Sara Forsberg

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Sara Forsberg
Birth name Sara Maria Forsberg
Also known as
  • Saara
  • SAARA
  • Smo
  • Smokahontas
  • Smoukahontas
Born (1994-05-02) 2 May 1994 (age 29)
Jakobstad, Finland
Genres
Occupation(s)
  • Singer
  • songwriter
  • YouTube personality
  • fashion designer
  • model
  • actress
  • comedian
Instruments
  • Vocals
  • guitar
  • piano
  • cello
  • piccolo
  • violin
  • drums
Years active 2014–present
Labels Capitol

Sara Maria Forsberg (born 2 May 1994), known professionally as Saara (stylised as SAARA; formerly Smo, Smoukahontas, or Smokahontas), is a Finnish singer, songwriter, YouTube personality, fashion designer, model, actress, comedian, multi-instrumentalist, and impersonator. She is well known for her comedic persona, makeup, singing abilities, but mostly her uncanny knack for languages and pseudo-languages. She was signed with Capitol Records from 2014, stepping out of her contract in early 2016.[1]

Career

Early life

Forsberg was born on 2 May 1994 in Jakobstad, Finland to a Finnish mother and a Sweden-born Finnish-speaking father,[2] and was raised speaking only Finnish. As a child, she lived in Texas and the United Kingdom for a period of time, before moving back to Finland at age six.[3][4][5][6] Her family were members of the Baptist religion. Forsberg spent a few years in a music academy in Jakobstad,[7] and later studied to become a chef before embarking on a singing career.[8]

2014–2015: YouTube fame and career beginnings

Since her video What Languages Sound Like to Foreigners was posted on YouTube on 3 March 2014 on her channel Smoukahontas Official (which subsequently has been changed into "Saara"), it was seen over 12 million times. Her ability to mimic accents and speech melodies of different languages, which include Japanese, Estuary English, American with California accent, French, Italian, Arabic, and Spanish, using mainly nonexistent words, was praised by media in a number of countries.[9][10][11][12][13][14]

In the first sequel, she re-impersonated some of the languages from the initial video and added new ones, including "Something African" and "Scottish". In another sequel, her "One Girl, 14 Genres" video, a number of musical genres were mimicked.[15]

In April 2014, it was revealed that Forsberg had signed a development deal with production/distribution company Omnivision Entertainment/My Damn Channel.[16] Under the multiyear deal, Sara and Omnivision Entertainment will co-create content to be available on My Damn Channel's website, the "West Toast TV" YouTube Channel, and the "Saara" YouTube Channel.[17]

In October 2014, it was revealed that Forsberg has a small role in the Hong Kong-Chinese-American film Skiptrace directed by Finnish director Renny Harlin.[18]

2015–present: Music career, Star Wars: The Force Awakens, and Talent Suomi

In July 2014, it was revealed that Forsberg had signed a record deal with Capitol Records with Rodney Jerkins acting as her executive producer. Capitol Records chairman & CEO Steve Barnett said that the only artists that he had had the same feeling about other than Forsberg was Adele and Sam Smith.[19] She is the first Finnish person to be signed to a major American record label.[20][self-published source] Her debut single "Ur Cool" was released on 21 April 2015, and became a Top 10 single in Finland.

Forsberg announced her new clothing line FRSBRG in May 2015 and advertised it to her Finnish viewers with a number of well known celebrities from her home country.[21] It was planned to be released in November the same year.[22] In June, she was featured on the song "Vauvoja" by Finnish singer Kasmir. The song went on to reach number-one on the Finnish downloads and airplay charts.[23][24] In July 2015, it was revealed that Forsberg has writing credit for the K-Pop band Girls' Generation song "You Think", in their album Lion Heart.

In December 2015 the news broke that Forsberg had spent the last 18 months working with Lucasfilm and was the creator of the alien language used in Star Wars: The Force Awakens.[25] She cowrote the song "My Heart Wants Me Dead" by Lisa Ajax for Melodifestivalen 2016.

She also cowrote the song "Drip Drop" by Taemin from his second solo album Press It.

In February 2016, Forsberg left Capitol Records due to differences between herself, Jerkins, and the label. She will continue releasing music independently.[1] She will be a judge on the fifth season of Talent Suomi, the Finnish version of Got Talent.[26] Forsberg released her debut EP Hello I'm Saara on 27 May 2016.

