How Saara Aalto overcame fix rumours – and Sharon Osbourne forgetting her name – to become X Factor runner-up
Saara’s journey to The X Factor final has been eventful…
X Factor runner up Saara Aalto didn’t have the easiest path to The X Factor final with her "journey" overshadowed by 'fix' claims from the get go.
The Finnish singer got her dream when she came second in the show after being beaten by Matt Terry.
But it's not been easy, with Saara having to fight to win over the British public and overcome allegations the show was fixed to help her reach the top.
Before she joined The X Factor, Saara came second on Finland’s Got Talent – which some fans claimed was an unfair advantage.
Saara was also a runner up on The Voice of Finland in 2012 when she was mentored by Finnish rock star Michael Monroe.
Alongside this, Saara’s competed twice in the Eurovision song contest – first in 2011 with Blessed With Love and earlier this year with No Fear.
The fact she had already released three albums also didn’t stand her in good stead with the public who had no idea she had enjoyed professional success when she first performed to the judging panel.
X Factor bosses were quick to defend the star and revealed Saara was on the same footing as the other contestants.
They said: “Anyone can apply for The X Factor whether they are professional or amateur, irrespective of their past experience and all contestants are auditioned on merit.
“Saara mentioned during her audition that she had been singing for a while but hadn't yet had the break she had been looking for.”
The claims appeared to affect the way the public voted and at the start of the competition, Saara found herself in the bottom two for a fortnight - and was languishing down there for three times in all.
Speaking about how the determined Scandinavian worked to win them over, her mentor Sharon Osbourne said: “I think at first she came across a bit frosty.
“She has warmed up and the public has warmed up to her. She is multi-talented. She is not one dimensional.”
The 64-year-old was also forced to defend Saara after some fans moaned about her winning the show because of her nationality and having TWO lots of fans backing her.
She told The Mirror: “It’s not as if she is from Afghanistan with a machine gun on her back...she’s from Finland!”
“How can you put someone down when they have ambition? She wanted to sing in English.
“In Finland they want you to sing in Finnish and she wanted to sing in English. Finland is an amazing country but there are only five million people there.
"If you have ambition you can’t stay in Finland.”
Sharon - who seemed to forget Saara's name and nationality with awkward regularity at the star of the series - made the claims shortly after The Sun revealed that fans in Finland had worked out to vote for the singer on the X Factor app, 'hacking' the system.
Although the app was only supposed to work if you were in the UK, Finnish fans boasted online how they were able to vote for the star.
Saara kept a dignified silence throughout and continued to work hard on her performances each week.
She previously opened up about the criticism and said: “I hoped people would forget where I’m from. The competition is about singing and good performers.
“I hoped people would take me as I am. It doesn’t matter where I come from.”
Saara also faced scrutiny after fans claimed producers hid her lesbian fiancée Meri Sopanen.
After she came second in the final, Saara thanked her fans for voting for her.
She said: “This time last year I was going to give up because no one understood me, but now I finally feel accepted.
“I feel loved, you make me feel so loved.”
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