Vanilla Ninja
Encyclopedia
Vanilla Ninja is a three-piece Estonia
n girl band which has enjoyed chart success in a number of countries across Europe, especially in Estonia
, Germany
and Austria
.
The group was formed in 2002 and released their self-titled debut album Vanilla Ninja
, containing songs in both English
and Estonian
, the following year. Since their debut single "Club Kung Fu" was released in 2003, the girls have had many hits in Central Europe
, including "Tough Enough", "When the Indians Cry", "Blue Tattoo" and "I Know". They have also entered Estonian national selections for the Eurovision Song Contest
in 2003 and 2007, failing both times, but proving successful in 2005, when they represented Switzerland
with the song "Cool Vibes
". The group finished 8th in the Eurovision Song Contest
final, despite topping the leader board at the half-way stage. Vanilla Ninja are very popular in their native Estonia and have had a brand of both ice cream
and kohuke named after them, marketed exclusively in their homeland due to their celebrity status in Estonia.
The group have so far released four albums in various countries across Europe — Vanilla Ninja
was released in 2003, Traces of Sadness
in 2004, and Blue Tattoo
and Best Of
(though not by themselves) in 2005. The group's fourth album, Love is War
, was released in May 2006.
The band was originally a four-piece group consisting of Maarja Kivi, Lenna Kuurmaa
, Katrin Siska
and Piret Järvis
. Maarja Kivi left the group in 2004 and was replaced by Triinu Kivilaan
. In December 2005 she also left the group to start a solo career and finish school, and the band have decided to continue as a three-piece act.
(vocals/guitar), Katrin Siska
(vocals/keyboard) and Piret Järvis
(vocals/guitar). Although all of the members were effectively vocalists, the main vocalist would often change between Kivi and Kuurmaa. At the time of formation the group's producer
was Sven Lõhmus
.
Early in 2002 Kivi had participated in Eurolaul
, Estonia
's Eurovision
pre-selection contest, but had finished 7th. Due to her participation in Eurolaul she was chosen to front the band, which subsequently gained some exposure early on in their existence, despite none of the other members having had any previous national success in their career. Kivi had been friends with Kuurmaa for some time before the formation of the group, whilst Järvis and Siska had performed together in the past. Despite this, the group is occasionally labelled as a "manufactured band" by the media.
In 2003 the group participated in Estonian ESC preselection Eurolaul 2003. Performing the song "Club Kung Fu" the group proved to be by far the most popular in the phone polls, but unlike other countries, Estonia used a jury to decide the song for Eurovision instead of the televote. The jury, which included figures such as Michael Ball
, proved to not share the opinion expressed by the televoters and placed the girls joint bottom of the ten entrants.
The participation and popularity of the song, however, helped the group and created exposure for the release of their debut album, Vanilla Ninja
, released in May 2003. Containing the original version of the song "Club Kung Fu", along with a drum and bass
remix and thirteen new pop-rock tracks in English
and Estonian, the album proved to be a success in Estonia and launched the girls in to the national mainstream, pushing the group to seek international success in Germany, Switzerland and Austria
.
speaking countries of Europe – Germany, Austria and Switzerland. The girls did not release their debut album or "Club Kung Fu" in these countries, instead opting for a new track called "Tough Enough". Proving to again be a pop-rock track, although with less of a 'novelty' style to it, the song was released in Germany on December 8, 2003, and then later in Austria and Switzerland on January 4 and February 8, 2004 respectively. It proved to be a success, gaining large amounts of airplay
on the popular VIVA music video
channel
, and making the top twenty in both Germany and Austria. The single also featured in the dance mat games "Dance Dance Revolution ULTRAMIX 2
" and "In The Groove
".
Following the success of their debut single the girls released "Club Kung Fu" in Germany, and then a third single, "Don't Go Too Fast", in both Germany and Austria on April 4 and April 5 (and in Switzerland during March, although it missed the top 100). The latter just missed the top twenty in both countries, and was followed up by their second album Traces of Sadness
in June 2004. The album included "Tough Enough" and "Don't Go Too Fast", as well as numerous other tracks, such as "When The Indians Cry" and "Liar". It's along with the album track "Metal Queen" have also both featured in the "DrumMania
" series of drumming
games.
. The Swiss selectors had suffered several years of poor results in the Eurovision, culminating in 'null points' for Piero and the Musicstars in the 2004 semi-final, and so looked to the group due to their popularity in both Switzerland and various other European countries. The announcement angered some people, especially Estonians, who felt that the group should represent their home country and not a country that they have minor connections to. In Switzerland some also opposed the selection, again on the basis that none of the group were Swiss. The selectors responded by stating that the song would still have a Swiss component due to it being mostly written by David Brandes
. Ironically, although Brandes was born in Switzerland and went to school there, he is essentially German.
