Amy Diamond
Encyclopedia
Amy Diamond is a Swedish
pop singer
, actress and television presenter. She is known for her single "What's in It for Me" and album This Is Me Now
which were released when she was 12 years old. The song was a 2005 hit in Sweden
, Denmark
, Norway
, and Finland
. It was the most-played song in Poland
that year; it remained in the top ten for four months. Diamond has released six studio albums and performed on television as singer, actress and hostess.
To date, her biggest hits have been "What's In It For Me", "Welcome To The City", "Don't Cry Your Heart Out", "It Can Only Get Better
", "Stay My Baby
", "Is It Love", "Up" and "Thank You".
Diamond is also the youngest person in Sweden to release a Greatest Hits album.
, Sweden
as Amy Linnéa Deasismont, the second child of an English father, Lee, and a Swedish mother, Chrisbeth. Soon after her birth, the family moved to England. The family moved back to Sweden when she was four-and-a-half years old, this time to Jönköping
, where she learned Swedish. Diamond still lives there with her family, cousins and two younger sisters, Lisa and Holly, an older sister, Danielle and younger brother, Charlie.
Diamond started figure skating at age six and won multiple gold medals. She practiced six times a week before embarking on her singing career. She went to a dance and theater school called Blandgodis, and participated in theater and TV productions which gave her experience in public performing. She also appeared in a small television role on the show, De drabbade.
Diamond has loved singing since she was two years old. One of her first public performances was at the age seven on the talent show Småstjärnorna. She dressed as Belinda Carlisle
and lip synced to "Heaven is a Place on Earth", finishing third in the competition. In 2004, she participated in talent competitions such as Minimelodifestivalen in Jönköping and Swedish TV4's Super Troupers, winning most of them. On Mix Megapol Summer Idol Diamond won the main prize: to record a song in a real studio
. During recording, she was offered a commercial recording contract
. Soon after, Diamond recorded her debut single "What's in It for Me". Markus Sepehrmanesh, one of the songwriters for her albums, said in an interview that she sang perfectly. "What's in It for Me" was recorded in ninety minutes and the single was released the following February.
."What's in It for Me" reached number one on the Swedish singles chart in March and eventually went platinum.
Before long, Diamond appeared on Swedish TV4 and used her artist name for the first time. Although she sang to a pre-recorded backing track in the studio, on the program she sang her single and Alicia Keys
' song "If I Ain't Got You" while accompanied by a live band. The band included a drummer, guitarist, bassist, background singer and a keyboard player, who also sang backgrounds.
Due to the success of the single, a full album was commissioned, and This Is Me Now
was released in May 2005. The album sold more than 150,000 copies, which was triple the requirement for gold record certification in Sweden at the time. The success led to television appearances, such as on the weekly chart show Trackslistan and on the children's competition show Vi i femman. By the end of 2005, she had appeared live on more than 20 television shows. A concert tour in Sweden was organized for her in the summer, and some of the shows were also televised.
Although Diamond's fans are typically school children, the album cannot be described as children's music.
The style of This Is Me Now is mainly happy pop music with synthesizer backgrounds, but it includes the theme song "Tomorrow" from the musical Annie
and a live recording of the song "If I Ain't Got You". The songs in the album were made by the producer team Tysper (Tommy Tysper), Mack (Marcus Sepehrmanesh) and Grizzly (Gustav Jonsson), who are all from Stockholm
. They form the core of the production company TEN Production and have produced successful pop tracks before working with Diamond. Other Ten Production songs seeing popularity were performed by the A Teens and Helena Paparizou. Diamond's albums were published through Bonnier Amigo Music Group
.
Diamond is a talented live singer and sings without a playback tape in her public performances. Her debut album included a live version of Alicia Keys
' "If I Ain't Got You", which was described in a review as "sweet and impressive at the same time". She reached the finals in Super Troupers, where she reached the final by singing Shakira
's "Underneath Your Clothes". She was 12 years old. A review in Svenska Dagbladet
described her voice as fine and secure, and her record label advertised it as "shining and characteristic".
in July in order to promote the album internationally. She never appeared with her band again, instead performing with a background track and dancers. The album became popular also in other Nordic countries and Poland
during the following summer. "What's In It For Me" was heard frequently on the radio, becoming the 19th most played song of 2005 in Finland and 16th best songs of 2005 in Poland. More singles from the albums "Welcome to the City" and "Champion" were released in the summer. A special edition of the album was released for the Central European market. It contained two previously-unreleased songs which would later appear on Still Me Still Now. Diamond was sent on a promotional tour throughout Central Europe
in late 2005. Her record deal allowed the whole family to travel with her whenever the concerts were abroad. Diamond performed on television in Germany
, Norway
, Denmark
, Poland
, Lithuania
and the Netherlands
.
