Aminata represented Latvia at Eurovision 2015 with the song ‘Love Injected’, which was Latvia’s first qualification in seven years. Overall, Aminata achieved the nation’s fourth best placing at Eurovision, finishing in 6th place in the final.
Who is Aminata?
Aminata Savadogo, known simply as Aminata, is a Latvian singer, songwriter and producer. Despite her father hailing from Burkina Faso, Aminata considers herself primarily Latvian, and was born in the nation’s capital, Riga.
Aminata began singing at the age of 13 with a private tutor, and she graduated from the Bolderāja Music and Art School in Riga. At the age of 15, she participated in the television show Krodziņā pie Paula, and at the age of 17 participated in Muzikālā banka. She also took part in the Latvian version of Clash of the Choirs as part of the Golden Choir.
The Journey to Eurovision
Aminata became known to Eurovision fans back in 2014 when she participated in the Latvian national selection, Dziesma. She performed the entry ‘I Can Breathe’, which qualified from the semi-final. Aminata finished in 5th place overall in the selection.
The next year, Aminata returned to the Latvian selection with the song ‘Love Injected’. She qualified through the heat and semi-final with ease, and finished on top in the final. She went on to represent Latvia at Eurovision, and qualified to the final in second place. Overall, Latvia finished in 6th place, and was a big hit with national juries, finishing in 2nd in the jury rankings. This was Latvia’s best Eurovision placing since 2005.
What Happened Next?
Aminata released her debut album in 2015 titled Inner Voice which featured 10 tracks including ‘I Can Breathe’ and ‘Love Injected’.
Her Eurovision journey continued in 2016, this time as a songwriter. She wrote the song ‘Heartbeat’ which was performed by Justs, and ended up winning the national selection. Justs also qualified for the final, finishing in 15th overall. At the national selection, Aminata performed her new song, ‘Fighter’. The music video was later released.
In late 2016, Aminata released her second album titled ‘Red Moon’. She then competed in the fifth season of Golos, the Russian version of The Voice, however was eliminated in the knockout stage. During her time on the show, she was part of Polina Gagarina’s team. Polina competed alongside Aminata at Eurovision 2015, with Polina representing Russia.
In 2017, Aminata wrote a song for Lithuanian singer Aistė Pilvelytė which featured in the Lithuanian Eurovision selection. The song, ‘I’m Like a Wolf’ was tipped to win the contest, however finished in second behind Fusedmarc.
In 2018, Aminata collaborated with fellow Latvian national finalist Markus Riva on the song ‘Last Dance’. In 2019, she released ‘Maiga Vara’, and EP featuring 6 songs. Two songs off the EP were released as singles, both charting in the Top 10 in Latvia.
Aminata’s Eurovision journey continued in 2020, with a new song written for the Latvian selection. Aminata wrote ‘Still Breathing’ which was performed by Samanta Tīna. The song was chosen to represent Latvia at Eurovision, however as we know, the contest was cancelled due to the pandemic. Her 2021 entry, ‘The Moon is Rising’ was also co-written by Aminata, however Latvia failed to qualify to the final.
Aminata continues to release new singles, with most of the newer singles in the Latvian language. Her most recent charting single is titled ‘Nejauc man pratu’.