Their selection and participation in the contest was put into jeopardy soon after the announcement, though, after Maarja Kivi left the group due to becoming pregnant with her first child. Her replacement was Triinu Kivilaan
, who at the time was only 15 years old. Their participation was put into doubt due to regulations stating that competitors must be at least 16 years old, a rule introduced to eliminate participants such as the 13-year-old 1986 Eurovision
winner Sandra Kim
. Kivilaan had in fact initially claimed to be 17 years old, but the Swiss selectors doubted this and eventually found out her true birth date was January 13, 1989.
It began to look as if Vanilla Ninja would not represent Switzerland in 2005, but the Swiss selectors decided not to reverse the selection, on the basis that Kivilaan would turn 16 before the contest. There was no danger of the EBU
blocking their participation, because their own age rule specified a cut-off date of the contest itself, whereas national selectors could tweak their age regulations to their own liking. This annoyed some, who felt that the selectors had acted in a heavy-handed manner by selecting Vanilla Ninja.
Following the Eurovision selection the group went on to continue their success in Europe, releasing the single "Liar". The single scraped into the top twenty in Germany and Austria, but performed disappointingly in Switzerland (reaching only #43 despite the announcement regarding Eurovision 2005). The following single, however, would prove to be their biggest hit to date and would launch them into the German top ten for the first time.
"When The Indians Cry", their fifth Central Europe
an single, would be the groups first slow, soft, ballad
-like song. The music video would also be the first to feature Triinu Kivilaan, with previous videos featuring Maarja Kivi. Kivilaan proved to fit into the group well, looking older than her age of 15 and silencing critics who believed she would be out of place in a band with girls all three or more years older than her. Incidentally, one of the reasons that Kivilaan was chosen to replace Kivi was due to their similar appearance, making it easy to mix the two up. The song would be Vanilla Ninja's first ballad, featuring a slow tempo, unlike most previous songs which had been fairly upbeat. It proved to be a hit, reaching #8 in the German charts in September 2004, #7 in the Austrian charts and #27 in the Swiss charts (which had not reacted as expected to their selection for Eurovision).
With the song putting them into the German chart mainstream, and gaining huge airplay on the music video channel VIVA, Vanilla Ninja would begin to become one of the biggest acts in Germany. The follow-up to "When The Indians Cry", a new track called "Blue Tattoo" and in a similar style to their previous release, would also reach the German top ten whilst making the Austrian top twenty and Swiss top thirty.
Following the success of the "Blue Tattoo" single in November and December 2004, the group would take a three month break from releasing material in order to tour Asia. In 2004 the group had reportedly set an ambitious target of "conquering the world", and the tour proved to be successful in helping them to begin to do that, winning new fans in countries such as Japan
, China
, Malaysia and Thailand
. The group also played a key role in VIVA's 2004 "Your Stars For Christmas" show, singing a re-worded version of "When The Indians Cry" called "Light Of Hope".
In May 2005 the group returned to the charts, releasing a new song called "I Know", which featured a mildly controversial video based around domestic abuse. The song was again successful, peaking at #13 in Germany and #17 in Austria. Two weeks after its release their third album, Blue Tattoo
, was released in various European countries and proved to be as successful as the previous album, charting at #4 in Germany and, unsurprisingly (as it included the Eurovision song "Cool Vibes"), Switzerland.
During their hiatus in order to tour Asia the Swiss Eurovision song had been completed and had been announced as being called "Cool Vibes". A short song, in order to comply with Eurovision regulations, the track received mixed response. Many saw it to be a good pop-rock song, but many believed it was not the girls' best, and that it was not the type of song suitable for Eurovision.
The song failed to get off to a good start, though, as the song was banned from the German charts after writer and producer David Brandes was accused of manipulating the charts by buying thousands of copies of his artist's singles. Among the songs he had allegedly bought many copies of were the groups "When The Indians Cry" single, and the German Eurovision entry "Run and Hide" by Gracia. Soon after Gracia was fired by her record company, and the two artists (along with "Virus Incorporation") were banned from the charts for initially three weeks. The girls came out unaffected, although it would be a blow for the songwriter and may have meant the high position of "When The Indians Cry" was helped by the mass-buying of singles by Brandes.
Due to Switzerland's last place in the semi-final of the 2004 contest
, Vanilla Ninja had to compete in the Eurovision semi-final on May 19, 2005. Against artists such as Wig Wam
, Luminita Anghel
and Zdob şi Zdub
the competition was difficult, but the group progressed to the final and were given good odds of 10/1 for winning the contest. The group's performance in the final on May 21 was, according to some, not as good as it could have been, although those criticising the performance also criticised the song (believing a song similar to "When The Indians Cry" or even "Club Kung Fu" would have been better).