Diamond was nominated for several awards in 2005. At 13, she was the youngest person in history to receive the Nordic Music Award for the best Nordic hit "What's in It for Me". Further, she is the youngest artist to receive two simultaneous NRJ Radio Awards and the youngest to be nominated for the Swedish Grammy Awards. At the Grammy Awards, she won Best Swedish Female Artist, Song of the Year, and Newcomer of the Year. Diamond received a Nickelodeon
award for Hit of the Year, and had nominations for the Swedish Rockbjörnen. In 2010 she won again award for the best Swedish music/group at Nickelodeon Kids Choice Awards.
The album Still Me Still Now
was published in May and the first single "Don't Cry Your Heart Out" was released a couple of weeks prior to the general album distribution.
Although not much was heard from her in the spring, the second album was highly anticipated. Two days before the announced release date, she was interviewed on Nyhetsmorgon
, a morning talk show, on TV4. The host surprised Diamond by handing her a gold record for the album; it had already sold enough copies on pre-orders alone to be certified."Don't Cry Your Heart Out" was a radio hit in Sweden.
Still Me Still Now
continued in the same style as the previous album, being mostly light-pop music. "Don't Cry Your Heart Out" was radio-friendly pop, but songs such as "Diamonds" and "No Regrets" were arranged in a style reminiscent of musicals
. Some reviews wondered about the song selections, but Diamond's voice was praised nevertheless. The selected songs were alleged by some to be unsuitable for Diamond and her audience, but on the other hand her potential was appreciated.
In mid-2006, Diamond took part in the Diggiloo tour, where she performed, among other songs, Edith Piaf
's "Non, je ne regrette rien
". Although Still Me Still Now
wasn't as big a success outside Sweden as This Is Me Now
, it was still popular in her home country. She also held concerts beyond the Diggiloo tour; readers of the largest evening newspaper, Aftonbladet
, voted her 2006 Summer Tour Queen. Diamond released two more singles in late 2006, Big Guns and It Can Only Get Better
, and continued to appear on television, including appearances on such prime-time shows as Sommarkrysset, Go'kväll, and Vinterkrysset. In January 2007, Amy Diamond started a fan club that publishes a quarterly fan magazine called Amy Diamond Fanzine. Lastly, in September 2007 she sang with In The Ghetto
on Elvis – The Original Cast.
and Alexander Kronlund
, who have previously worked with Britney Spears
.
Diamond's first single called "Is It Love?" from the new album was released on 26 September 2007. Additionally, she has performed her new song on some TV-shows like "Bobster", "Bingolotto" and has even won "Best Female Artist" at "Nickelodeon Kids Choice Awards". Diamond's new album Music in Motion was released on 28 November 2007 and her second single "Stay My Baby" (from the new album), written by Max Martin and Tommy Tysper, was released on 23 November. In the beginning of December 2007, Diamond began autograph sessions in Sweden.
Diamond entered Melodifestivalen, the Swedish selection for the Eurovision Song Contest
, in February 2008. Her song was called "Thank You", and it earned her a 8th place in the final round. The song was later included on the re-release of her album, entitled Music in Motion – Gold Edition.Amy received yet another gold disc for this album.
) in 2009, with the electro-pop song It's My Life written by Alexander Bard
, Bobby Ljunggren
and Oscar Holter. On 14 February 2009, Diamond competed in the 2nd semi-final of Melodifestivalen
and was nominated to be the first finalist, but eventually lost to H.E.A.T. with 1000 Miles. She was also awarded the international jury's wildcard nomination of the evening. On 7 March, Diamond took part in the second chance round in Norrköping
but lost the first knock-out round to Star Pilots
with "Higher" and also lost the international jury wildcard to Sofia with "Alla", thus failing to reach the final.
Diamond's fifth album (including the singles "It's My Life", "Up", "Brand New Day" and "Bittersweet") titled Swings and Roundabouts released in Scandinavia on 21 October also reached Gold status.
, ("Clash of the Choirs") leading a choir team from her hometown of Jönköping.
At the end of 2010 it was confirmed Amy is going to tour in 2011 throughout Sweden. All dates were announced and tickets were available, but in December 2010 3Sagas company was unable to repay the debt and the tour was cancelled.
's "True Colors
", "Only You
" by Yazoo
and "Perfect" by Fairground Attraction
. On September 6, 2010 it was announced the album would be released on November 3, 2010, but at the beginning of October, Bonnier changed the release date to October 29, 2010. On October 31 it was confirmed that Amy is the youngest Swedish artist to release a Greatest Hits album.
The first single, "Only You", a cover of the Yazoo song, was released on September 24, 2010.
On October 16, 2010, Amy featuring Mikael Rickfors
sang a duet version of "True Colors" on the Swedish programme Dansfeber.
On November 2, 2010, Amy performed "Only you" and "True Colors" on XL Live. Also, the same day Amy performed What's In It For Me
(acoustic version) on Swedish Morning Programme Rix MorronZoo on radio RIX FM.
At beginning of November the label released information about a new and last single – True Colors.
In December 2010 some radiostations started to playing Amy's song 'Ready to Fly' as a promo single, but it wasn't released officially.
