Amanda Jenssen facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Amanda Jenssen
Amanda Jenssen in 2013
Background information
Birth name	Jenny Amanda Katarina Bengtsson
Born	(1988-09-12) 12 September 1988 (age 36) Lund, Sweden
Genres	Jazz, acoustic, soul
Occupation(s)	Singer, songwriter, musician
Instruments	Vocals, guitar
Years active	2007–present
Labels	Sony BMG (2007–present)
Associated acts	Marit Bergman, Pär Wiksten, Miss Li

Jenny Amanda Katarina Jenssen (born on September 12, 1988) is a Swedish singer and songwriter. She became famous after coming in second place on the TV show Idol 2007 in Sweden.

Her first album, Killing My Darlings (released in 2008), was one of the best-selling albums in Sweden that year. It even reached number one on the Swedish album chart. She also had many successful songs, with seven of them appearing on the Swedish singles chart.

In November 2012, Amanda released her album Hymns for the Haunted. This album quickly sold enough copies to be certified gold in Sweden. This means it sold over 20,000 copies! In 2015, she released her first album with songs in Swedish, called Sånger från ön, which means Songs from the Island in English.

Early Life

Amanda Jenssen was born in Lund, Sweden, in 1988. She loved music from a very young age. As a teenager, she was the main singer in two bands: Oh Hollie Neverdays and Amanda and the Papas. Her band Amanda and the Papas played cover versions of classic songs.

Oh Hollie Neverdays wrote their own original songs. Amanda and the guitarist, Viktor Rinneby, wrote these songs together. In May 2007, her group won a Swedish music competition called "Musik Direkt". The prize was an exciting tour in Gambia, a country in West Africa.

Music Career

Idol Journey

Amanda Jenssen joined the Idol 2007 talent show on TV4. From the start, she was one of the favorite contestants because of her strong performances.

She made it to the final round and competed against Marie Picasso on December 7, 2007. The final show took place at the Globen Arena in Stockholm. Amanda came in second place, getting 48.7% of the votes.

Idol Songs

Here are some of the songs Amanda performed during her time on Idol:

• "That's Alright Mama" (by Arthur Crudup)
• "Dream a Little Dream"
• "Look What They've Done to My Song" (by Melanie Safka)
• "Tainted Love" (by Soft Cell)
• "Don't Hate on Me" (by Vincent Pontare)
• "Born to Run" (by Bruce Springsteen)
• "Baby Can I Hold You" (by Tracy Chapman)
• "Disco Inferno" (by The Trammps)
• "Suspicious Minds" (by Mark James/Elvis Presley)
• "Just a Girl" (by No Doubt)
• "You Really Got Me" (by Ray Davies; The Kinks)
• "No One" (by Alicia Keys)
• "Hallelujah" (by Leonard Cohen)

After Idol

On January 3, 2008, Amanda Jenssen announced that she had signed a record deal. Her first song, "Do You Love Me", was released on January 23, 2008. Her next song, "Amarula Tree", which she wrote with Pär Wiksten, came out on April 16, 2008.

Her first album, Killing My Darlings, was released on May 7, 2008. It became one of the best-selling albums of that year and reached number one on the Swedish album chart. Amanda wrote most of the songs on the album herself, often with Pär Wiksten. Other artists like Marit Bergman and Vincent Pontare also wrote one song each for the album.

After the album came out, Amanda went on a big tour across Sweden in the summer and autumn of 2008. It was a huge success! At the end of the summer, readers of Aftonbladet, a major Swedish newspaper, voted her "Queen of the summer tours".

In early 2009, Amanda was nominated for many awards. She won "This Year's Female Artist" and "This Year's Newcomer" at the Rockbjörnen awards. She also won "Artist of the Year" at the Gaygalan awards.

After the success of her first album, Amanda went back to the studio to record her second album, Happyland. It was released on October 28, 2009. The first song from this album, also called "Happyland", quickly became popular. It reached number three on the Swedish Singles chart.

Jenssen performing at Gröna Lund theme park in Stockholm, 2013.

The Happyland album debuted at number three on the Swedish charts. It earned a Gold status award after just one week of sales, meaning it sold over 20,000 copies very quickly. Critics praised the album, and it went on to win two Grammy awards for best female artist and best composer.

Amanda's song "Do You Love Me" was featured in an American TV series called Privileged in September 2008. Another song, "Our Time" from her Happyland album, was used in a fashion show for Dior in 2011. In May 2013, Amanda performed a concert at the Gröna Lund theme park in Stockholm. In late 2014, she appeared on the TV show Så mycket bättre on TV4.

Hymns for the Haunted

Amanda Jenssen's third album, Hymns for the Haunted, was released on November 14, 2012. It was released worldwide by Sony Music Entertainment. Björn Yttling helped her write some of the songs on this album.

Before the album came out, a short video for her new song "Dry My Soul" was released on YouTube in February 2012. The full music video came out on February 14, 2012. You could watch it on her official website or buy the song on the iTunes Store.

The song "The Carnival" from this album was used to promote the TV show American Horror Story: Freak Show on FX.

Sånger från ön

In 2015, Amanda Jenssen released her first album that featured songs sung entirely in Swedish. The album was called Sånger från ön, which means Songs from the Island.

Influences

Amanda Jenssen has said that many artists from the 1960s have influenced her music. These include blues singers like Bessie Smith, Billie Holiday, and Ella Fitzgerald. She also gets inspiration from rock artists such as The Velvet Underground, the Kinks, and Bob Dylan.

Discography

Albums

Singles

Other releases

See Also

In Spanish: Amanda Jenssen para niños