Amaia (singer)

Romero debuted in television in 2009 when she appeared on TVE'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 show Cántame una canción on Telecinco, 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 show El Número Uno on Antena 3, qualifying for the show performing The Beatles' "Here Comes the Sun" with her ukulele. She was eliminated in week six of the series.[11] The jury in the show was made up of David Bustamante, Ana Torroja, Miguel Bosé, Natalia Jiménez and Mónica Naranjo.[12] Romero and Naranjo would meet again on series nine of Operación Triunfo, as Naranjo went on to be part of the jury. In 2012 she also met Felipe 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]

Amaia and Alfred posing at Eurovision Pre-Party in Madrid in April 2018

Amaia & Alfred rehearsing at the Eurovision Song Contest 2018 stage.

In July 2017, Amaia auditioned in Bilbao for series nine of the reality television music competition Operación Triunfo, a program that was returning to television after a six-year hiatus.[15] On October 23, 2017, she was selected to enter the show's "Academy" on the season premiere: Amaia performed David Bowie's "Starman" and was not selected originally by the show's jury, but she was saved by the Academy's staff of teachers.[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 –. On February 5, she was proclaimed the winner of the series with 46% of the final votes from the public.[17] After her win, she signed a record deal with Universal Music.

Additionally, due to being one of the final five finalists on Operación Triunfo, Amaia was a candidate to represent Spain in the Eurovision Song Contest 2018. For the special Eurovision selection show that was held on January 29, 2018, she was allocated three songs: "Camina", which she performed as part of a group made up of the five finalists; "Al cantar", composed by Rozalén, which she performed solo;[18] and "Tu canción", composed by Raul Gómez and Sylvia Santoro, which she sang in a duet with her then boyfriend Alfred García. The latter was selected with 43% of the public vote to represent Spain in the 2018 Contest in Lisbon, Portugal.[19] Amaia and Alfred were the second to perform at the Eurovision final, held on 12 May 2018.[20] They placed twenty-third out of the 26 participating countries with 61 points: 43 from the professional juries and 18 from the televote.[21]

Romero co-headlined a 23-date arena concert tour with her fifteen talent show companions in 2018. The tour (named OT 2017 en concierto) began on March 3, 2018 at the Palau Sant Jordi in Barcelona and ended in the same venue on December 28 of that same year.[22] Over 300,000 people attended the tour.[23]

Amaia announced a four-concert tour with The Free Fall Band through 2018. The tour visited Barcelona (as part of the Primavera Sound music festival), Madrid (as part of the Universal Music Festival), Sitges and Pamplona. The tour's setlist included traditional Spanish pop songs as well as other songs in indie pop genre.[24] In September 2018, Amaia sang Ivor Cutler's "Women of the World" alongside Irish band U2 at their concert in Madrid.[25] Also that year she began working on her debut studio album as she moved to the Eixample district in Barcelona in September. The album was recorded in professional studios in New York City, Barcelona and Buenos Aires.[26] On December 18, 2018, Romero released a minute-and-a-half promotional single titled "Un Nuevo Lugar", which was produced by Spanish producer and guitarist Raül Refree.[27] The song peaked at 37 on the PROMUSICAE sales chart.[28] A month before the promotional single's release, on November 23, Spanish indie pop band Carolina Durante released a collaboration with Amaia titled "Perdona (Ahora Sí Que Sí)".

In January 2019, Amaia announced that she would go on a small festival tour in the summer.[29] The tour began at the Warm Up! Estrella de Levante music festival in Murcia on May 3, 2019 and ended on August 17 in Peñíscola where she performed as part of the Peñíscola From Stage concert festival.[30] The singer visited other important Spanish festivals such as Porta Ferrada or Festival de les Arts.[31] Romero confirmed in February 2019 that her highly anticipated debut album would be released in September.[32] When Universal Music president Narcís Rebollo was asked about Romero's debut studio album he stated that: "she wants to work in the whole part of composition, production, there are profiles of artists who have the ability or ease of making an album in six months and Amaia requires more time".[33] This statement proved that Amaia was the executive producer and principal songwriter of her debut musical project.

After working with Argentine singer and producer Santiago Motorizado throughout 2019, Romero finished recording the album. On May 3, 2019 the lead singer "El Relámpago" was released in digital platforms.[34] The single peaked at number 24 on the PROMUSICAE chart and stayed on the list for over three weeks. A limited hard copy version was made available on June 21 after the singer released its B-side and first promotional single "Nadie Podría Hacerlo".[35] The album spawned other two singles "Quedará en Nuestra Mente" and "Quiero Que Vengas", released in August and September 2019 respectively before the debut album "Pero No Pasa Nada" was released on September 20, 2019.[36] "Pero No Pasa Nada" topped the Spanish albums chart in its debut week.[37] Romero's first solo concert tour, the Pero No Pasa Nada Tour, began on October 5, 2019 in Pamplona and is set to conclude on October 17, 2020 at the Teatro Auditorio in Roquetas de Mar after sixteen shows.[38][39] In that period of time, in June, Amaia also participated in the third season of the Spanish Netflix television series Paquita Salas covering "Tan Pequeñica Y Sincera" by Marisol, which premiered on Spotify on September 19, 2019, a day prior to the album's release.[40] In January 2020, Amaia took part of a Marisol tribute performance at the 34th Goya Awards, where she sang "Canción de Marisol".[41] A month before she had taken part of another audiovisual piece as she sang the main song for the 2019 Spanish film Legado en los Huesos titled "Luz Y Sombra".[42] She'd later participate on the soundtrack of the television series Veneno, where she covered Joaquín Sabina's "Pongamos Que Hablo de Madrid" as well as "The House of the Rising Sun".[43][44] In August 2020, two self-written songs "Cosas Interesantes Para Decir" and "La Victoria" were released online as promotional singles recorded in a lo-fi studio in Barcelona to, somehow, close this musical era.[45]

On May 1, 2020 Prime Video premiered Una Vuelta Al Sol, a documentary film that shows the making of the album as well as a brief look into the tour.[46] The documentary was nominated for "Best Long Form Music Video" at the 2020 Latin Grammy Awards.