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Uku Suviste

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Uku Suviste
Uku Suviste in 2013
Born (1982-06-06) 6 June 1982 (age 42)
Võru, Estonia
Occupations
  • Singer
  • songwriter
  • music producer
Musical career
Genres
Instruments
  • Vocals
  • Keyboard
  • Piano
  • Guitar
  • Bass guitar
  • Drums
Years active2008–present
Websiteukusuviste.com

Uku Suviste (born 6 June 1982) is an Estonian singer-songwriter, pianist and music producer. He was scheduled to represent Estonia in the Eurovision Song Contest 2020 in Rotterdam, Netherlands, before cancellation of the competition that year. Instead, he represented Estonia in the Eurovision Song Contest 2021.

Education

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At the age of six, Suviste began his education in specialised music class at Tallinn School No. 21. At the same time, he started attending in Tallinn Boys Choir and in school's boy choir under the guidance of Lydia Rahula. She was also his solfeggio teacher and prepared him well for the time when he entered the Tallinn Music School. In 1997, he graduated specializing in piano.

In 2000, he graduated high school at Tallinn School No. 21 with commendations in music and P.E. After high school, he underwent eight months of military service at the Guard Battalion.

In 2001, he was admitted to the Estonian Information Technology College, and four years later he graduated in the specialty of computer systems administrator. A year after joining the IT College, he went to the Georg Ots Tallinn School of Music to study pop jazz singing.

For one and a half years starting in 2006, he studied at Berklee College of Music in Boston, Massachusetts, USA, majoring in singing, contemporary writing and music production.[1]

Music career

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Starting 2004, Suviste has participated in Uno Naissoo youth singing and music composition competition for many years. In 2004, he was awarded a special prize for his original song "Never Have To". The following year his polyphonic a cappella song "Sõbrad" ("Friends") for six-voice vocals ensemble won 2nd place. In 2008, the song "Refreshing" written by Suviste and his friend Mairo Marjamaa won the competition.[2]

In 2005, Suviste participated in the well-known Estonian singing contest "Kaks Takti Ette" and came in 3rd place. Subsequent to the contest, he got the opportunity to work in Elmar Liitmaa's music studio "Rockhouse" as a music producer. While working in the studio and producing songs for many well-known Estonian artists, he gained valuable experience and had the opportunity to record a lot of his own original songs.

In 2005, he self-produced and released his first original CD album, titled "It’s Christmas Time".[3]

Throughout 2006, Suviste was a part of an Estonian R&B and '80s disco music band called "Lament". He was the second vocal soloist and also played the keyboard.

In November 2008, he collaborated with the 2007 "Estonian Idol" winner Birgit Õigemeel, and they released the album "Ilus Aeg" ("Beautiful time"). Suviste arranged all the tracks on the album, and sang in a few songs in duet with Birgit. To promote their album, the duo gave a number of concerts.[1]

In 2010, Suviste took part in Russia's largest song contest "New Wave", finishing in 3rd place.[1][4]

In 2012, Suviste produced the music video "Võitmatu" ("Invincible"), with the support and cooperation of the Estonian Defence Forces and the Estonian Ministry of Defence.[5] The music video was dedicated to all the soldiers, who had served in the armed forces in Afghanistan, and to the servicemembers' families. Two guest performers made a cameo appearance in the beginning and end of the video, to also show their support for Estonian soldiers. The first was Estonian discus thrower and Olympic gold medalist Gerd Kanter, and the other was Justin Gatlin, an American sprinter and Olympic gold medalist in the 100-metre run.[6]

In Autumn 2014, Suviste took part in the Estonian television parody show "Sinu Nägu Kõlab Tuttavalt" ("Your Face Sounds Familiar").

