A former X Factor star is set to feature in an upcoming Hollywood movie (Picture: Mikko Stig/ Rex/ Shutterstock)
A former X Factor star has revealed the role she is playing in the upcoming Wicked movie.
In 2012 Finnish singer Saara Aalto came second in the first season of The Voice of Finland.
Four years later she signed up to The X Factor UK, finishing as runner-up and gaining international recognition.
In the years since she has represented Finland in the Eurovision Song Contest, judged X Factor Suomi and participated on Dancing on Ice, where she finished in third place in 2019.
Now the 37-year-old has revealed she’s playing a part in the upcoming big screen adaptation of the beloved musical Wicked.
Sharing a trailer of the movie, Saara shared the exciting news.
Saara Aalto will be dubbing Ariana Grande’s role in the Finnish version of Wicked (Picture: Markku Ulander/ Rex/ Shutterstock)
The movie is set to be released next month (Picture: Universal Pictures via AP)
‘Finally, it’s out: I gave my voice to Glinda in the Finnish version of Wicked. My favorite musical. And here’s the Finnish trailer!’ she posted on Instagram.
‘There are no words to describe how much this musical means to me. How it totally changed my life when I first saw it in New York in 2009.
‘Since then, I have seen it in many countries in many different languages…I was in it in Finland in 2010… and the composer himself (my biggest idol Stephen Schwartz) came to Finland to work with us. I also skated to the music of Wicked on the semifinals of Dancing on Ice UK… and it was my best skate.’
She also competed in Eurovision in 2018 (Picture: Keuenhof Rainer/ Action Press /Rex/ Shutterstock)
Saara went on to share that Wicked had ‘been in my heart for all these years’ and she was still shocked to appear in the movie.
She continued: ‘You know I’m an Elphaba girl singing Defying Gravity everywhere I go.
‘But in this movie, I’m not Elphaba… surprise!! (Elphaba is the amazing @lauravoutilainen!).
‘I was cast as Glinda. WOW! What an incredible honour and opportunity to dub Ariana Grande.’
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Saara said this project was ‘definitely the most touching thing I’ve ever dubbed’.
‘I wanted to cry so much when I saw the beautiful scenes and heard the music in the studio,’ she wrote.
‘This was also the hardest thing I’ve ever dubbed. Dubbing a live movie is a challenge AND Glinda is an amazing character…she sings opera, she sings pop, she sings musical theatre, she is a comedienne! And Ariana Grande brought her own amazing singing riffs to the songs that I had to be able to do. But my voice test was sent to America and Ariana Grande approved my voice test herself, so YES, we are ready to go.’
The movie also stars Cynthia Erivo as Elphaba (Picture: Universal)
The singer has previously done dubbing work on films including Alice in Wonderland, Frozen and Frozen 2.
Wicked: Part One stars Ariana as Glinda the Good, West End icon Cynthia as Elphaba, Bridgerton’s Jonathan Bailey as Fiyero, Oscar winner Michelle Yeoh as Madame Morrible and Hollywood star Jeff Goldblum as the mythic wizard of Oz himself.
The Wizard of Oz origin story traces the unconventional friendship between Elphaba, a witch outcast due to her green-coloured skin, and the most popular witch at Shiz University, Glinda.
The classic Broadway production is littered with memorable musical theatre songs such as Defying Gravity, For Good and The Wizard and I.
Wicked is released in cinemas on November 22.
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