Digging deep with Denmark: SABA is queen of the sandcastle

After taking the crown at Denmark’s Melodi Grand Prix in Copenhagen, SABA is ready to hop across the sea and do her country proud. She had tough competition in Denmark’s national final, so she’s had plenty of practice before facing the other musicians at the Eurovision Song Contest.

SABA has been singing all her life at home, but up until recently it’s her twin sister who’s been the better-known performer. When her sister fell ill during pregnancy, SABA took over her role in the musical Hair, opening the show with the song Aquarius. This was a huge moment for her, and her most memorable so far as a musician. There’s another set of Nordic twins in the 2024 Contest (Marcus & Martinus), but for SABA, she wanted to forge a place in the music world on her own.

This new popstar is passionate about representing a lot of different people on the stage and making Eurovision an inclusive celebration. She has been open about her own mental health struggles, and also talked about how she was adopted from Ethiopia at 8 months old. SABA is about to make history as the first brown, queer woman to compete for Denmark at the Eurovision Song Contest. That’s pretty big.

If SABA found Aladdin’s lamp, she’d spend her 3 wishes on a time machine, contact with aliens, and an invisibility cloak. It sounds like the set up for a great movie. Someone get the popcorn.

Before she knew Eurovision was in her future, SABA played as a professional footballer when she was younger. And she says she was very fast — so she won’t be scared of a little competition. Nowadays she likes to meditate to relax, which might just be the opposite of running up and down a football pitch.

When it comes to Eurovision heroes, it’s got to be Conchita Wurst for SABA. Conchita won exactly 10 years ago for Austria, with Rise Like A Phoenix. Even more appropriately for SABA, Conchita won when the Contest was held in Denmark.

Although performing on big stages is quite new to SABA, music has always been in her life. And when she heard SAND, she knew it was the song for her. Some of her favourite songs include Stevie Wonder’s Never Dreamed You’d Leave In Summer, Beyoncé’s I Care, and Frank Ocean’s Bad Religion.

SABA spoke to the Official Eurovision Song Contest Podcast, and said: “I’m feeling great, overwhelmed, but it’s nice to be a part of this.” 

She remembered back to winning the Danish Melodi Grand Prix and told podcast host Steve Holden: “I was kinda in shock on stage when I won. It took me a few days to really understand what had happened. It’s all we’ve dreamed about, so it’s big, it’s huge.”

You can hear more from SABA on episode 11 of the Official Eurovision Song Contest Podcast.

You can learn more about SABA from Denmark right here.