In the voting, however, the group did well in the early stages. Despite not representing their native Estonia, their home country responded well and gave the group the full 12 points (Estonia's entry, Suntribe
's "Let's Get Loud", had been eliminated in the semi-final). Latvia
also gave the group 12 points, whilst Germany rather surprisingly only gave them four. Austrian voters were even less impressed by the performance, not giving any points to the group at all.
Despite leading at the one-third stage, Vanilla Ninja eventually slipped down the leader board and finished 8th. The result allowed Switzerland to achieve their best result for years and automatic qualification for next year's final, but for the group it was a disappointment considering their popularity and good odds for winning the contest.
In a May 2005 interview with the The Baltic Times
, the group attempted to distance themselves from the pop music
genre. Piret Järvis told the newspaper that the group "started out with a pop-rock style of music". The band also claimed that their music is gradually become heavier and more typical of the rock
genre.
Following the arguably disappointing performance of the "Cool Vibes" single, the group stopped releasing singles from their Blue Tattoo album, instead concentrating on touring commitments. By the second half of 2005 it would become clear that the group was starting to have problems with their record label, Bros Music, and their manager David Brandes. Since moving from the TOP TEN
label the group had suffered from problems such as the scandal of Brandes buying their singles in bulk to boost chart positions, with the label also suffering problems (such as being 'booted out' of the Sony BMG Music Entertainment
group). The problems escalated toward the end of 2005 when the girls parted company with Bros Music and Brandes, moving to the EMI
-owned Capitol Music
label. According to press releases from the group's new management, their relationship with Bros Music and Brandes is now "hostile", and any future affiliation with their former manager is therefore unlikely. Brandes himself has claimed that their career "is over", and that their new management company are "amateurs".
After leaving Bros Music, the group began work on what was intended to be their fourth album. Bros Music, however, released a ninth single, "Megamix", in December 2005, along with a "greatest hits" album Best Of
. According to the girls, they were not consulted about the release of the single or the album, with Järvis asking fans to not buy either release. This, along with the lack of promotion on Bros part, made both the single and album a flop (the single only made the lower reaches of the Swiss and German charts, failing to make the Austrian Top 100 at all, with the album making #70 in Switzerland and failing to chart elsewhere). The band's not knowing about the releases was further backed up by 2004 promotional photos being used for the CD covers, with Maarja Kivi appearing, despite leaving the group over a year beforehand. Kivi's appearance has also been claimed by some to be clever promotion on the part of Brandes, as Kivi is now signed to Bros as a solo artist.
Shortly after the failure of their uncommissioned single and album releases, the group announced that Triinu Kivilaan was leaving the group, with Kuurmaa, Siska and Järvis continuing as a trio. According to the remaining members of Vanilla Ninja, Kivilaan left because of the stress of being in the group, and to concentrate on her studies. Some have still, however, suggested that her leaving may have simply been down to a lack of vocal talent, or due to a rift with the other members. Despite rumours suggesting Kivi might be rejoining the group, it seems that the group will not be adding a fourth member again.
The group released their first original single for almost a year in April 2006, with "Dangerzone" seeing the girls retain their pop-rock sound from previous albums. The single charted on May 7, 2006 in Switzerland, peaking at #18, with the release in Germany placing one position higher. The Austrian release would also make #23, suggesting that the group is likely to continue the success that Traces of Sadness and Blue Tattoo had in Central Europe. Meanwhile, the girl's fifth album Love is War is expected to be released in the near future.
The group is extremely popular in their native Estonia, with the girls seen as a-list celebrities
in the Baltic countries
. The three members are also seen as something of sex symbol
s in their homeland, with a 2006 poll by the Estonian magazine
Kroonika
voting Piret Järvis the country's most attractive female. The top five of the poll also featured Siska (2nd) and Kuurmaa (4th). Interestingly, Kivilaan was not included, despite being a former model.
, with the song "Birds of Peace". Their song placed 4th.
This Festival is the most important of this category in Latin America
, girls participated with their power ballad "Birds of Peace", and they won the "Silver Seagull" which is the maximum trophy of the Festival and ten thousand dollars as the Best Performers / Interpreters of the festival contest.
, then there are also contemplated the following places: São Paulo, Brazil / Buenos Aires, Argentina / Santiago, Chile. The representatives of Vanilla Ninja in Latin America (Broken Records International) are working to take girls to even more places in Latin America, waiting that everyone will know them in this part of the world.
in 2002. After a legal battle that started in 2006, the trademark was recovered thanks to Andres Aavik & Aleksander Ots in January 2008, now Vanilla Ninja has the rights to use its own name.
from Roxette
with lyrics by Piret and Lenna. "Broken Records International" put the Vanilla Ninja girls in contact with Per Gessle himself, who was glad to cooperate. The song peaked at #2 in Estonian charts.
s for all of the singles they have released, although some have proved to be more popular than others. The first music video to feature Triinu Kivilaan was "When The Indians Cry", with previous videos featuring the now departed Maarja Kivi. "When The Indians Cry", along with "Tough Enough" and "Blue Tattoo" have been the most successful of Vanilla Ninja's videos, in terms of airplay
, to date. The video for "Cool Vibes" is the most recent of their videos to gain airplay, featuring regularly on Central European Video Channels throughout June and July 2005.
