Tatjana Mihhailova-Saar (, born 19 June 1983), better known as Tanja or Tanja Mihhailova is a Russian-Estonian pop singer and actress. She was born in

Kaliningrad Kaliningrad,. known as Königsberg; ; . until 1946, is the largest city and administrative centre of Kaliningrad Oblast, an Enclave and exclave, exclave of Russia between Lithuania and Poland ( west of the bulk of Russia), located on the Prego ...

Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...

, and has lived in Estonia from a very young age. Tanja has been a member of several bands in her professional career and has performed in several stage musicals. She represented

Estonia Estonia, officially the Republic of Estonia, is a country in Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland across from Finland, to the west by the Baltic Sea across from Sweden, to the south by Latvia, and to the east by Ru ...

in the

Eurovision Song Contest 2014 The Eurovision Song Contest 2014 was the 59th edition of the Eurovision Song Contest. It took place in Copenhagen, Denmark, following the country's victory at the with the song "Only Teardrops" by Emmelie de Forest. Organised by the European B ...

with the song " Amazing" and finished in 12th place in the semi-final, failing to qualify.

Early life

Mihhailova-Saar was born in

in Russia, but relocated with her family to Estonia when she was two months old. She was raised in the Estonian city of

Kohtla-Järve Kohtla-Järve () is a city and Municipalities of Estonia, municipality in northeastern Estonia, founded in 1924 and incorporated as a town in 1946. The city is highly industrial, and is both a processor of oil shales and is a large producer of ...

in the Russian-Estonian community.

Musical career

Tanja started singing at a very young age, participating in numerous contests and song festivals in Estonia, Russia and Ukraine. In 1998 she won the contest "Utrennaja zvezda" in Jurmala,

Latvia Latvia, officially the Republic of Latvia, is a country in the Baltic region of Northern Europe. It is one of the three Baltic states, along with Estonia to the north and Lithuania to the south. It borders Russia to the east and Belarus to t ...

and in 2002 she took part of "Fizz superstar 2002" Baltic singing competition.

Nightlight Duo

With the Estonian producer Sven Lõhmus and together with Estonian singer Ly Lumiste, Tanja formed the techno duo band Nightlight Duo in 2001. The band released two albums, ''Jäljed liival'' ("Traces in the sand"), and ''Miks ma ei suuda su maailma muuta'' ("Why can't I change your world"). The latter album won the award for the best album of the year, ''"Aasta uustulnuk 2002"''. Nightlight Duo competed twice in '' Eurolaul'', Estonia's selection for the

Eurovision Song Contest The Eurovision Song Contest (), often known simply as Eurovision, is an international Music competition, song competition organised annually by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) among its members since 1956. Each participating broadcaster ...

. In 2002, their song ''Another Country Song'' got second place in Eurolaul and a year later their song ''I can b the 1'' came fourth. Both songs were produced and written by Sven Lõhmus. The band disbanded in 2004 due Lumiste's pregnancy and Tanja continued with her musical career.

Jz Belle

With the producer and composer Timo Vendt, Tanja created the band ''Jz Belle'' in 2004. The first album (with covered songs only) "Jz Belle" was released in 2004. The second album "Teemant" was released in 2006 and three radio singles were released from this one.

Other bands and shows

Finished with the Jz Belle project, Tanja also starred in the band ''Sunday Mood'' with Timo Vendt and the Canadian guitarist Alex Pier Federici, with whom they released an album in English called "Something more" in 2009, with great success in the Baltic countries. In this period Tanja performed in the show "Queen – The doors of Time" in Theatre Vanemuine in

Tartu Tartu is the second largest city in Estonia after Tallinn. Tartu has a population of 97,759 (as of 2024). It is southeast of Tallinn and 245 kilometres (152 miles) northeast of Riga, Latvia. Tartu lies on the Emajõgi river, which connects the ...

, together with Broadway artist Tony Vincent and Estonian singer Rolf Roosalu. She had also participated in a few Estonian television contests (TV3), such as "Laulud tähtedega" (Estonian version of '' Just the Two of Us'') in 2010/11, obtaining second place, behind Artur Talvik and Lenna Kuurmaa; and in "Laulupealinn" in November 2011, obtaining second place too. In 2013, Tanja came third in the TV show "Su nägu kõlab tuttavalt" ( Your Face Sounds Familiar).

Gemini

In 2012, she released her 6th solo album, Gemini. Three singles were released from the album: "Supernatural", "Sind ootan ikka veel" (feat. Mikk Saar) and "All In My Head".

Eurovision Song Contest 2014

Tanja competed in the Estonian national final, Eesti Laul 2014, for the chance to compete in the

in Copenhagen, Denmark. She won the national final by her song, " Amazing" with 53 percent of the votes. On 15 March, the song was officially released (together with the stage-act). She failed to qualify for the final, finishing 12th in the first semi final with 36 points.

After Eurovision

Tanja shared stage with

Andrea Bocelli Andrea Bocelli (; born 22 September 1958) is an Italian tenor. He rose to fame in 1994 after winning the newcomers' section of the 44th Sanremo Music Festival performing " Il mare calmo della sera". Since 1994, Bocelli has recorded 15 solo st ...

at his Tallinn concert on 28 June 2014. Tanja will also perform with her biggest concert of her career called "Amazing Lie" at the festival Õllesummer in July 2014 in Tallinn. In June Tanja went to

Crete Crete ( ; , Modern Greek, Modern: , Ancient Greek, Ancient: ) is the largest and most populous of the Greek islands, the List of islands by area, 88th largest island in the world and the List of islands in the Mediterranean#By area, fifth la ...

to shoot her new music video for her summer single Forevermore. She is the backup juror for Estonian jury panel in the Eurovision Song Contest 2015 in

Vienna Vienna ( ; ; ) is the capital city, capital, List of largest cities in Austria, most populous city, and one of Federal states of Austria, nine federal states of Austria. It is Austria's primate city, with just over two million inhabitants. ...

, Austria, and she was the Estonian spokesperson during the voting.

Future Eesti Laul Entries

Tanja participated in Eesti Laul 2019 alongside The Swingers and Birgit with the song 'High Heels In The Neighbourhood'. They placed 7th in the final. She later participated in Eesti Laul 2021 with her song "Best Night Ever". She failed to qualify from the second semi final. She was part of Eesti Laul 2022 as a host, jury member and interval performer, as well as having co-written the song 'Hea päev' for the group Little Mess.

Discography

Albums

*''Jz Belle'' (2004) *''Teemant'' (2006) *''Gemini'' (2012) *''Amazing EP'' (2014) *''Elan päev korraga'' (2015)

Singles

*"Kaasa mind vii" (2006) *"Sind nii kaua pole olnud siin" (2007) *"Sind ikka ootan" (2007) *"Supernatural" (2012) *"Sind ootan ikka veel" (feat. Mikk Saar) (2013) *"All in My Head" (2013) *" Amazing" (2014) *"Forevermore" (2014) *"Külmunud maa" (2014) *"Elan päev korraga" (2015) *"Hääletu peal" (2015)

References

External links

Enjoy EntertainmentTanja Mihhailova videos in Delfi.tv
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Mihhailova, Tanja 21st-century Estonian women singers Estonian pop singers Estonian women pop singers 1983 births Living people Russian emigrants to Estonia People from Kaliningrad People from Kohtla-Järve Eesti Laul winners Eurovision Song Contest entrants