Saara Aalto

I'm now working with some of the best songwriters in the world and Sia has written a song that has been given to me. Oh my God, it's just insane.

It took a while to get the support of British people as they wouldn't naturally want to support someone from another country.

There are not actually many people in Finland who are openly gay together, let alone two women.

I can be a bit serious because I'm always focused on my work, but when Meri's around I feel so relaxed. My body and soul are like, 'Ah, OK, everything is fine.' I know I am meant to be with her. It feels right.

There were many years when I didn't even know if I wanted to get married. I don't know if I believe in that institution, really.

When I met the people at Warner, they were very excited about my style and making me into this big theatrical artist.

I talked with labels and they wouldn't help with my international career. They said, 'Saara, if you're in Finland you just have to sing in Finnish.' That led to this situation where I felt very lonely. I was really sad and still I was doing gigs all the time. I'd go onstage crying but I was still trying to sing.

I came second in 'The Voice of Finland' in 2012 and my career really exploded at home. I had 300 gigs a year.

I don't want to sing about going to a party with friends, I want to sing meaningful songs that can inspire people and I think Sia's songs are really deep. 'Chandelier' is about young girls who think they have to please others to be loved and that really touched me.

I describe my own music as epic love pop.

It's very Finnish to think you can't make it outside Finland.

I can be very competitive, but I mainly want to challenge myself.

Everyone always told me I had a J-Lo bum. Since I was 15 it's always been like that.

When you train every day your body starts to change. The biggest thing I have noticed is my bum.

I will never risk my wellbeing for my career and it's always worked out well for me and led me to the right places.

I have my values and I always stick with them.

When people come to my gigs, they feel accepted as they are and they feel part of this family.

When I release my music I will text Sharon Osborne and ask her about my songs.

So many months in the 'X Factor' house and sharing my room with five other girls was tough.

I think you should have some more lesbian women out here on the British TV!

When I came here I moved to London and I was meeting so many new people and had to speak only in English, which is not my native language.

I want to have a go at presenting. As a child I was always filming my own TV shows with my sister, so it feels natural to me.

Me and Matt Terry would love to record music together, maybe something on YouTube to our fans.

In Finland and the U.K. you can't predict the weather.

Hitting the road with Steps is going to be so much fun.

I have skated when I was a child, but it was just with our friends and our parents, no special technique.

I love a challenge and I love performing and doing crazy performances.

I was honored I was signed to Sony. But later I felt like they weren't the right team.

It changed my life, but the best gift I have ever been given was the acceptance of the British public.

I love Honey G, Honey G is great. I think she's not a singer, she's a rapper.

I was on 'X Factor' the day after the Brexit vote. People voted for Brexit. But the public also voted for me, they wanted me to be there and part of the music industry. I haven't felt any bad effects.

The thing is, Finland is such a small country. It only has a population of five million, which is half of London. There's nothing there. I just had to get out. The U.K. is the perfect place to come.

I hoped people would take me as I am. It doesn't matter where I come from.

When I came here, I was a little bit different and in Finland people didn't really accept me, and then I came here and I saw Honey G doing so well and I thought 'British people are so great, they accept Honey G as she is, so maybe they'll accept me as well.'

I think Honey G is a brand, she's an inspiration for me at least.

It's incredible how my life has so many things happening at the same time.

I love that music will bring people together, because the world is full of negativity.

It's always been my dream to sing for Simon Cowell, plus I wanted to get out of Finland.

Finish people have not been very successful at all. We are not doing very well in sport. We are outsiders in the world.

I've always had a big bum.

Posh was my favorite Spice Girl but she didn't have that many lines to sing.

That's been my goal since I was a child and saw the Spice Girls on TV: I was like, I want to wear those fancy outfits and sing my heart out on a big stage.

I grew up in Finland, so it's cold in Finland, we have ice rinks outdoors.

I think it's mainly the language barrier and the cultural barrier, but of course also my songs, they have been very serious and melancholic, and so maybe people need to see more of my bubbly side and my personality.

This song is by Bjork called 'Oh So Quiet' and it's really different. I'll be screaming and just having fun on stage. It's really, really different but I'm very excited to do that number.

I'm of course jumping right in with the attitude that I can win the Eurovision Song Contest - or at least finish in second place!

I was in 'The Voice of Finland' in 2012 and my girlfriend - fiancee now - watched the show, liked me a lot and sent me a fan message through Facebook. She wrote, 'I have never, ever sent a message like this to anybody, but I just had this intuition that I have to send this to you.'

'The X Factor' has brought so much joy to so many people.

The world is full of negativity and scary news, terrible things happening. And then we have Eurovision, which is like the whole of Europe and the whole world just comes together, and celebrates love and everybody supports everybody.

I don't want to be difficult personally. On stage is the right place for a diva.