Despite her singing career, she goes to school and only rarely misses a day. According to her, there are promotional jobs only every now and then and most are on weekends. If there are gigs on the weekdays, she does the schoolwork as homework. She has mentioned in interviews that math, PE, and sewing are her favorite subjects in school. She regards her education as important, as it will allow her to do something else if the music doesn't work out or if she doesn't want to sing anymore; she has said that she wants to sing as long as it is fun. She has mentioned hairdressing as her future dream hobby. Despite her gigs, she has time to have holidays and she says the entertainment business hasn't been harsh on her. Her manager-father deals with the business side, and her parents support her in her career.
In 2006, Diamond received requests to do print model
ing and television work in addition to her musical career. She appeared in a mail-order catalogue for Ellos, and did promotional work for Statoil and the sport store chain Stadium. In December, she appeared as an ice princess on Lassemajas detektivbyrå, a in the Swedish Christmas series. The show allowed her to demonstrate her figure skating skills.
In May 2008, the jewelry maker Tussilagosmycken launched a product called "Amy's Diamond". The piece is made of silver and has a diamond in the middle, and Amy's autograph on the back. She has recently done a single for the Barbie CGI feature "Barbie and the Diamond Castle
" called "Connected".
Summer 2010 Amy recorded as a TV-hoster a 2nd season of 16 episodes for one of the most popular SVT programmes – Bulldogg. It is a programme where kids can date a dog when their parents don't want any animals in home. The premiere of 1st episode is planned on Sunday, 16 January 2011 on SVT.
During spring 2011 Amy yet again recorded the 3rd season of 16 Bulldogg.
Amy graduated from Hairdressing school June 2011.
Sweden
Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....
pop singer
Pop Singer
"Pop Singer" is the début single from London-based glam rockers Rachel Stamp. It was released in February, 1996 through WEA. The single was released as a 2 track CD Single and limited edition pink 7" vinyl of 1000 copies...
, actress and television presenter. She is known for her single "What's in It for Me" and album This Is Me Now
This Is Me Now
This Is Me Now is Amy Diamond's first studio album. It was released on May 18, 2005 by Bonnier Amigo Music Group.-Track listing:# "Hello!"# "What's in It for Me"# "Welcome to the City"# "Another Day"# "One of the Ones"# "Shooting Star*"...
which were released when she was 12 years old. The song was a 2005 hit in Sweden
Sweden
Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....
, Denmark
Denmark
Denmark is a Scandinavian country in Northern Europe. The countries of Denmark and Greenland, as well as the Faroe Islands, constitute the Kingdom of Denmark . It is the southernmost of the Nordic countries, southwest of Sweden and south of Norway, and bordered to the south by Germany. Denmark...
, Norway
Norway
Norway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic unitary constitutional monarchy whose territory comprises the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, Jan Mayen, and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard and Bouvet Island. Norway has a total area of and a population of about 4.9 million...
, and Finland
Finland
Finland , officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country situated in the Fennoscandian region of Northern Europe. It is bordered by Sweden in the west, Norway in the north and Russia in the east, while Estonia lies to its south across the Gulf of Finland.Around 5.4 million people reside...
. It was the most-played song in Poland
Poland
Poland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...
that year; it remained in the top ten for four months. Diamond has released six studio albums and performed on television as singer, actress and hostess.
To date, her biggest hits have been "What's In It For Me", "Welcome To The City", "Don't Cry Your Heart Out", "It Can Only Get Better
It Can Only Get Better
The song was covered by Filipina singer Charice for her self-titled extended play. It was then released as her first commercial single....
", "Stay My Baby
Stay My Baby
A cover version of the song by Miranda Cosgrove was released as the second single from the iCarly soundtrack. A music video was also filmed and was directed by Jesse Dylan...
", "Is It Love", "Up" and "Thank You".
Diamond is also the youngest person in Sweden to release a Greatest Hits album.
Early life
Diamond was born in NorrköpingNorrköping
Norrköping is a city in the province of Östergötland in eastern Sweden and the seat of Norrköping Municipality, Östergötland County. The city has a population of 87,247 inhabitants in 2010, out of a municipal total of 130,050, making it Sweden's tenth largest city and eighth largest...
, Sweden
Sweden
Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....
as Amy Linnéa Deasismont, the second child of an English father, Lee, and a Swedish mother, Chrisbeth. Soon after her birth, the family moved to England. The family moved back to Sweden when she was four-and-a-half years old, this time to Jönköping
Jönköping
-Notable people:*Lillian Asplund, RMS Titanic survivor*John Bauer, illustrator, painter*Amy Diamond, singer*Agnetha Fältskog, ABBA*Carl Henrik Fredriksson, editor-in-chief and co-founder of Eurozine*Anders Gustafsson, kayaker, Olympian...
, where she learned Swedish. Diamond still lives there with her family, cousins and two younger sisters, Lisa and Holly, an older sister, Danielle and younger brother, Charlie.
Diamond started figure skating at age six and won multiple gold medals. She practiced six times a week before embarking on her singing career. She went to a dance and theater school called Blandgodis, and participated in theater and TV productions which gave her experience in public performing. She also appeared in a small television role on the show, De drabbade.