Suviste competed in the 7th season of the Russian version of The Voice in 2018, where he was coached by Ani Lorak. He was eliminated from the competition in the semi-final.[3][7]

Suviste has competed in the Eesti Laul music competition several times. The contest is used to select Estonia's entry for Eurovision. In Eesti Laul 2017 he competed with the song "Supernatural", but was eliminated in the first semi-final. Suviste participated in Eesti Laul 2019, with the song "Pretty Little Liar". He made it through the second semi-final, and placed second in the final.[7] Suviste competed again in Eesti Laul 2020 with his song "What Love Is"[8] and won the national final, becoming the Estonian entry at the 2020 Eurovision Song Contest. When Eurovision was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Suviste was not named the Estonian artist for Eurovision 2021, as happened in some other countries. He was, however, offered a spot in the semi-finals for Eesti Laul 2021, which he accepted.[9][10] Suviste won Eesti Laul 2021 and represented Estonia in the Eurovision Song Contest 2021 with his song "The Lucky One".[11] He participated in the second semi-final of the contest, but failed to qualify for the grand final, finishing 13th.

Musical theatre

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Suviste has performed as an ensemble member in several stage musicals, such as Bart's "Oliver!" and Kander's "Chicago". In "West Side Story" and "Grease", however, he was cast on leading roles, Tony and Danny, respectively. In the latter, he played against Getter Jaani, who was then cast as Sandy.

Achievements

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Uno Naissoo Song Contest

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2004 Special prize for original song "Never Have To"
2005 2nd place, with polyphonic a cappella song "Sõbrad" ("Friends") for a six-voice vocal ensemble
2008 1st place with the song "Refreshing", co-written with Suviste's friend Mairo Marjamaa

Young singer's contest "Kaks Takti Ette"

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2005 – won 3rd place, and best male singer.

International song contest "New Wave"

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In 2010, Suviste took part in Russia's largest song contest "New Wave" (Russian: Новая волна, translit. Novaya volna), which took place in Jūrmala, Latvia, and won 3rd place.[4][7] There were 12,000 participants, and the contest was broadcast in 31 countries.

Personal life

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Suviste's father is Estonian TV producer Raivo Suviste, and his mother is Dana Suviste.[12][13]

Dana Suviste graduated the Tallinn State Conservatory (now the Estonian Academy of Music and Theatre) under the guidance of Hendrik Krumm, specialising in classical singing.[14]

Suviste's uncle Väino Puura and Puura's wife Sirje Puura are well-known opera singers in Estonia.[15]

Miscellaneous

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  • In 2010, readers of the magazine Kroonika rated Suviste "Estonia's Sexiest Man".[16][17]
  • In late 2010, Suviste performed with dance instructor and show host Kaisa Oja in Kanal 2's Tantsud tähtedega, the local variety of "Dancing with the Stars".
  • In 2011, Suviste became a patron of UNICEF Estonia.[7]

Discography

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Singles

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As lead artist
Title Year
"It's Christmas Time" 2005
"See on nii hea" 2008
"Love of my life"
(featuring Grace Taylor) 		2009
"Sind otsides"
"Saatanlik naine"
"Show me the love" 2010
"Isju Tebja"
"Jagatud öö" 2011
"Midagi head"
(featuring Violina)
"Võitmatu" 2012
"Valge Lumi"
(with Anzhelika Agurbash) 		2013
"I wanna be the one"
(with Kéa) 		2014
"Supernatural" 2016
"Pretty Little Liar" 2019
"What Love Is" 2020
"Müüdud ja Pakitud"
"Torman Tulle"
"The Lucky One"
As featured artist
Title Year
"Believe"
(Hawt Leopards featuring Uku Suviste) 		2015
"Bonfire"
(Ollie featuring Uku Suviste)
"Las meile jääda"
(Põhja-Tallinn featuring Anne Veski, Pearu Paulus, Merlyn Uusküla,
Uku Suviste, Uudo Sepp, Krislin Sallo & Tobias Rosentau) 		2019
"Aisakell"
(Heldene Aeg featuring Uku Suviste) 		2020

