Quick Facts
Biography
Oscar Zia (born 10 October 1996 in Svedala, Sweden) is a Swedish singer and songwriter, who has participated in several television competition shows.
Career
X Factor (2012)
Zia first appeared in the 2012 Swedish X Factor in the show's inaugural Swedish season auditioning with "Without You" by David Guetta. He ended in the Final 12 in the "Boys under 25" category coached by the judge assigned for the category Ison Glasgow. He finished 8th overall between 12 final contestants. His performances included:
- Week 1 (5 October 2012) - "Boyfriend" from Justin Bieber - Result: safe
- Week 2 (12 October 2012) - "DJ Got Us Fallin' in Love from Usher - Result: safe
- Week 3 (19 October 2012) - "Danza Kuduro" from Don Omar featuring Lucenzo - Result:safe
- Week 4 (26 October 2012) - "When You Say Nothing at All" from Ronan Keating - Result: safe
- Week 5 (2 November 2012) - "Moves Like Jagger" from Maroon 5 - Result: Bottom 2
- Bottom 2 duel (3 November 2012) - "It Will Rain" from Bruno Mars - Result - Deadlock by judges (2 of 4 votes) / Elimination by public vote / 8th overall
Melodifestivalen 2013
In 2013, Zia was in the backing vocals alongside Loulou Lamotte in the Behrang Miri song "Jalla Dansa Sawa" performed at the Melodifestivalen 2013 in the Swedish selection process for Eurovision Song Contest 2013. Although the song failed to make it to the finals after a duel elimination round won by Anton Ewald and his song "Begging", the song gained great popularity with the Swedish public and the single was released immediately after the competition reaching number 4 on Sverigetopplistan, the official Swedish Singles Chart.
Let's Dance 2013
Oscar Zia was one of the contestants in Let's Dance 2013, the eighth season of the Swedish version of Dancing with the Stars, broadcast on the Swedish television channel TV4. He finished as the runner-up behind the winner Markoolio.
Melodifestivalen 2014
In 2014, he took part in Melodifestivalen 2014 this time as a solo singer "Yes We Can" reaching the Final 10 held on 8 March 2014 in a bid to represent Sweden in the Eurovision Song Contest 2014. He finished 8th overall in the Final 10. He was chosen as a member of the Swedish jury to the contest. After this, he released his debut studio album I Don't Know How to Dance on the 26 March on the Warner Music Group label. The album peaked at number 3 on the Swedish album charts, Sverigetopplistan.
Melodifestivalen 2016
In 2016, Zia again participated in Melodifestivalen 2016 with the song "Human", which was co-written with Victor Thell and Maria Smith. He took part in the third semi-final on 20 February 2016, and again progressed to the final theld on 12 March 2016 in a bid to represent Sweden in the Eurovision Song Contest 2016. In the final, he won the jury vote, placed third with the Swedish public, and was the overall runner-up.
Personal life
In February 2016, Zia came out as gay. Zia is of Italian descent.
Discography
Studio albums
| Title | Details | Peak chart positions |
|---|---|---|
| SWE | ||
| I Don't Know How to Dance |
| 3 |
Singles
As lead artist
| Title | Year | Peak chart positions | Certifications | Album | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| SWE | |||||||||
| "#FAIL" | 2013 | — | I Don't Know How to Dance | ||||||
| "Yes We Can" | 2014 | 19 |
| ||||||
| "Ballare Con Me" | — | ||||||||
| "Human" | 2016 | 7 |
| TBA | |||||
| "I Want You" | — | ||||||||
| "—" denotes a single that did not chart or was not released in that territory. | |||||||||
As featured artist
| Title | Year | Peak chart positions | Certifications | Album |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| SWE | ||||
| "Jalla Dansa Sawa" (Behrang Miri featuring Oscar Zia and Loulou Lamotte) | 2013 | 4 |
| Non-album single |