Diamond has loved singing since she was two years old. One of her first public performances was at the age seven on the talent show Småstjärnorna. She dressed as Belinda Carlisle
Belinda Carlisle
Belinda Jo Carlisle is an American singer who gained worldwide fame as the lead vocalist of the Go-Go's, one of the most successful all-female bands and the first such group whose members wrote their own songs and played their own instruments...
and lip synced to "Heaven is a Place on Earth", finishing third in the competition. In 2004, she participated in talent competitions such as Minimelodifestivalen in Jönköping and Swedish TV4's Super Troupers, winning most of them. On Mix Megapol Summer Idol Diamond won the main prize: to record a song in a real studio
Recording studio
A recording studio is a facility for sound recording and mixing. Ideally both the recording and monitoring spaces are specially designed by an acoustician to achieve optimum acoustic properties...
. During recording, she was offered a commercial recording contract
Recording contract
A recording contract is a legal agreement between a record label and a recording artist , where the artist makes a record for the label to sell and promote...
. Soon after, Diamond recorded her debut single "What's in It for Me". Markus Sepehrmanesh, one of the songwriters for her albums, said in an interview that she sang perfectly. "What's in It for Me" was recorded in ninety minutes and the single was released the following February.
Success as a singer
"What's in It for Me" was a commercial success, although some Swedish TV stations refused to show the music video, arguing that Diamond was too young (turned 13 soon after the release) for the song's theme about romantic relationships. Amy, though, didn't see the theme as an romantic relationship – in her eyes it was relationships between friends. Nevertheless, the song received extensive radio airplay while she simultaneously went on tour with Elin LantoElin Lanto
Elin Lanto is a Swedish singer who has had several hits in her home country, including the number one "I Won't Cry."Lanto first came to prominence after her performance of her song "Money" in Melodifestivalen 2007...
."What's in It for Me" reached number one on the Swedish singles chart in March and eventually went platinum.
Before long, Diamond appeared on Swedish TV4 and used her artist name for the first time. Although she sang to a pre-recorded backing track in the studio, on the program she sang her single and Alicia Keys
Alicia Keys
Alicia Augello Cook , better known by her stage name Alicia Keys, is an American singer-songwriter, record producer, and occasional actress. She was raised by a single mother in the Hell's Kitchen area of Manhattan in New York City. At age seven, Keys began playing the piano...
' song "If I Ain't Got You" while accompanied by a live band. The band included a drummer, guitarist, bassist, background singer and a keyboard player, who also sang backgrounds.
This Is Me Now
This Is Me Now is Amy Diamond's first studio album. It was released on May 18, 2005 by Bonnier Amigo Music Group.-Track listing:# "Hello!"# "What's in It for Me"# "Welcome to the City"# "Another Day"# "One of the Ones"# "Shooting Star*"...
was released in May 2005. The album sold more than 150,000 copies, which was triple the requirement for gold record certification in Sweden at the time. The success led to television appearances, such as on the weekly chart show Trackslistan and on the children's competition show Vi i femman. By the end of 2005, she had appeared live on more than 20 television shows. A concert tour in Sweden was organized for her in the summer, and some of the shows were also televised.
Although Diamond's fans are typically school children, the album cannot be described as children's music.
The style of This Is Me Now is mainly happy pop music with synthesizer backgrounds, but it includes the theme song "Tomorrow" from the musical Annie
Annie (musical)
Annie is a Broadway musical based upon the popular Harold Gray comic strip Little Orphan Annie, with music by Charles Strouse, lyrics by Martin Charnin, and the book by Thomas Meehan. The original Broadway production opened in 1977 and ran for nearly six years with a blonde Annie as the poster...
and a live recording of the song "If I Ain't Got You". The songs in the album were made by the producer team Tysper (Tommy Tysper), Mack (Marcus Sepehrmanesh) and Grizzly (Gustav Jonsson), who are all from Stockholm
Stockholm
Stockholm is the capital and the largest city of Sweden and constitutes the most populated urban area in Scandinavia. Stockholm is the most populous city in Sweden, with a population of 851,155 in the municipality , 1.37 million in the urban area , and around 2.1 million in the metropolitan area...
. They form the core of the production company TEN Production and have produced successful pop tracks before working with Diamond. Other Ten Production songs seeing popularity were performed by the A Teens and Helena Paparizou. Diamond's albums were published through Bonnier Amigo Music Group
Bonnier Amigo Music Group
Cosmos Music Group is an independent record company based in Stockholm, Sweden.Bonnier Amigo Music Group was formed in 2001 when record company and distributor Amigo Musik merged with record company Bonnier Music. BAMG claims to be the biggest independent record company in Scandinavia with a...
.
Alicia Keys
Alicia Augello Cook , better known by her stage name Alicia Keys, is an American singer-songwriter, record producer, and occasional actress. She was raised by a single mother in the Hell's Kitchen area of Manhattan in New York City. At age seven, Keys began playing the piano...