Music videos

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References

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  1. ^ a b c "Biography | Uku Suviste – Singer, keyboardist, songwriter". www.ukusuviste.com. Retrieved 21 March 2020.[dead link‍]
  2. ^ "Selgusid Uno Naissoo nimelise noorte loomingukonkursi parimad | Elu". elu.ohtuleht.ee (in Estonian). Archived from the original on 22 May 2021. Retrieved 1 April 2020.
  3. ^ a b "Who is Estonia's Eurovision 2020 entry Uku Suviste who will be singing What Love Is". Radio Times. Archived from the original on 21 March 2020. Retrieved 21 March 2020.
  4. ^ a b "History". Официальный сайт Международного конкурса молодых исполнителей популярной музыки «Новая волна». Archived from the original on 21 October 2021. Retrieved 31 March 2020.
  5. ^ Luts, Priit (1 April 2012). "Kaitseministeerium toetas Uku Suviste muusikavideot 3200 euroga" [The Ministry of Defense supported Uku Suviste's music video with 3,200 euros] (Required: JavaScript for the display of article date and any comments present; Firefox 47 or greater.). ERR Uudised (in Estonian). Retrieved 8 November 2019.
  6. ^ a b Uku Suviste – Võitmatu / Invincible eesti keelne versioon, archived from the original on 12 May 2020, retrieved 31 March 2020
  7. ^ a b c d "Rotterdam 2020 Participants – Uku Suviste". eurovision.tv. Archived from the original on 10 April 2020. Retrieved 4 April 2020.
  8. ^ ERR (3 November 2019). "Uku Suviste "What Love Is"". ERR (in Estonian). Archived from the original on 31 January 2020. Retrieved 21 March 2020.
  9. ^ ERR (1 March 2020). "Uku Suvistele kingitakse otsepääs Eesti Laul 2021 poolfinaali". ERR (in Estonian). Archived from the original on 22 January 2021. Retrieved 21 March 2020.
  10. ^ "Uku Suviste gets direct pass to Eesti Laul 2021 semi-finals". wiwibloggs. 1 March 2020. Archived from the original on 19 March 2020. Retrieved 21 March 2020.
  11. ^ "Eurovision Estonia: Uku Suviste wins Eesti Laul 2021! - ESCToday.com". ESCToday.com. 6 March 2021. Archived from the original on 18 March 2021. Retrieved 20 March 2021.
  12. ^ "Raivo Suviste: Uku on nii palju pingutanud ja lõpuks on see vaev end ära tasunud | Elu". elu.ohtuleht.ee (in Estonian). Archived from the original on 2 March 2020. Retrieved 31 March 2020.
  13. ^ ERR (7 March 2018). "Raivo Suviste sai poja Uku sünnist teada telegrammi teel". ERR (in Estonian). Archived from the original on 21 May 2020. Retrieved 31 March 2020.
  14. ^ Polikarpus, Viido (2 March 2012). "Facebooki maailm" [The world of Facebook] (in Estonian). võrumaa Teataja. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 14 May 2015.
  15. ^ "Elu24 Live/ Külas käis šarmantne Uku Suviste koos kaunite üllatuskülalistega". Elu24 (in Estonian). 2 June 2016. Archived from the original on 22 September 2017. Retrieved 31 March 2020.
  16. ^ "Aasta seksikaimad on Uku Suviste ja Tanja Mihhailova". Elu24 (in Estonian). 1 May 2010. Archived from the original on 30 November 2021. Retrieved 31 March 2020.
  17. ^ "FOTOD ja VIDEO: Kroonika aasta seksikateks valiti Uku Suviste ja Tanja Mihhailova". Kroonika. 14 May 2010. Retrieved 30 March 2020.
  18. ^ Uku Suviste "Show Me the Love", archived from the original on 28 November 2021, retrieved 31 March 2020
  19. ^ "Анжелика Агурбаш и Уку Сувисте – Белый Снег". Youtube. Archived from the original on 18 March 2013. Retrieved 4 April 2020.
  20. ^ Uku Suviste & Kéa – I Wanna Be The One, archived from the original on 28 November 2021, retrieved 31 March 2020
  21. ^ "Uku Suviste – What Love Is (Eesti Laul 2020)". Youtube. 30 November 2019. Archived from the original on 18 December 2019. Retrieved 21 March 2020.
  22. ^ Uku Suviste – Müüdud ja Pakitud (Official Video), archived from the original on 28 November 2021, retrieved 18 June 2020
  23. ^ Uku Suviste - The Lucky One (Eesti Laul 2021), archived from the original on 28 November 2021, retrieved 20 March 2021
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Preceded by Estonia in the Eurovision Song Contest
2020 (cancelled) 		Succeeded by
Himself
with "The Lucky One"
Preceded by
Himself
with "What Love Is"
 Estonia in the Eurovision Song Contest
2021 		Succeeded by
Stefan
with "Hope"
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