All of the girls' videos have been extremely popular on German video channels, gaining airplay mainly on the popular music channel VIVA. The feat of airplay on VIVA is even more impressive because, from late 2003 until late 2005, the girls were signed to Bros Records
, distributed by Sony BMG Music, when the station has been exposed as being biased for the airplay of artists signed to rival record company Universal.
Vanilla Ninja received a considerable amount of bad publicity for their "Cool Vibes" video, which seemingly stole material from Deine Lakaien
's video for their single "Mindmachine". It should be noted, however, that there is currently no proof that the band members of Vanilla Ninja knew about the alleged stolen material. That is because the video was produced in a phase of separation from David Brandes and he alone did the production for the video.
Compilations
| style="text-align:center;"|2006
| rowspan="1" style="text-align:left;"|Vanilla Ninja
| Best Baltic Act at MTV European Music Awards
|
|-
Estonia
Estonia , officially the Republic of Estonia , is a state in the Baltic region of Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland, to the west by the Baltic Sea, to the south by Latvia , and to the east by Lake Peipsi and the Russian Federation . Across the Baltic Sea lies...
n girl band which has enjoyed chart success in a number of countries across Europe, especially in Estonia
Estonia
Estonia , officially the Republic of Estonia , is a state in the Baltic region of Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland, to the west by the Baltic Sea, to the south by Latvia , and to the east by Lake Peipsi and the Russian Federation . Across the Baltic Sea lies...
, Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
and Austria
Austria
Austria , officially the Republic of Austria , is a landlocked country of roughly 8.4 million people in Central Europe. It is bordered by the Czech Republic and Germany to the north, Slovakia and Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the...
.
The group was formed in 2002 and released their self-titled debut album Vanilla Ninja
Vanilla Ninja (album)
Vanilla Ninja is the self-titled debut album by the Estonian girl band Vanilla Ninja. The album came out on May 30, 2003 and was only ever released in Estonia, despite the group's subsequent success in Germany, Austria and Switzerland...
, containing songs in both English
English language
English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
and Estonian
Estonian language
Estonian is the official language of Estonia, spoken by about 1.1 million people in Estonia and tens of thousands in various émigré communities...
, the following year. Since their debut single "Club Kung Fu" was released in 2003, the girls have had many hits in Central Europe
Central Europe
Central Europe or alternatively Middle Europe is a region of the European continent lying between the variously defined areas of Eastern and Western Europe...
, including "Tough Enough", "When the Indians Cry", "Blue Tattoo" and "I Know". They have also entered Estonian national selections for the Eurovision Song Contest
Eurovision Song Contest
The Eurovision Song Contest is an annual competition held among active member countries of the European Broadcasting Union .Each member country submits a song to be performed on live television and then casts votes for the other countries' songs to determine the most popular song in the competition...
in 2003 and 2007, failing both times, but proving successful in 2005, when they represented Switzerland
Switzerland
Switzerland name of one of the Swiss cantons. ; ; ; or ), in its full name the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in Western Europe,Or Central Europe depending on the definition....
with the song "Cool Vibes
Cool Vibes
"Cool Vibes" was the Swiss entry to the Eurovision Song Contest 2005, sung by Estonian girl band Vanilla Ninja. The song was composed by David Brandes and "Jane Tempest" , and was written by Bernd Meinunger, under the pseudonym "John O'Flynn"....
". The group finished 8th in the Eurovision Song Contest
Eurovision Song Contest 2005
The Eurovision Song Contest 2005 was the 50th Eurovision Song Contest, which was held at the Palace of Sports, Kiev, Ukraine. The winner was Greece's My Number One, written by Christos Dantis and Natalia Germanou and performed by Swedish-born Greek singer Elena Paparizou, who scored 230 points,...
final, despite topping the leader board at the half-way stage. Vanilla Ninja are very popular in their native Estonia and have had a brand of both ice cream
Ice cream
Ice cream is a frozen dessert usually made from dairy products, such as milk and cream, and often combined with fruits or other ingredients and flavours. Most varieties contain sugar, although some are made with other sweeteners...
and kohuke named after them, marketed exclusively in their homeland due to their celebrity status in Estonia.
