Norway, while "Should've" peaked at number 20. She went on a four-month national tour to promote the album. "Should've" has the same chord structure as the

Rolling Stones The Rolling Stones are an English Rock music, rock band formed in London in 1962. Active for over six decades, they are one of the most popular, influential, and enduring bands of the Album era, rock era. In the early 1960s, the band pione ...

song " Beast of Burden" from their album '' Some Girls''. Maria is the Norwegian representative to perform in the Eurovision Song Contest 2008 with the song " Hold On Be Strong", written by Mira Craig. On 12 February 2008 the song entered the Norwegian single charts at number 5, reaching number 1 on 19 February 2008. Maria released her second studio album, ''Hold On Be Strong'', on 28 April 2008 with help from Mira Craig.

Eurovision Song Contest 2008

Maria entered the qualifying rounds of the Melodi Grand Prix 2008 on 18 January and was voted through directly to the national final. In the final on 9 February, she received the highest number of votes from both the televoting and the jury, which made her the Norwegian representative in the Eurovision Song Contest 2008, which was held in Belgrade, Serbia. The song finished fourth in the first semi-final and qualified for the final, which took place on 24 May. Maria and the song did very well in the final, ending up in fifth place.

Eurovision Song Contest 2009

Maria was a co-host (together with Per Sundnes) of Melodi Grand Prix 2009, in which

Alexander Rybak Alexander Igorevich Rybak (; born 13 May 1986) or Alyaksandr Iharavich Rybak () is a Belarusian-born Norwegian musician and actor. Based in Oslo, Norway, Rybak extensively worked on television programs and on tours in Europe, particularly in S ...

was selected as Norway's entry in the Eurovision Song Contest 2009. Maria also participated in the Swedish

Melodifestivalen 2009 2009 was the 49th edition of the Swedish music competition , which was organised by (SVT) and took place over a six-week period between 7 February and 14 March 2009. The winner of the competition was Malena Ernman with the song "La Voix (song), ...

, singing " Killing Me Tenderly", with Anna Sahlene. They competed against seven other contestants in the fourth heat, in Malmö on 28 February 2009, and placed seventh out of eight acts.

Eurovision Song Contest 2010

On 4 December 2009 it was officially announced that Maria would participate in the Melodi Grand Prix 2010 the national contest which will decide the Norwegian entry for the

Eurovision Song Contest 2010 The Eurovision Song Contest 2010 was the 55th edition of the Eurovision Song Contest. It took place in Oslo, Norway, following the country's victory at the with the song "Fairytale (Alexander Rybak song), Fairytale" by Alexander Rybak. Organise ...

to be held in Oslo after last year's

victory. Maria's song is called "Make My Day" and is written by Merethe La Verdi and Mats Lie Skåre and is described as mid-tempo. On 8 January, the first heat of the Melodi Grand Prix 2010 was held in Orland and Maria won the semi and advanced to the Final in Oslo, where she did not come in the top four.

FIS Nordic World Ski Championships 2011

Maria performed the official theme song "Glorious" for the FIS Nordic World Ski Championships 2011 in Oslo, Norway.

Theatre (selected)

* 1991–1992 '' Annie'' – as Annie (at Bryggeteateret in

) * 1995–1996 ''Trollmannen fra Oz'' ( en. '' The Wizard of Oz'') – as Dorothy (at Det norske teatret in Oslo) * 2002 ''Thank You for the Music'' –

ABBA ABBA ( ) were a Swedish pop group formed in Stockholm in 1972 by Agnetha Fältskog, Björn Ulvaeus, Benny Andersson, and Anni-Frid Lyngstad. They are one of the most popular and successful musical groups of all time, and are one of the List ...

Tribute (at Scene West in Oslo) * 2003 '' Fame'' – as Mabel Washington (at Chat Noir in Oslo) * 2005 ''

Hamlet ''The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark'', often shortened to ''Hamlet'' (), is a Shakespearean tragedy, tragedy written by William Shakespeare sometime between 1599 and 1601. It is Shakespeare's longest play. Set in Denmark, the play (the ...

'' – as

Ophelia Ophelia () is a character in William Shakespeare's drama ''Hamlet'' (1599–1601). She is a young noblewoman of Denmark, the daughter of Polonius, sister of Laertes and potential wife of Prince Hamlet. Due to Hamlet's actions, Ophelia ultima ...

(by Nordnorsk Scenekompani in

Harstad Harstad may refer to: Places *Harstad (town) Harstad (; ) is a List of towns and cities in Norway, city in Harstad Municipality in Troms county, Norway. The city is also the administrative centre of Harstad Municipality. The city has a populati ...

and

Tromsø Tromsø is a List of towns and cities in Norway, city in Tromsø Municipality in Troms county, Norway. The city is the administrative centre of the municipality as well as the administrative centre of Troms county. The city is located on the is ...

) * 2006–2007 ''

Hair Hair is a protein filament that grows from follicles found in the dermis. Hair is one of the defining characteristics of mammals. The human body, apart from areas of glabrous skin, is covered in follicles which produce thick terminal and ...

'' – as Sheila Franklin (at Det Norske Teatret in Oslo)

Discography

The following article is a discography of albums and singles released by Norwegian artist Maria Haukaas Storeng.

Albums

Singles

Featured-on albums

* 1991 ''"Annie" – den norske suksessversjonen'' * 2004 ''Idol – de 11 finalistene'' – track 3, "Don't Give a Damn" – (Album charts: number 2) * 2008 '' Melodi Grand Prix 2008'' (Album charts: number 28) * 2009 ''

'' * 2010 '' Melodi Grand Prix 2010''

Filmography

* ''

Kim Possible ''Kim Possible'' is an American animated Action comedy TV series, action comedy television series created by Bob Schooley and Mark McCorkle for Disney Channel. The Kim Possible (character), title character is a teenage girl tasked with saving ...

'' (TV) (Norwegian audio version) – sings the theme song – sings a ballad in one episode * '' Chicken Little'' (Norwegian audio version) – sings "Ta Den Ut" * '' Shrek the Third'' (Norwegian audio version) – Rapunsel (voice) Self * 1999 Beat for Beat (TV) (Norwegian music show) * 2001 Du skal høre mye (TV) * 2003 Beat for Beat (TV) * 2004 Idol (TV) * 2004 Beat for Beat (TV) * 2005 Heia Tufte (TV) * 2007 Beat for Beat (TV) * 2008 Beat for Beat (TV)

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Mittet, Maria Haukaas 1979 births Living people People from Lenvik Bonnier Amigo Music Group artists Melodi Grand Prix winners Idol (Norwegian TV series) participants Norwegian pop singers 21st-century Norwegian singers 21st-century Norwegian women singers English-language singers from Norway Eurovision Song Contest entrants