Amaia Romero Arbizu, known as Amaia, is a Spanish singer-songwriter, pianist and actress. Daughter to Ángel Romero and Javiera Arbizu, Amaia belongs to a family of musicians. Her uncle, Joaquín Romero, was the manager of the Orfeón Pamplonés concert choir from 2008 until 2016, as well as the Pablo Sarasate Orchestra for two years. It was her uncle who discovered that, even as a child, Amaia had absolute pitch. 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. Romero participated in the televised talent show Cántame Una Canción on Telecinco, where she sang alongside David Civera and Sergio Rivero a year later. In 2011, she was the winner of a scholarship to Rock Camp 2011, and participated in the camp in 2011 and 2012.
In July 2017, Amaia auditioned in Bilbao for the revival series of the reality television music competition Operación Triunfo. On 23 October 2017, she was selected to enter the show’s “academy” on the season premiere. After performing David Bowie’s “Starman”, Amaia was not selected by the show’s jury, but was saved by the academy’s staff of teachers instead. 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–. Distinguished for her naivety, diverse musical taste and humour, she was proclaimed the winner of the series with 46% of the final votes from the public. 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. Her song “Tu canción”, composed by Raul Gómez and Sylvia Santoro, which she sang as a duet with her then boyfriend Alfred García. The latter was selected with 43% of the public vote, representing the country in the 2018 contest, held in Lisbon, Portugal. They placed twenty-third out of the 26 participating countries with 61 points: 43 from the professional juries and 18 from the televote.
In January 2019, Amaia announced that she would go on a promotional festival tour in the summertime. The tour began in Murcia in May and concluded in August in Peñíscola. After working with Argentine singer-songwriter Santiago Motorizado throughout 2019, Romero finished recording her debut album Pero No Pasa Nada. Its lead single “El Relámpago” was released on digital platforms in May 2019, peaking at number 24 on the PROMUSICAE chart and staying on the list for over three weeks. A limited hard CD and LP version was released alongside the promotional single “Nadie Podría Hacerlo” for Record Store Day. The album spawned other three singles: “Quedará en Nuestra Mente”, “Quiero Que Vengas” and “Nuevo Verano”. Pero No Pasa Nada saw light on 20 September 2019, topping the Spanish albums chart in its debut week despite receiving mixed reviews. Romero’s first solo concert tour, the Pero No Pasa Nada Tour, began in October and concluded in September 2021 after being partially cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The singer also participated in the third season of Spanish Netflix series Paquita Salas covering the jota “Tan Pequeñica Y Sincera” by Marisol, which premiered on Spotify on 19 September. She also sang the closure song for the thriller film Legado en los huesos, “Luz y Sombra”. In January 2020, Amaia took part in a tribute to Marisol at the 34th Goya Awards, performing “Canción de Marisol” to critical acclaim. She later took part on the soundtrack of the television series Veneno, where she covered “Pongamos Que Hablo de Madrid” as well as “The House of the Rising Sun”. 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 close this musical era.
In October 2020, Amaia collaborated with Alizzz on his song “El Encuentro”, which met great commercial success and won the Premio MIN for Best Urban Recording. Alizzz would serve as the key producer for the singer’s upcoming studio album Cuando No Sé Quién Soy, whose lead single “Yo Invito” was released a year later to critical and popular acclaim. Amaia was later featured on the respective projects of Los Hermanos Hubero and Mikel Erentxun. In November 2021, “Quiero Pero No” featuring vocals by Spanish singer Rojuu, was released as the album’s second single. “Yamaguchi”, a folk song about childhood and growing up that references the Pamplona park and the Japanese city of the same name, was released in January 2022 as its third single. The singer released “Bienvenidos al Show” two months later to general acclaim. “La Canción Que No Quiero Cantarte”, featuring longtime friend and singer Aitana, was released on 10 May. The singer’s second studio album was released on 13 May and debuted at number two on the Spanish Albums Chart. On 3 January 2022 Amaia released the single “Yamaguchi”. She chose her birthday to pay tribute to her favourite place, Yamaguchi Park, in her hometown of Pamplona, in the form of a modern jota mixing melodic pop.