The group have so far released four albums in various countries across Europe — Vanilla Ninja
Vanilla Ninja (album)
Vanilla Ninja is the self-titled debut album by the Estonian girl band Vanilla Ninja. The album came out on May 30, 2003 and was only ever released in Estonia, despite the group's subsequent success in Germany, Austria and Switzerland...
was released in 2003, Traces of Sadness
Traces of Sadness
Traces of Sadness is the second album by the Estonian girl band Vanilla Ninja. Released in June 2004, the album included the hit singles "Tough Enough", "Liar" and "When the Indians Cry"...
in 2004, and Blue Tattoo
Blue Tattoo (album)
Blue Tattoo is the third album by the Estonian girl band Vanilla Ninja, and the last original Vanilla Ninja album released by Bros Records. Following up the successful 2004 album Traces of Sadness, Blue Tattoo looks to be the group's most successful album yet with the singles "Blue Tattoo" , "I...
and Best Of
Best Of (Vanilla Ninja album)
Best Of is a best-of album by the Estonian girl band Vanilla Ninja. The album was released in December 2005, and consisted of thirteen songs from their Traces of Sadness and Blue Tattoo albums. The album was released in several countries in Central Europe, failing to make the Top 100 in Germany and...
(though not by themselves) in 2005. The group's fourth album, Love is War
Love is War
Love is War is Vanilla Ninja's fourth studio album, released by EMI Music Germany in May 2006. This is the first album by girls as a three-piece band. The process of recording took about 6 months. Most of the songs are co-written by the band members - Lenna and Piret, what makes this album the most...
, was released in May 2006.
The band was originally a four-piece group consisting of Maarja Kivi, Lenna Kuurmaa
Lenna Kuurmaa
-External links:...
, Katrin Siska
Katrin Siska
Katrin Siska is an Estonian musician and member of the Estonian pop-rock band Vanilla Ninja.Alongside her musical commitments, Siska has also been studying finance and accounting at a vocational school and international relations and diplomacy in Tallinn...
and Piret Järvis
Piret Järvis
Piret Järvis is an Estonian singer, guitarist and songwriter of the popular girl group Vanilla Ninja and an indiegroup Disko4000....
. Maarja Kivi left the group in 2004 and was replaced by Triinu Kivilaan
Triinu Kivilaan
Triinu Kivilaan is an Estonian vocalist and former model, best known as a former member of the popular girl group Vanilla Ninja. She had been modelling for several years when she replaced Maarja Kivi in the group in 2004, having met the other members of the group a year earlier...
. In December 2005 she also left the group to start a solo career and finish school, and the band have decided to continue as a three-piece act.
2002: Formation
Vanilla Ninja were formed in 2002 as a four-piece girl band. The original line-up consisted of Maarja Kivi (vocals/bass), Lenna KuurmaaLenna Kuurmaa
-External links:...
(vocals/guitar), Katrin Siska
Katrin Siska
Katrin Siska is an Estonian musician and member of the Estonian pop-rock band Vanilla Ninja.Alongside her musical commitments, Siska has also been studying finance and accounting at a vocational school and international relations and diplomacy in Tallinn...
(vocals/keyboard) and Piret Järvis
Piret Järvis
Piret Järvis is an Estonian singer, guitarist and songwriter of the popular girl group Vanilla Ninja and an indiegroup Disko4000....
(vocals/guitar). Although all of the members were effectively vocalists, the main vocalist would often change between Kivi and Kuurmaa. At the time of formation the group's producer
Record producer
A record producer is an individual working within the music industry, whose job is to oversee and manage the recording of an artist's music...
was Sven Lõhmus
Sven Lõhmus
Sven Lõhmus is an Estonian pop-composer, producer and lyricist.Established producer from Estonia. He has worked with leading artists of the Baltic States, including Vanilla Ninja , the Suntribe, the Urban Symphony. 3 times, in 2003, 2004, 2010, he won the award for "best author" to the "Eesti...
.
Early in 2002 Kivi had participated in Eurolaul
Eurolaul
Eurolaul was an annual televised competition to select a song to represent Estonia in the Eurovision Song Contest made by the Estonian Public Television Service ETV. For many years the competition differed from the national selections of most other countries in that the outcome was solely...
, Estonia
Estonia
Estonia , officially the Republic of Estonia , is a state in the Baltic region of Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland, to the west by the Baltic Sea, to the south by Latvia , and to the east by Lake Peipsi and the Russian Federation . Across the Baltic Sea lies...
's Eurovision
Eurovision Song Contest
The Eurovision Song Contest is an annual competition held among active member countries of the European Broadcasting Union .Each member country submits a song to be performed on live television and then casts votes for the other countries' songs to determine the most popular song in the competition...
pre-selection contest, but had finished 7th. Due to her participation in Eurolaul she was chosen to front the band, which subsequently gained some exposure early on in their existence, despite none of the other members having had any previous national success in their career. Kivi had been friends with Kuurmaa for some time before the formation of the group, whilst Järvis and Siska had performed together in the past. Despite this, the group is occasionally labelled as a "manufactured band" by the media.