' "If I Ain't Got You", which was described in a review as "sweet and impressive at the same time". She reached the finals in Super Troupers, where she reached the final by singing Shakira
Shakira
Shakira Isabel Mebarak Ripoll , known professionally as Shakira , is a Colombian singer who emerged in the music scene of Colombia and Latin America in the early 1990s...
's "Underneath Your Clothes". She was 12 years old. A review in Svenska Dagbladet
Svenska Dagbladet
Svenska Dagbladet is a daily newspaper in Sweden. The first issue appeared on 18 December 1884. Svenska Dagbladet is published in Stockholm and provides coverage of national and international news as well as local coverage of the Greater Stockholm region...
described her voice as fine and secure, and her record label advertised it as "shining and characteristic".
Outside Sweden
Diamond signed a distribution deal with WarnerWarner Music Group
Warner Music Group is the third largest business group and family of record labels in the recording industry, making it one of the big four record companies...
in July in order to promote the album internationally. She never appeared with her band again, instead performing with a background track and dancers. The album became popular also in other Nordic countries and Poland
Poland
Poland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...
during the following summer. "What's In It For Me" was heard frequently on the radio, becoming the 19th most played song of 2005 in Finland and 16th best songs of 2005 in Poland. More singles from the albums "Welcome to the City" and "Champion" were released in the summer. A special edition of the album was released for the Central European market. It contained two previously-unreleased songs which would later appear on Still Me Still Now. Diamond was sent on a promotional tour throughout Central Europe
Central Europe
Central Europe or alternatively Middle Europe is a region of the European continent lying between the variously defined areas of Eastern and Western Europe...
in late 2005. Her record deal allowed the whole family to travel with her whenever the concerts were abroad. Diamond performed on television in Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
, Norway
Norway
Norway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic unitary constitutional monarchy whose territory comprises the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, Jan Mayen, and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard and Bouvet Island. Norway has a total area of and a population of about 4.9 million...
, Denmark
Denmark
Denmark is a Scandinavian country in Northern Europe. The countries of Denmark and Greenland, as well as the Faroe Islands, constitute the Kingdom of Denmark . It is the southernmost of the Nordic countries, southwest of Sweden and south of Norway, and bordered to the south by Germany. Denmark...
, Poland
Poland
Poland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...
, Lithuania
Lithuania
Lithuania , officially the Republic of Lithuania is a country in Northern Europe, the biggest of the three Baltic states. It is situated along the southeastern shore of the Baltic Sea, whereby to the west lie Sweden and Denmark...
and the Netherlands
Netherlands
The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...
.
Diamond was nominated for several awards in 2005. At 13, she was the youngest person in history to receive the Nordic Music Award for the best Nordic hit "What's in It for Me". Further, she is the youngest artist to receive two simultaneous NRJ Radio Awards and the youngest to be nominated for the Swedish Grammy Awards. At the Grammy Awards, she won Best Swedish Female Artist, Song of the Year, and Newcomer of the Year. Diamond received a Nickelodeon
Nickelodeon (TV channel)
Nickelodeon, often simply called Nick and originally named Pinwheel, is an American children's channel owned by MTV Networks, a subsidiary of Viacom International. The channel is primarily aimed at children ages 7–17, with the exception of their weekday morning program block aimed at preschoolers...
award for Hit of the Year, and had nominations for the Swedish Rockbjörnen. In 2010 she won again award for the best Swedish music/group at Nickelodeon Kids Choice Awards.
Second album
Diamond started recording her second album in February 2006. Her producers sent her songs and she chose which ones she wanted included on the album. The album was recorded over four weekends at a pace of two to three songs per weekend.The album Still Me Still Now
Still Me Still Now
Still Me Still Now is Amy Diamond's second studio album. It was released on May 24, 2006 by Bonnier Amigo Music Group.-Track listing:#"Big Guns"#"Don't Cry Your Heart Out"#"My Name is Love"#"That's Life"#"All the Money In the World"...
was published in May and the first single "Don't Cry Your Heart Out" was released a couple of weeks prior to the general album distribution.
Although not much was heard from her in the spring, the second album was highly anticipated. Two days before the announced release date, she was interviewed on Nyhetsmorgon
Nyhetsmorgon
Nyhetsmorgon is a Swedish morning news and talk show that airs every morning on TV4. It is similar to The Today Show. Nyhetsmorgon started airing in 1992....
, a morning talk show, on TV4. The host surprised Diamond by handing her a gold record for the album; it had already sold enough copies on pre-orders alone to be certified."Don't Cry Your Heart Out" was a radio hit in Sweden.
Still Me Still Now
Still Me Still Now
Still Me Still Now is Amy Diamond's second studio album. It was released on May 24, 2006 by Bonnier Amigo Music Group.-Track listing:#"Big Guns"#"Don't Cry Your Heart Out"#"My Name is Love"#"That's Life"#"All the Money In the World"...
continued in the same style as the previous album, being mostly light-pop music. "Don't Cry Your Heart Out" was radio-friendly pop, but songs such as "Diamonds" and "No Regrets" were arranged in a style reminiscent of musicals
Musical theatre
Musical theatre is a form of theatre combining songs, spoken dialogue, acting, and dance. The emotional content of the piece – humor, pathos, love, anger – as well as the story itself, is communicated through the words, music, movement and technical aspects of the entertainment as an...