In media

Forsberg was interviewed on British BBC radio,[27] Finnish public radio YLE,[28] and Swedish TV[29] in which she confirmed that she was contacted by a producer from The Ellen DeGeneres Show.[4] She was a guest on the show on April 7, 2014. Her visit on the show lasted approximately 180 seconds and she took home a tripod and a camera as a gift from Degeneres.[30] The trip was documented in a short series titled "Sara Goes LA" which was produced by Finnish broadcaster MTV and has also been published on YouTube since.[31] When in LA, Forsberg also signed a two year contract with My Damn Channel to produce content for YouTube channel "West Toast TV".

In May 2014, Forsberg relocated to Los Angeles after accepting a job offer. She currently produces and performs on a YouTube channel called "WestToastTV" in addition to maintaining her own personal channel.[32][33]

Discography

EPs

  • Hello I'm Saara (2016)

Singles

Year Single Peak chart positions Album
FIN
[34]
2015 "Ur Cool" 10 Non-album single

Featured

Year Single Peak chart positions Album
FIN
[34]
2015 "Vauvoja"
(Kasmir featuring Saara)		 2 Non-album single

Writing credits

Year Song Album Artist Cowriters
2015 "Vauvoja" N/A Kasmir feat. Saara Kasmir, Hank Solo, Jonas W. Karlsson, Mikko Kuoppala
"You Think" Lion Heart Girls' Generation Brandon Sammons, Denzil "iDR" Remedios, Ryan Jhun
2016 "My Heart Wants Me Dead" N/A Lisa Ajax Anton Hård af Segerstad, Linnea Deb, Joy Deb, Nikki Flores
"Drip Drop" Press It Taemin Tay Jasper, Jamil Chammas, Jonathan Perkins, Michael Jiminez, Leven Kali, MZMC
"The 7th Sense" N/A NCT U Timothy "Bos" Bullock, Tay Jasper, Adrian Mckinnon, Michael Jiminez, Leven Kali
"I Just Wanna Dance" I Just Wanna Dance Tiffany Timothy "Bos" Bullock, Michael Jiminez, MZMC

Filmography

Year Title Role Notes
2014 The Ellen DeGeneres Show Herself Guest
Sara Goes LA Herself Reality show
2016 Talent Suomi Herself Judge; season 5
Skiptrace Natalya

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  2. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  3. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 Ellen DeGeneres wants the Finnish woman as her guest, YLE, Finland, 14 March 2014
  5. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  6. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  7. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  8. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  9. ↑ Girl Speaks Gibberish With Perfect Accents To Show What Languages Sound Like To Foreigners, The Huffington Post, 6 March 2014
  10. ↑ Ragazza riproduce 12 lingue del mondo, ma non le conosce: così sembra la tua lingua a un orecchio straniero, L'Huffington Post, Italy, 9 March 2014
  11. ↑ Eine junge Frau, 14 Musikrichtungen – Smoukahontas ist zurück, The Huffington Post, Germany, 11 March 2014
  12. ↑ What your language sounds like to foreigners, The Telegraph, 10 March 2014
  13. ↑ What languages sound like to foreigners: YouTube video by Sara 'smoukahontas', News.com.au, Australia, 12 March 2014
  14. ↑ Suomalaistytön kielivideosta tuli Youtube-hitti – katso!, MTV Finland, 5 March 2014
  15. ↑ One Girl Sings 14 Different Genres (video), The Huffington Post, 11 March 2014
  16. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  17. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  18. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  19. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  20. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  21. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  22. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  23. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  24. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  25. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  26. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  27. ↑ Interview on BBC radio, 12 March 2014
  28. ↑ Interview on Finnish public radio YLE, 14 March 2014
  29. ↑ Språkgeni gör succé – gästar Ellen show (SVT 21 March 2014)
  30. ↑ Sara Maria Forsberg (Smoukahontas) on Ellen Degeneres Show on YouTube
  31. ↑ http://www.menaiset.fi/artikkeli/ajankohtaista/ihmiset/kielinainen_sara_forsberg_saa_oman_sarjan
  32. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  33. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  34. ↑ 34.0 34.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.

External links

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