2003: Eurolaul and debut album
Michael Ball (singer)
Michael Ashley Ball, born 27 June 1962) is a British actor, singer, and radio and TV presenter who is best known for the song "Love Changes Everything" and musical theatre roles such as Marius in Les Misérables, Alex in Aspects of Love, Caractacus Potts in Chitty Chitty Bang Bang and Edna Turnblad...
, proved to not share the opinion expressed by the televoters and placed the girls joint bottom of the ten entrants.
The participation and popularity of the song, however, helped the group and created exposure for the release of their debut album, Vanilla Ninja
Vanilla Ninja (album)
Vanilla Ninja is the self-titled debut album by the Estonian girl band Vanilla Ninja. The album came out on May 30, 2003 and was only ever released in Estonia, despite the group's subsequent success in Germany, Austria and Switzerland...
, released in May 2003. Containing the original version of the song "Club Kung Fu", along with a drum and bass
Drum and bass
Drum and bass is a type of electronic music which emerged in the late 1980s. The genre is characterized by fast breakbeats , with heavy bass and sub-bass lines...
remix and thirteen new pop-rock tracks in English
English language
English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
and Estonian, the album proved to be a success in Estonia and launched the girls in to the national mainstream, pushing the group to seek international success in Germany, Switzerland and Austria
Austria
Austria , officially the Republic of Austria , is a landlocked country of roughly 8.4 million people in Central Europe. It is bordered by the Czech Republic and Germany to the north, Slovakia and Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the...
.
2003/2004: Expansion into Europe and 2nd album
Following a successful debut in Estonia, Vanilla Ninja have launched themselves as a band in three GermanGerman language
German is a West Germanic language, related to and classified alongside English and Dutch. With an estimated 90 – 98 million native speakers, German is one of the world's major languages and is the most widely-spoken first language in the European Union....
speaking countries of Europe – Germany, Austria and Switzerland. The girls did not release their debut album or "Club Kung Fu" in these countries, instead opting for a new track called "Tough Enough". Proving to again be a pop-rock track, although with less of a 'novelty' style to it, the song was released in Germany on December 8, 2003, and then later in Austria and Switzerland on January 4 and February 8, 2004 respectively. It proved to be a success, gaining large amounts of airplay
Airplay (song)
Airplay is a term used in the radio broadcasting industry to state how frequently a song is being played on over-the-air radio stations. For example, a song which is being played several times every day would be classed as receiving a large amount of airplay...
on the popular VIVA music video
Music video
A music video or song video is a short film integrating a song and imagery, produced for promotional or artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a marketing device intended to promote the sale of music recordings...
channel
Television station
A television station is a business, organisation or other such as an amateur television operator that transmits content over terrestrial television. A television transmission can be by analog television signals or, more recently, by digital television. Broadcast television systems standards are...
, and making the top twenty in both Germany and Austria. The single also featured in the dance mat games "Dance Dance Revolution ULTRAMIX 2
Dance Dance Revolution Ultramix 2
Dance Dance Revolution Ultramix 2, or simply Ultramix 2, is a music video game released on November 18, 2004 by Konami in North America for the Microsoft Xbox.-Music:...
" and "In The Groove
In the Groove (game)
In the Groove is the first game in the In the Groove franchise, published and developed by Roxor Games, and first released in video arcades around August 30, 2004.-Gameplay:...
".
Following the success of their debut single the girls released "Club Kung Fu" in Germany, and then a third single, "Don't Go Too Fast", in both Germany and Austria on April 4 and April 5 (and in Switzerland during March, although it missed the top 100). The latter just missed the top twenty in both countries, and was followed up by their second album Traces of Sadness
Traces of Sadness
Traces of Sadness is the second album by the Estonian girl band Vanilla Ninja. Released in June 2004, the album included the hit singles "Tough Enough", "Liar" and "When the Indians Cry"...
in June 2004. The album included "Tough Enough" and "Don't Go Too Fast", as well as numerous other tracks, such as "When The Indians Cry" and "Liar". It's along with the album track "Metal Queen" have also both featured in the "DrumMania
DrumMania
is a music video game series produced by Konami Digital Entertainment, Inc., where colored notes travel down the screen which correspond with color coded parts of an electronic drum set...
" series of drumming
Drummer
A drummer is a musician who is capable of playing drums, which includes but is not limited to a drum kit and accessory based hardware which includes an assortment of pedals and standing support mechanisms, marching percussion and/or any musical instrument that is struck within the context of a...
games.