. Some reviews wondered about the song selections, but Diamond's voice was praised nevertheless. The selected songs were alleged by some to be unsuitable for Diamond and her audience, but on the other hand her potential was appreciated.
In mid-2006, Diamond took part in the Diggiloo tour, where she performed, among other songs, Edith Piaf
Édith Piaf
Édith Piaf , born Édith Giovanna Gassion, was a French singer and cultural icon who became widely regarded as France's greatest popular singer. Her singing reflected her life, with her specialty being ballads...
's "Non, je ne regrette rien
Non, je ne regrette rien
"Non, je ne regrette rien" , meaning "No, I'm not sorry for anything", is a French song composed by Charles Dumont, with lyrics by Michel Vaucaire. It was written in 1956, and is best known through its 1960 recording by Édith Piaf....
". Although Still Me Still Now
Still Me Still Now
Still Me Still Now is Amy Diamond's second studio album. It was released on May 24, 2006 by Bonnier Amigo Music Group.-Track listing:#"Big Guns"#"Don't Cry Your Heart Out"#"My Name is Love"#"That's Life"#"All the Money In the World"...
wasn't as big a success outside Sweden as This Is Me Now
This Is Me Now
This Is Me Now is Amy Diamond's first studio album. It was released on May 18, 2005 by Bonnier Amigo Music Group.-Track listing:# "Hello!"# "What's in It for Me"# "Welcome to the City"# "Another Day"# "One of the Ones"# "Shooting Star*"...
, it was still popular in her home country. She also held concerts beyond the Diggiloo tour; readers of the largest evening newspaper, Aftonbladet
Aftonbladet
Aftonbladet is a Swedish tabloid founded by Lars Johan Hierta in 1830 during the modernization of Sweden. It is one of the larger daily newspapers in the Nordic countries. Aftonbladet is owned by the Swedish Trade Union Confederation and Norwegian media group Schibsted, and its editorial page...
, voted her 2006 Summer Tour Queen. Diamond released two more singles in late 2006, Big Guns and It Can Only Get Better
It Can Only Get Better
The song was covered by Filipina singer Charice for her self-titled extended play. It was then released as her first commercial single....
, and continued to appear on television, including appearances on such prime-time shows as Sommarkrysset, Go'kväll, and Vinterkrysset. In January 2007, Amy Diamond started a fan club that publishes a quarterly fan magazine called Amy Diamond Fanzine. Lastly, in September 2007 she sang with In The Ghetto
In the Ghetto
"In the Ghetto" is a song recorded by Elvis Presley and published by Elvis Presley Music in 1969. It was written by Mac Davis and made famous by Elvis Presley who had a major comeback hit with the song in 1969. It was released in 1969 as a 45 rpm single with "Any Day Now" as the flip side...
on Elvis – The Original Cast.
Third album
Throughout the second half of 2007, Diamond recorded her third album called "Music in Motion". The album contains tracks done by some renowned producers such as Max MartinMax Martin
Martin Karl Sandberg, known professionally as Max Martin, is a Swedish music producer and songwriter. Raised in Stenhamra, a suburb of Stockholm, Sweden, he broke through as a producer and songwriter in the mid to late 1990s after crafting a string of hits for pop artists like the Backstreet Boys,...
and Alexander Kronlund
Alexander Kronlund
Alexander Kronlund is a Swedish producer and songwriter.Kronlund co-wrote Meja's one million selling debut album on Sony and co-wrote two songs for Britney Spears' second album, Oops I Did It Again. Kronlund co-wrote her hit single, "Lucky", with Max Martin and Rami and also co-wrote "Don’t Go...
, who have previously worked with Britney Spears
Britney Spears
Britney Jean Spears is an American recording artist and entertainer. Born in McComb, Mississippi, and raised in Kentwood, Louisiana, Spears began performing as a child, landing acting roles in stage productions and television shows. She signed with Jive Records in 1997 and released her debut album...
.
Diamond's first single called "Is It Love?" from the new album was released on 26 September 2007. Additionally, she has performed her new song on some TV-shows like "Bobster", "Bingolotto" and has even won "Best Female Artist" at "Nickelodeon Kids Choice Awards". Diamond's new album Music in Motion was released on 28 November 2007 and her second single "Stay My Baby" (from the new album), written by Max Martin and Tommy Tysper, was released on 23 November. In the beginning of December 2007, Diamond began autograph sessions in Sweden.
Diamond entered Melodifestivalen, the Swedish selection for the Eurovision Song Contest
Eurovision Song Contest
The Eurovision Song Contest is an annual competition held among active member countries of the European Broadcasting Union .Each member country submits a song to be performed on live television and then casts votes for the other countries' songs to determine the most popular song in the competition...
