Marie Picasso

Marie Picasso
Marie Picasso
Background information
Birth name	Lilly Marie Pettersson
Born	24 April 1979 (1979-04-24) (age 32)
Origin	Sweden
Genres	Pop, Pop Rock
Occupations	Singer, Presenter, Model
Instruments	Singing
Years active	1999–present
Labels	Sony BMG (2007–present)
Associated acts	Daniel Lindström, Agnes Carlsson, Markus Fagervall
Website	Official Site

Marie Picasso (born Lilly Marie Pettersson on 24 April 1979) is a Swedish singer, host and model who first rose to fame as a housemate on the popular reality television show Big Brother, before going on to win the fourth series of the Swedish singing competition Idol.

Biography

Big Brother

In 2002, Picasso appeared as a housemate on the hugely popular reality television show Big Brother. During the show, she caused widespread controversy when she had sex on-camera with another housemate, Benjamin Sorani, who had become her boyfriend. After leaving the house, she went on to host several game shows on TV4, and also released a single titled Tell The World in Germany, which was used to promote a local soap opera.

Idol 2007

In the summer of 2007, Picasso auditioned for the fourth series of popular Swedish singing competition Idol in Stockholm, singing "Beautiful" by Christina Aguilera. The three judges were impressed by her emotion-filled voice and she passed through to the next stage of the contest with a unanimous "yes" vote. Several weeks later, Picasso made it into the top 11 contestants, and her powerful voice continued to wow the judges and the public. Despite landing in the bottom 3 twice, Picasso made it through to the finale at the Globen Arena, and on 7 December, she was crowned as the fourth Swedish Idol, defeating runner-up Amanda Jenssen by a margin of only 2%. TV4 received some criticism for including Picasso in the series as she had worked for TV4 as a presenter and also had a professional singing career before entering Idol.

Idol Performances

• Stockholm Auditions: "Beautiful" by Christina Aguilera
• Top 16 "I Can't Make You Love Me" by Bonnie Raitt
• Top 14 "The Power of Love" by Jennifer Rush
• Top 11 1-Hit Wonders: "Baby Love" by Mother's Finest
• Top 10 Movie Themes: "Flashdance...What a Feeling" by Irene Cara
• Top 9 Hitlist: "Big Girls Don't Cry" by Fergie - Bottom 3
• Top 8 Blood, Sweat and Tears: "I'll Be There" by The Jackson 5
• Top 7 Dedicated To...: "Always On My Mind" by Willie Nelson
• Top 6 Disco: "Ain't Nobody" by Chaka Khan
• Top 5 Gospel: "How Will I Know" by Whitney Houston - Bottom 3
• Top 4 Rock: "Weak" by Skunk Anansie
• Top 4 Rock: "You Oughta Know" by Alanis Morissette
• Top 3 Judge's Choice: "I Have Nothing" by Whitney Houston
• Top 3 Judge's Choice: "Maneater" by Nelly Furtado
• Top 2 Grand Finale: "All By Myself" by Eric Carmen
• Top 2 Grand Finale: "I'll Be There" by The Jackson 5
• Top 2 Grand Finale: "This Moment" by Marie Picasso - Declared 4th Swedish Idol

Post-Idol Career

2007-2008: The Secret

Debut single: "This Moment"

Immediately after winning Idol, Picasso signed a recording contract with Sony BMG and her debut single, This Moment was released. A week later, the song debuted at number one on the Swedish singles chart, and after holding the top spot for two weeks, the single was certified double platinum for the sale of 40,000 copies. Her debut album, The Secret was quickly recording and released on 19 December, only weeks after her victory. Like its lead single, The Secret also debuted at number one. After only one week on the chart, Picasso's album was certified gold for the sale of almost 30,000 copies. The album went on to hold the top spot for three consecutive weeks, longer than any other Idol winner.

In early January 2008, Picasso announced her first national tour titled The Secret Tour to support her debut album. The tour commenced on 25 January in Vasteras and ended on 5 April in Örebro, with Picasso performing a total of 23 sold-out shows across Sweden. In March 2008, The Secret was certified platinum, having sold just over 60,000 copies since its release. As the supportive tour neared its end, Picasso released "Winning Streak", the second single to be taken from her debut album. However, the song failed to gain popularity and as a result did not sell enough copies to reach the official top 60 of the Swedish singles chart. The single's failure to chart was all the more surprising due to the fact that Picasso had previously attained multi-platinum sales from her first single and debut album, and only recently completed a hugely successful, sell-out tour.

2008-Present: Record Rumours and Second Album

Throughout the early summer of 2008, Picasso continued to promote her debut album with appearances on both Swedish television and summer festivals, performing a variety of tracks from the album. Toward the end of the summer, rumours began to circulate that Sony BMG were planning to release Picasso from her record contract. The failure of her second single was cited as one of the reasons, as was the apparently greater success of Amanda Jenssen, whom Picasso has defeated in the finale of Idol.

During an interview in September 2008, Sony BMG marketing manager Magnus Klint stated that the label were, "in discussions with Picasso" about her future with the label and although they hoped to co-operate with her, nothing was set. In January 2009, Picasso confirmed that she was indeed still with Sony BMG and was due to begin work on her second studio album to be released in late 2009.

Discography

Marie Picasso discography

Releases
↙Studio albums	1
↙Singles	2
↙Music videos	2
↙B-sides	2
↙Other Charted Songs	1
↙Tours	1

The following is a complete discography of every album and single released by Swedish pop and pop-rock singer Marie Picasso.

Albums

Year	Information	Sweden	Sales and Certifications
2007	The Secret First studio album Released: 19 December 2007 Label: Sony BMG Format: CD	1	Swedish sales: 62,000 IFPI: Platinum

Singles

Year	Song	Sweden[1]	Certification	Album
2007	"This Moment"	1	2xPlatinum (IFPI)	The Secret
2008	"Winning Streak"	—	—

Other Charted Songs

Year	Song[1]	Sweden
2007	"Flashdance... What a Feeling"	54

Tours

2008: The Secret Tour

Preceded by Markus Fagervall

Idol winner Marie Picasso (2007)

Succeeded by Kevin Borg

Sources

• TV4s idol page - Retrieved from Tv4 homepage
• Marie Picasso tittarnas favorit - retrieved from aftonbladet

References

1. ^ ^{a b} Marie Picasso - The Secret - Music Charts

External links

• Official website

Persondata
Name	Picasso, Marie
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	24 April 1979
Place of birth
Date of death
Place of death