2004: New Bandmember and Eurovision for Switzerland
Despite not having as much chart success in Switzerland as in Austria and Germany, the girls had become increasingly popular with the Swiss public. Their chart performance had also been improving, with the Traces Of Sadness album making #14, but despite that no-one would have expected the shock announcement that the group would represent Switzerland in the 2005 Eurovision Song ContestEurovision Song Contest 2005
The Eurovision Song Contest 2005 was the 50th Eurovision Song Contest, which was held at the Palace of Sports, Kiev, Ukraine. The winner was Greece's My Number One, written by Christos Dantis and Natalia Germanou and performed by Swedish-born Greek singer Elena Paparizou, who scored 230 points,...
. The Swiss selectors had suffered several years of poor results in the Eurovision, culminating in 'null points' for Piero and the Musicstars in the 2004 semi-final, and so looked to the group due to their popularity in both Switzerland and various other European countries. The announcement angered some people, especially Estonians, who felt that the group should represent their home country and not a country that they have minor connections to. In Switzerland some also opposed the selection, again on the basis that none of the group were Swiss. The selectors responded by stating that the song would still have a Swiss component due to it being mostly written by David Brandes
David Brandes
David Brandes is a Swiss-born German songwriter and producer. Brandes has written and produced for many artists, including E-Rotic, Bad Boys Blue, Chris Norman, Indiggo, Lemon Ice and Vanilla Ninja...
. Ironically, although Brandes was born in Switzerland and went to school there, he is essentially German.
Triinu Kivilaan
Triinu Kivilaan is an Estonian vocalist and former model, best known as a former member of the popular girl group Vanilla Ninja. She had been modelling for several years when she replaced Maarja Kivi in the group in 2004, having met the other members of the group a year earlier...
, who at the time was only 15 years old. Their participation was put into doubt due to regulations stating that competitors must be at least 16 years old, a rule introduced to eliminate participants such as the 13-year-old 1986 Eurovision
Eurovision Song Contest 1986
The Eurovision Song Contest 1986 was the 31st Eurovision Song Contest and was held on 3 May 1986 in the Grieg Hall in Bergen, Norway. It was the first occasion on which Norway played host to the contest...
winner Sandra Kim
Sandra Kim
Sandra Caldarone , better known as Sandra Kim, is a Belgian singer of Italian descent who won the Eurovision Song Contest 1986 held in Bergen, Norway, on 3 May 1986....
. Kivilaan had in fact initially claimed to be 17 years old, but the Swiss selectors doubted this and eventually found out her true birth date was January 13, 1989.
It began to look as if Vanilla Ninja would not represent Switzerland in 2005, but the Swiss selectors decided not to reverse the selection, on the basis that Kivilaan would turn 16 before the contest. There was no danger of the EBU
European Broadcasting Union
The European Broadcasting Union is a confederation of 74 broadcasting organisations from 56 countries, and 49 associate broadcasters from a further 25...
blocking their participation, because their own age rule specified a cut-off date of the contest itself, whereas national selectors could tweak their age regulations to their own liking. This annoyed some, who felt that the selectors had acted in a heavy-handed manner by selecting Vanilla Ninja.
Following the Eurovision selection the group went on to continue their success in Europe, releasing the single "Liar". The single scraped into the top twenty in Germany and Austria, but performed disappointingly in Switzerland (reaching only #43 despite the announcement regarding Eurovision 2005). The following single, however, would prove to be their biggest hit to date and would launch them into the German top ten for the first time.
"When The Indians Cry", their fifth Central Europe
Central Europe
Central Europe or alternatively Middle Europe is a region of the European continent lying between the variously defined areas of Eastern and Western Europe...
an single, would be the groups first slow, soft, ballad
Ballad
A ballad is a form of verse, often a narrative set to music. Ballads were particularly characteristic of British and Irish popular poetry and song from the later medieval period until the 19th century and used extensively across Europe and later the Americas, Australia and North Africa. Many...
-like song. The music video would also be the first to feature Triinu Kivilaan, with previous videos featuring Maarja Kivi. Kivilaan proved to fit into the group well, looking older than her age of 15 and silencing critics who believed she would be out of place in a band with girls all three or more years older than her. Incidentally, one of the reasons that Kivilaan was chosen to replace Kivi was due to their similar appearance, making it easy to mix the two up. The song would be Vanilla Ninja's first ballad, featuring a slow tempo, unlike most previous songs which had been fairly upbeat. It proved to be a hit, reaching #8 in the German charts in September 2004, #7 in the Austrian charts and #27 in the Swiss charts (which had not reacted as expected to their selection for Eurovision).
With the song putting them into the German chart mainstream, and gaining huge airplay on the music video channel VIVA, Vanilla Ninja would begin to become one of the biggest acts in Germany. The follow-up to "When The Indians Cry", a new track called "Blue Tattoo" and in a similar style to their previous release, would also reach the German top ten whilst making the Austrian top twenty and Swiss top thirty.