, in February 2008. Her song was called "Thank You", and it earned her a 8th place in the final round. The song was later included on the re-release of her album, entitled Music in Motion – Gold Edition.Amy received yet another gold disc for this album.
Christmas album
On 19 November 2008, Diamond released a Christmas album called En Helt Ny Jul (or "A Brand New Christmas" in English), comprising traditional Swedish Christmas carols. The Style is described as being a classic styled Christmas album, but with a dose of Pop. This is her first album sung completely in Swedish. The album went Gold.Melodifestivalen 2009 and fifth album
In December 2008 it was confirmed that Diamond would once again enter the Swedish Song Contest (MelodifestivalenMelodifestivalen 2009
Melodifestivalen 2009 was a Swedish song contest held between February and March 2009. It was the selection for the 49th song to represent Sweden in the Eurovision Song Contest, and was the 48th edition of Melodifestivalen...
) in 2009, with the electro-pop song It's My Life written by Alexander Bard
Alexander Bard
Alexander Bengt Magnus Bard is a Swedish artist, music producer and writer.-Background and education:Bard was born Alexander Bengt Magnus Bard in Medevi, Motala Municipality, Sweden. After he had completed his upper secondary education, Bard studied in the United States and in Amsterdam, Netherlands...
, Bobby Ljunggren
Bobby Ljunggren
Bobby Ljunggren is a Swedish songwriter. He has entered the Eurovision Song Contest as a composer six times, five times for his native Sweden , and once for Lithuania, in 2005. He is a veteran of the Melodifestivalen competition, with 39 entries...
and Oscar Holter. On 14 February 2009, Diamond competed in the 2nd semi-final of Melodifestivalen
Melodifestivalen
Melodifestivalen is an annual music competition organised by Swedish public broadcasters Sveriges Television and Sveriges Radio . It determines the country's representative for the Eurovision Song Contest, and has been staged almost every year since 1959...
and was nominated to be the first finalist, but eventually lost to H.E.A.T. with 1000 Miles. She was also awarded the international jury's wildcard nomination of the evening. On 7 March, Diamond took part in the second chance round in Norrköping
Norrköping
Norrköping is a city in the province of Östergötland in eastern Sweden and the seat of Norrköping Municipality, Östergötland County. The city has a population of 87,247 inhabitants in 2010, out of a municipal total of 130,050, making it Sweden's tenth largest city and eighth largest...
but lost the first knock-out round to Star Pilots
Star Pilots
Star Pilots is a Swedish pop group with Johan Becker, a contestant on Swedish television show Fame Factory and former member of the Swedish duo The Wallstones as lead singer....
with "Higher" and also lost the international jury wildcard to Sofia with "Alla", thus failing to reach the final.
Diamond's fifth album (including the singles "It's My Life", "Up", "Brand New Day" and "Bittersweet") titled Swings and Roundabouts released in Scandinavia on 21 October also reached Gold status.
Körslaget 2009
Diamond was one of seven celebrity choir leaders in the third season of the Swedish TV4-show KörslagetKörslaget 2009
This article appears to be about something which has relevance to happenings in some unspecified country. It should be more explanatory.Körslaget 2009 is the third season of TV4's entertainment show Körslaget. It premiered on October 3...
, ("Clash of the Choirs") leading a choir team from her hometown of Jönköping.
Alice in Wonderland
Dec-09 -end of March -10 Diamond is starring as Alice in Alice in Wonderland at Maxim theatre in Stockholm.At the end of 2010 it was confirmed Amy is going to tour in 2011 throughout Sweden. All dates were announced and tickets were available, but in December 2010 3Sagas company was unable to repay the debt and the tour was cancelled.
Princess Lillifee
Diamond is the Swedish voice of Princess Lillifee film which premiered in Swedish cinemas on September 10. Amy also sings a few songs from the movie.Greatest Hits
In Spring 2010, Bonnier Amigo Music Group released information about Diamonds's greatest hits album. The album includes twenty songs from the last four years as well as four brand new songs, including covers of Cyndi LauperCyndi Lauper
Cynthia Ann Stephanie "Cyndi" Lauper is an American singer, songwriter, actress and LGBT rights activist. She achieved success in the mid-1980s with the release of the album She's So Unusual and became the first female singer to have four top-five singles released from one album...
's "True Colors
True Colors
*Unreleased tracks:**"Heading for the Moon" appeared as the B-side of "True Colors".**"Heartbeats", which was just an extended mix of the "Change of Heart" bass & drums, appeared on the 12" single of "Change of Heart"....
", "Only You
Only You (Yazoo song)
-Track listing:7": Mute/7 MUTE 20 # "Only You" - 3:10# "Situation" - 3:447": Sire/9 2-98447 # "Only You" - 3:10# "Winter Kills" - 4:0112": Mute/12 MUTE 20 # "Only You" - 3:10# "Situation" - 5:20CD: Mute/CD MUTE 20...
