Daughter to Ángel Romero and Javiera Arbizu, Amaia belongs to a family of musicians. Her uncle, Joaquín Romero, was the manager of theOrfeón Pamplonés concert choir from 2008 until 2016, as well as the Pablo Sarasate Orchestra for two years.[4] It was her uncle who discovered that, even as a child, Amaia hadabsolute pitch.[4][5]
Romero debuted in television in 2009 when she appeared onTVE's television news playing the piano at age ten as part of a children talent contest, where she ended third in her instrument's category.[8] Romero participated in the televised talent showCántame Una Canción onTelecinco, where she sang alongside David Civera and Sergio Rivero a year later.[9] In 2011, she was the winner of a scholarship to Rock Camp 2011, and participated in the camp in 2011 and 2012.[10] In 2012, she took part in series one of the talent showEl Número Uno. She was eliminated in week six of the series.[11] The jury in the show was made up ofDavid Bustamante,Ana Torroja,Miguel Bosé,Natalia Jiménez andMónica Naranjo.[12] Romero and Naranjo would meet again onseries nine ofOperación Triunfo, as Naranjo went on to be part of the jury. In 2012 she also metFelipe VI and Letizia Ortiz, who would become King and Queen consort of Spain. They both told Amaia that she "had a future" after they saw her perform in Pamplona with the Pablo Sarasate Orchestra.[13]
In 2016, Amaia collaborated with the Navarrese band Lemon y Tal on the song "Cicatrices de mi realidad".[14]
In July 2017, Amaia auditioned inBilbao for therevival series of the reality television music competitionOperación Triunfo.[15] On 23 October 2017, she was selected to enter the show's "academy" on the season premiere. After performingDavid Bowie's "Starman", Amaia was not selected by the show's jury, but was saved by the academy's staff of teachers instead.[16] In January 2018, Amaia 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–. Distinguished for her naivety, diverse musical taste and humor, she was proclaimed the winner of the series with 46% of the final votes from the public.[17][18] After her win, she signed a pre-contract withUniversal Music. Romero consequently co-headlined an indoor arena tour with her fifteen talent show companions during 2018. The tour (namedOT 2017 en concierto) began on 3 March 2018 at thePalau Sant Jordi and endedibid on December 28 of that same year, comprising 23 concerts.[19] It was attended by 300,000 people.[20]
Additionally, due to being one of the final five finalists onOperación Triunfo, Amaia was a candidate to representSpain in theEurovision 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", which she performed solo; and "Tu Canción", composed by Raul Gómez and Sylvia Santoro, which she sang as a duet with her then-boyfriendAlfred García.[21] The latter was selected with 43% of the public vote, representing the country in the 2018 contest, held inLisbon, Portugal.[22] Amaia and Alfred were the second to perform at the Eurovision final.[23] They placed twenty-third out of the 26 participating countries with 61 points: 43 from the professional juries and 18 from the televote.[24] After being asked about the result she stated "its a shit, but we are happy".[25]
Amaia & Alfred rehearsing at the Eurovision Song Contest 2018 stage.
Amaia made her first steps as a solo artist in mid-2018. She relocated to theEixample district inBarcelona and there she completed her degree in classical piano in 2019 at theConservatori Superior de Música del Liceu.[26][7] Amaia also toured Spain with The Free Fall Band throughout 2018, visitingMadrid,Pamplona,Sitges and thePrimavera Sound music festival.[27] The setlist included traditional Spanish pop songs as well as other songs in indie pop genre.[28] In September 2018, she sangIvor Cutler's "Women of the World" withU2 at their concert in Madrid.[29] She also began shaping her upcoming studio album, which was recorded betweenNew York City, Barcelona andBuenos Aires.[30] On 18 December 2018, Romero released a 90-second promotional single titled "Un Nuevo Lugar", which was produced byRaül Refree.[31] The song peaked at 37 on thePROMUSICAE sales chart.[32] A month before the promotional single's release Spanish rock bandCarolina Durante released a collaboration with Amaia titled "Perdona (Ahora Sí Que Sí)".
In January 2019, Amaia announced that she would go on a promotional festival tour in the summertime.[33] The tour began inMurcia in May and concluded in August inPeñíscola.[34][35] After working with Argentine singer-songwriterSantiago Motorizado throughout 2019, Romero finished recording her debut albumPero No Pasa Nada. Its lead single "El Relámpago" was released on digital platforms in May 2019, peaking at number 24 on thePROMUSICAE chart and staying on the list for over three weeks.[36] A limited hard CD and LP version was released alongside the promotional single "Nadie Podría Hacerlo" forRecord Store Day.[37] The album spawned other three singles: "Quedará en Nuestra Mente", "Quiero Que Vengas" and "Nuevo Verano".Pero No Pasa Nada saw light on 20 September 2019, topping the Spanish albums chart in its debut week despite receiving mixed reviews.[38][39] Romero's first solo concert tour, thePero No Pasa Nada Tour, began in October and concluded in September 2021 after being partially canceled due to theCOVID-19 pandemic.[40][41]
The singer parallelly participated in the third season of SpanishNetflix seriesPaquita Salas covering thejota "Tan Pequeñica Y Sincera" byMarisol, which premiered onSpotify on September 19.[42] She also sang the closure song for the thriller filmLegado en los huesos, "Luz y Sombra".[43] In January 2020, Amaia took part in a tribute to Marisol at the34th Goya Awards, performing "Canción de Marisol" to critical acclaim.[44] She later took part on the soundtrack of the television seriesVeneno, where she covered "Pongamos Que Hablo de Madrid" as well as "The House of the Rising Sun".[45][46] In August 2020, two self-written songs "Cosas Interesantes Para Decir" and "La Victoria" were released online as promotional singles recorded in alo-fi studio in Barcelona to close this musical era.[47]
In October 2020, Amaia collaborated withAlizzz on his song "El Encuentro", which met great commercial success and won the Premio MIN for Best Urban Recording.[49][50] Alizzz would serve as the key producer for the singer's upcoming studio albumCuando No Sé Quién Soy, whose lead single "Yo Invito" was released a year later to critical and popular acclaim.[51][52] Amaia was later featured on the respective projects of Los Hermanos Hubero andMikel Erentxun. In November 2021, "Quiero Pero No" featuring vocals by Spanish singer Rojuu, was released as the album's second single. "Yamaguchi", afolk song about childhood and growing up that references the Pamplona park and theJapanese city of the same name, was released in January 2022 as its third single. The singer released "Bienvenidos al Show" two months later to general acclaim. "La Canción Que No Quiero Cantarte", featuring longtime friend and singerAitana, was released on 10 May. The singer's second studio album was released on 13 May and debuted at number two on the Spanish Albums Chart.[53] On 3 January 2022 Amaia released the single "Yamaguchi". She chose her birthday to pay tribute to her favorite place, Yamaguchi Park, in her hometown of Pamplona, in the form of a modern jota mixing melodic pop.[1]
2024–present: acting debut andSi Abro los Ojos No Es Real
In 2023, Amaia debuted as an actress with a role in the drama television seriesLa Mesías.[54] She earned a nomination for Best Supporting Actress in a TV Series for the11th Feroz Awards.[55]
^Ortiz, Laura (6 February 2018)."Amaia gana 'OT 2017'".FormulaTV (in European Spanish).Archived from the original on 4 June 2020. Retrieved6 February 2018.
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