STL a.k.a. Stella Mwangi garnered 280,217 votes with her Kiswahili single, ‘Haba Haba’ to win the right to represent Norway in the Eurovision Song Contest .  Incidentally, ‘Haba Haba’ went on to knock Lady Gaga’s song ‘Born This Way’, off the top of the Norwegian iTunes charts a day after the single took the Melodi Grand Prix (Norway’s version of the Eurovision Song Contest) victory. Mwangi moved to Norway when she was 4 years old and and grew up in Eidsvoll and Kløfta, northeast of Oslo.

Stella Mwangi a.ka. STL

Her song represents what her grandmothers told her as a young girl, that she could be whatever she wants to be. The energy, African rhythm and syncopated enthusiasm were part of what got her into the finals. The song resonated with the Norway viewers who voted overwhelmingly for her. She beat the Black Sheeps who got 155,059 votes.

“I bet that will characterize this year’s Eurovision final, too, so Norway has chosen well,” wrote Robert Hoftun Gjestad in Aftenposten. He compared Mwangi’s song Haba haba to the monster hit Waka waka that sprang to international popularity during the World Cup in South Africa last summer. “I am so grateful for all the votes, I’m so glad I get to represent Norway with what I burn for,” she told reporters after her win. ‘Haba Haba’ is the first Swahili song that has been performed on the Eurovision stage.

She has a great following in Kenya already and has had some of her songs play on shows including ‘American Pie’, ‘Save the Last Dance’, and ‘CSI: New York’.