" by Yazoo
Yazoo (band)
Yazoo are a British synthpop duo from Basildon, Essex. They had a number of Top 10 hits in the UK charts in the early 1980s...
and "Perfect" by Fairground Attraction
Fairground Attraction
Fairground Attraction were a British acoustic pop band. They are best known for their hit single "Perfect", and for helping to launch the career of lead vocalist Eddi Reader.-Career:...
. On September 6, 2010 it was announced the album would be released on November 3, 2010, but at the beginning of October, Bonnier changed the release date to October 29, 2010. On October 31 it was confirmed that Amy is the youngest Swedish artist to release a Greatest Hits album.
The first single, "Only You", a cover of the Yazoo song, was released on September 24, 2010.
On October 16, 2010, Amy featuring Mikael Rickfors
Mikael Rickfors
Mikael Rickfors was born in Stockholm, Sweden, 4 December 1948. From 1968 he was the lead singer and bass guitarist in popular Swedish band Bamboo. The band released two singles before breaking up in 1970. Rickfors would later perform with the British rock group The Hollies for about two years....
sang a duet version of "True Colors" on the Swedish programme Dansfeber.
On November 2, 2010, Amy performed "Only you" and "True Colors" on XL Live. Also, the same day Amy performed What's In It For Me
What's in It for Me
"What's in It for Me" is the title of a song written by Gary Burr and John Jarrard and recorded by American country music artist John Berry. It was released in June 1994 as the fourth single from the album John Berry. The song reached #5 on the U.S...
(acoustic version) on Swedish Morning Programme Rix MorronZoo on radio RIX FM.
At beginning of November the label released information about a new and last single – True Colors.
In December 2010 some radiostations started to playing Amy's song 'Ready to Fly' as a promo single, but it wasn't released officially.
Life outside music
Diamond keeps her private life separate from her singing career. She took the stage name of Amy Diamond when she released her first single, "What's in It for Me". She has said that she chose Diamond because it's her birthstone.Despite her singing career, she goes to school and only rarely misses a day. According to her, there are promotional jobs only every now and then and most are on weekends. If there are gigs on the weekdays, she does the schoolwork as homework. She has mentioned in interviews that math, PE, and sewing are her favorite subjects in school. She regards her education as important, as it will allow her to do something else if the music doesn't work out or if she doesn't want to sing anymore; she has said that she wants to sing as long as it is fun. She has mentioned hairdressing as her future dream hobby. Despite her gigs, she has time to have holidays and she says the entertainment business hasn't been harsh on her. Her manager-father deals with the business side, and her parents support her in her career.
In 2006, Diamond received requests to do print model
Model (person)
A model , sometimes called a mannequin, is a person who is employed to display, advertise and promote commercial products or to serve as a subject of works of art....
ing and television work in addition to her musical career. She appeared in a mail-order catalogue for Ellos, and did promotional work for Statoil and the sport store chain Stadium. In December, she appeared as an ice princess on Lassemajas detektivbyrå, a in the Swedish Christmas series. The show allowed her to demonstrate her figure skating skills.
In May 2008, the jewelry maker Tussilagosmycken launched a product called "Amy's Diamond". The piece is made of silver and has a diamond in the middle, and Amy's autograph on the back. She has recently done a single for the Barbie CGI feature "Barbie and the Diamond Castle
Barbie and the Diamond Castle
Barbie and the Diamond Castle is a 2008 direct-to-video computer-animated film that was released on September 9, 2008. The film features the voice of Kelly Sheridan, who has voiced the Barbie protagonist in the CGI Barbie film series...
" called "Connected".
Summer 2010 Amy recorded as a TV-hoster a 2nd season of 16 episodes for one of the most popular SVT programmes – Bulldogg. It is a programme where kids can date a dog when their parents don't want any animals in home. The premiere of 1st episode is planned on Sunday, 16 January 2011 on SVT.
During spring 2011 Amy yet again recorded the 3rd season of 16 Bulldogg.
Amy graduated from Hairdressing school June 2011.
Discography
Albums
- 2005: This Is Me NowThis Is Me NowThis Is Me Now is Amy Diamond's first studio album. It was released on May 18, 2005 by Bonnier Amigo Music Group.-Track listing:# "Hello!"# "What's in It for Me"# "Welcome to the City"# "Another Day"# "One of the Ones"# "Shooting Star*"...
- 2006: Still Me Still NowStill Me Still NowStill Me Still Now is Amy Diamond's second studio album. It was released on May 24, 2006 by Bonnier Amigo Music Group.-Track listing:#"Big Guns"#"Don't Cry Your Heart Out"#"My Name is Love"#"That's Life"#"All the Money In the World"...
- 2007: Music In Motion
- 2008: En Helt Ny Jul
- 2009: Swings And Roundabouts
- 2010: Greatest Hits
Filmography
- 2002: De drabbade
- 2006: Lassemajas detektivbyrå
- 2006 & 2009: Vinterkrysset
- 2009–10: Alice i Underlandet
- 2010: Melodifestivalen Sketches
- 2010: Gabba Gabba
- 2010: Princess Lillifee
- 2011: Bulldogg