Ex-BATTLE BEAST Frontwoman NOORA LOUHIMO Crowned Winner Of Finnish Singing Competition 'Tähdet, Tähdet' After Performing 'My Heart Will Go On'

Former BATTLE BEAST frontwoman Noora Louhimo has been crowned the winner of the 2026 edition of the Finnish singing competition "Tähdet, Tähdet" ("Stars, Stars"). In the program, nine popular Finnish recording artists compete for the title of "Tähtien Tähti", the Star Among Stars. Each week the show covers a different genre of music which forces the artists to adopt to varied musical and lyrical styles in order to perform a cover version of an iconic song of said genre (either Finnish or internationally known),often having to go beyond the artist's comfort zone.

In the final episode of "Tähdet, Tähdet", where Noora faced off against Venla Edelmann, Jukka Poika, Aarne Pelkonen, Louhimo sang a rendition of "My Heart Will Go On", a song originally recorded by the Canadian singer Céline Dion as the theme for the 1997 film "Titanic". Earlier in the season, Noora sang a cover of the AC/DC classic "You Shook Me All Night Long" as part of the show's eighth episode, with "Rock Classics" as the theme, as well as a version of Lady Gaga's "Bad Romance".

When Louhimo's participation in "Tähdet, Tähdet" was first announced in January, she wrote in a social media post: "The show is about finding the greatest entertainer of Finland by performing 8 different music genres. There are 9 artists competing of the title of The Greatest Entertainer TÄHTIEN TÄHTI. So great to get to show what I can do as an artist and see what others can do. Very inspiring and nerve breaking!!! I am so happy and excited I've met such big hearted and talented people, amazing production team and exceptionally good atmosphere behind the scenes and on stage."

Last December, Noora opened up about her decision to leave BATTLE BEAST after 13 years. Asked by Finland's Chaoszine how long she had been contemplating her departure from BATTLE BEAST, Noora said: "Well, for me it has been kind of a long process. Nothing happens in an instant or anything like that. But in my life so many [things] happened, these kind of situations, like health wise — people have heard about my health issues with the artery [ruptured], and a year before that I was in a car accident — and things like this that really make me prioritize what I want in my life. And maybe because of these events also I started to think about what things I wanna do in life and what I want to achieve. And because in BATTLE BEAST, it is very demanding schedules, and it's always, like, either you are making an album with them or you are preparing an album or you are touring. There is no time for a solo career or whatever you want to do, like extra. And that was something that became too big of an issue for me because I'm an artist and I need to do different things to express myself to feel fulfilled."

Noora, who in 2021 released her debut solo album, "Eternal Wheel Of Time And Space", under the NOORA LOUHIMO EXPERIENCE banner, continued: "When I [released my solo LP], it was like I had already thought about a solo album for a decade. And when the pandemic came, I was, like, 'Okay, now I can do it.' But after that, I haven't been able to do anything, almost, in my solo career for five years, and it's been really kind of… I need that. It's, like, when people have been asking, like, 'Why are you doing so many things and not just focusing on BATTLE BEAST?' or something that, and all I can say is that it's my nature to do many different things to express myself, and that keeps me going and that keeps me happy."

Louhimo went on to say that she wanted to present the news of her exit from BATTLE BEAST in a way that was respectful to everybody, including her now-former bandmates.

"When we informed [the fans] about this, everything that we said on the video [announcing my exit] was honest and true," she explained. "13 years I was building the band with the guys, and I have a huge respect towards them as well and also towards our fans. And what I feared the most breaking the news was losing the fans, because I love all of [them]. And it is like when you say out loud that actually I need to do this to be happy and maybe disappoint some people, it was the scariest thing I have ever done, because being rejected is maybe the worst nightmare for me. Just to put myself out there honestly, what I want to be happy, has been maybe the hardest thing I have ever done."

Asked if it was surprising to her how hectic it actually is to be in an internationally touring metal band like BATTLE BEAST, Noora said: "No. No, no. And in a certain point, I really loved it. But like I said, it's just not enough for me to be in one band. And also I have so many ideas and visions that I want to achieve in my lifetime. And as I said, I've realized so many times how fragile our lives can be, as also we could realize it's very much on our tour as well, because we had this man having a heart attack at our [December 1] show [in Bratislava, Slovakia]. But it was underlining this. I was just thinking with myself also, when that happened and when these other things happened in my life, that I don't want to regret anything in my life. I want to do things that make me happy. And when I'm doing those things, I can make other people around me happy. But if I always try to just make other people happy and then get depressed myself, it's not cool. And I want to encourage people to do this. Like I said in the news as well, that I wouldn't be Noora Louhimo or Mother Beast [Editor's note: a reference to Noora's stage person] if I didn't walk the talk, that I have been encouraging people to go to their dreams and stand behind themselves a hundred percent. And now I'm doing that and showing maybe some example to others."

Asked when she announced to the other members of BATTLE BEAST that she was planning to leave the band, Noora said: "I did announce this after the summer [of 2025], after the summer shows had been done. Because I wanted to have enough time with the guys to think through, what are we gonna do? And also with our record label and our agents and stuff like that. So this has been a long process, but I also definitely didn't want to say that, 'Okay, I'm leaving now,' and then new album was coming out and things like that. But I knew also that there is no right time for this kind of [announcement]."

Regarding her plans for the coming months, Noora said: "[I am] definitely now a hundred percent [focused on my] solo career. And I'm really excited about the future and, and things that will happen in the future. And I've got already so much music in my mind and in the works that will be released in the near future. And, yeah, a lot of different projects that I really want to get into."

As for a possible release date for her new solo music, Noora said: "When this year is done, then I will concentrate, focus totally on the songwriting process. But I definitely want to give people something before the whole album is released. So definitely [there will be] singles coming out."

On the topic of the musical direction of her new solo material, Noora said: "I really like to play around with different genres, as I have always done that. So I don't really want to label myself into anything specific, but I will definitely do something different as well. I will definitely do heavy metal in the future as well. I would really be interested in doing some like guest vocal stuff as a guest in some other projects and not necessarily put myself into, 'Now I'm in this band.' But now I just wanna fly free and try different things and experience different things. And in the future, because I want to be an artist that can do anything she wants, including heavy metal music, it's never out of question, so I will definitely do also heavy metal music. And just wait for it."

Noora has since been replaced in BATTLE BEAST by Marina La Torraca, a Brazilian vocalist from São Paulo, best known as the powerhouse frontwoman of modern metal band PHANTOM ELITE and as a member of the symphonic metal project EXIT EDEN.

BATTLE BEAST's first shows with Marina took place in March 2026 when the band hit Japan and Australia.

Louhimo joined BATTLE BEAST in 2012 with no previous experience as a metal vocalist but quickly acclimated herself as the replacement for Nitte Valo (a.k.a. Nitte Vänskä).

Nearly four years ago, Noora admitted publicly that she had been struggling with eating disorders and her weight since she was "a little child" and said that she was "still trying to find a balance." She added that she had "been depressed and anxious sometimes 'without a reason'."

Louhimo revealed in November 2023 that she had been diagnosed with a ruptured left carotid artery, causing the postponement BATTLE BEAST's tour.

BATTLE BEAST's seventh studio album, "Steelbound", came out in October 2025 via Nuclear Blast.

Photo credit: Marek Sabogal (courtesy of Nuclear Blast)