Hanna Pakarinen

Hanna Pakarinen, a Finnish pop/rock vocalist, was born in Lappeenranta on April 17, 1981, and first drew widespread attention in 2003 as a contestant on the debut season of the Idols television competition while employed as a forklift driver. She claimed the title on January 9, 2004, after performing Tina Turner’s “Simply the Best,” the Bangles’ “Eternal Flame,” and the newly composed “Tulin Voittamaan,” outpolling runner-up Jani Wickholm and thereby securing a recording agreement with BMG Finland. The English-language single “Love Is Like a Song,” a reworking of “Tulin Voittamaan,” arrived later that year and reached number one, lifting the accompanying album When I Become Me to number two on the Finnish albums chart. Her next three releases—Stronger in 2005, Lovers in 2007, and Love in a Million Shades in 2009—likewise entered the Top Ten and occasionally the Top Five while producing further successes such as “Kiss of Life.”