Amaia

* Pop
* Indie pop
* Vocals
* piano
* guitar
* ukelele
* Alfred García
* Aitana
* Ana Guerra
* Agoney Hernández

**Amaia Romero Arbizu** (born 3 January 1999) is a Spanish singer. She gained national recognition when she took part in series nine of the reality television talent competition *Operación Triunfo*, which she won, and also represented Spain in the Eurovision Song Contest 2018 in Lisbon, Portugal, along with Alfred García, with the song "Tu canción". They finished in twenty-third place

## Early life

Romero was born on 3 January 1999 in Pamplona, Navarre.

Daughter of Ángel Romero and Javiera Arbizu, Romero belongs to a family of musicians. Her uncle, Joaquín Romero, was the manager of the Orfeón Pamplonés concert choir from 2008 until 2016, as well as of the Pablo Sarasate Orchestra for two years. It was his uncle who discovered that as a child, Romero had absolute pitch.

On her mother's side, Romero is the niece of Carmen Arbizu, professor of singing at the Conservatorio Superior de Música de Navarra since 1990. Romero is in the last year of studying for a degree in piano at this conservatory.

## Career

### 2010-2016: Beginnings

In 2010, Romero participated in the children's talent show *Cántame una canción* on Telecinco, where she sang alongside David Civera and Sergio Rivero, the winner of the fourth series of *Operación Triunfo*. In 2011, she was the winner of a scholarship to Rock Camp 2011, and participated in the camp in 2011 and 2012.

In 2012, she took part in series one of the talent show *El Número Uno* on Antena 3, qualifying for the show performing The Beatles' "Here Comes the Sun" with her ukelele. She was eliminated in week six of the series. The jury in the show was made up of David Bustamante, Ana Torroja, Miguel Bosé, Natalia Jiménez and Mónica Naranjo. Romero and Naranjo would meet again on series nine of *Operación Triunfo*, as Naranjo went on to be part of the jury.

In 2016, Amaia collaborated with the Navarrese band Lemon y Tal on the song "Cicatrices de mi realidad".

### 2017-2018: *Operación Triunfo* and the Eurovision Song Contest

In 2017, Romero auditioned for series nine of the reality television music competition *Operación Triunfo*, a program that was returning to television after a six-year hiatus. On 23 October 2017, she was selected to enter the show's "Academy" on the season premiere: Romero performed David Bowie's "Starman" and was not selected originally by the show's jury, but she was saved by the "Academy"'s staff of teachers.

On 15 January 2018, Romero became a finalist in the competition after being awarded a perfect score of 40 points from the jury – the highest score in the history of the competition –. On 5 February, she was proclaimed the winner of the series with 46% of the final votes.

Additionally, due to being one of the final five finalists on *Operación Triunfo*, Romero was a candidate to represent Spain in the Eurovision Song Contest 2018. For the special Eurovision selection show that was held on 29 January 2018, she was allocated three songs: "Camina", which she performed as part of a group made up of the five finalists; "Al cantar", composed by Rozalén, which she performed solo; and "Tu canción", composed by Raul Gómez and Sylvia Santoro, which she sang in a duet with Alfred García. The latter was selected with 43% of the public vote to represent Spain in the 2018 Contest in Lisbon, Portugal.

Amaia and Alfred were the second to perform at the Eurovision final, held on 12 May 2018. They placed twenty-third out of the 26 participating countries with 61 points: 43 from the professional juries and 18 from the televote.

### 2018-present: After Eurovision

On 31 May 2018, Romero performed at the Primavera Sound music festival in Barcelona together with The Free Fall Band. On 29 June 2018, Romero performed at a special charity concert of *Operación Triunfo 2017* at the Santiago Bernabéu Stadium in Madrid. On 28 July 2018, Romero gave another concert accompanied by The Free Fall Band at the Teatro Real in Madrid.

## Discography

### Selected releases from *Operación Triunfo 2017*

 "City of Stars"(Amaia Romero & Alfred García)
 "Shape of You"(Amaia Romero & Roi Méndez)
 "Shake It Out"
 "Soñar contigo"
 "Love on the Brain"
 "Miedo"