2005: 3rd album and Eurovision
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
, China
China
Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...
, Malaysia and Thailand
Thailand
Thailand , officially the Kingdom of Thailand , formerly known as Siam , is a country located at the centre of the Indochina peninsula and Southeast Asia. It is bordered to the north by Burma and Laos, to the east by Laos and Cambodia, to the south by the Gulf of Thailand and Malaysia, and to the...
. The group also played a key role in VIVA's 2004 "Your Stars For Christmas" show, singing a re-worded version of "When The Indians Cry" called "Light Of Hope".
In May 2005 the group returned to the charts, releasing a new song called "I Know", which featured a mildly controversial video based around domestic abuse. The song was again successful, peaking at #13 in Germany and #17 in Austria. Two weeks after its release their third album, Blue Tattoo
Blue Tattoo (album)
Blue Tattoo is the third album by the Estonian girl band Vanilla Ninja, and the last original Vanilla Ninja album released by Bros Records. Following up the successful 2004 album Traces of Sadness, Blue Tattoo looks to be the group's most successful album yet with the singles "Blue Tattoo" , "I...
, was released in various European countries and proved to be as successful as the previous album, charting at #4 in Germany and, unsurprisingly (as it included the Eurovision song "Cool Vibes"), Switzerland.
During their hiatus in order to tour Asia the Swiss Eurovision song had been completed and had been announced as being called "Cool Vibes". A short song, in order to comply with Eurovision regulations, the track received mixed response. Many saw it to be a good pop-rock song, but many believed it was not the girls' best, and that it was not the type of song suitable for Eurovision.
The song failed to get off to a good start, though, as the song was banned from the German charts after writer and producer David Brandes was accused of manipulating the charts by buying thousands of copies of his artist's singles. Among the songs he had allegedly bought many copies of were the groups "When The Indians Cry" single, and the German Eurovision entry "Run and Hide" by Gracia. Soon after Gracia was fired by her record company, and the two artists (along with "Virus Incorporation") were banned from the charts for initially three weeks. The girls came out unaffected, although it would be a blow for the songwriter and may have meant the high position of "When The Indians Cry" was helped by the mass-buying of singles by Brandes.
Due to Switzerland's last place in the semi-final of the 2004 contest
Eurovision Song Contest 2004
The Eurovision Song Contest 2004, was the 49th Contest and it was held in the Abdi İpekçi Arena in Istanbul, Turkey. This was the first occasion in which the contest was held in Turkey after they had won the competition in 2003 with Sertab Erener singing "Everyway That I Can"...
, Vanilla Ninja had to compete in the Eurovision semi-final on May 19, 2005. Against artists such as Wig Wam
Wig Wam
Wig Wam is a Norwegian hard rock band, which is dedicated to Glam metal and is the style of typical rock bands from the 1980s movement.- Eurovision :...
, Luminita Anghel
Luminita Anghel
Luminiţa Anghel is a Romanian singer. Anghel, along with the percussion band Sistem, represented Romania at the Eurovision Song Contest 2005, with the song Let Me Try, where they were ranked third in the final, Romania's best ever result at Eurovision...
and Zdob şi Zdub
Zdob si Zdub
Zdob şi Zdub is a Moldovan band, based in Chişinău, whose work for the last several years has combined elements of hip-hop , hardcore punk and comical lyrics with traditional Romanian folk music. The name is onomatopoeic for the sound of a drum beat...
the competition was difficult, but the group progressed to the final and were given good odds of 10/1 for winning the contest. The group's performance in the final on May 21 was, according to some, not as good as it could have been, although those criticising the performance also criticised the song (believing a song similar to "When The Indians Cry" or even "Club Kung Fu" would have been better).
In the voting, however, the group did well in the early stages. Despite not representing their native Estonia, their home country responded well and gave the group the full 12 points (Estonia's entry, Suntribe
Suntribe
Suntribe was an Estonian girl-band, composed entirely of students, which represented their country in the Eurovision Song Contest 2005 in Kiev, Ukraine. The original four-strong line-up was Mari-Leen Kaselaan , Rebecca Kontus, Laura Põldvere and Jaanika Vilipo...
's "Let's Get Loud", had been eliminated in the semi-final). Latvia
Latvia
Latvia , officially the Republic of Latvia , is a country in the Baltic region of Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by Estonia , to the south by Lithuania , to the east by the Russian Federation , to the southeast by Belarus and shares maritime borders to the west with Sweden...
also gave the group 12 points, whilst Germany rather surprisingly only gave them four. Austrian voters were even less impressed by the performance, not giving any points to the group at all.
Despite leading at the one-third stage, Vanilla Ninja eventually slipped down the leader board and finished 8th. The result allowed Switzerland to achieve their best result for years and automatic qualification for next year's final, but for the group it was a disappointment considering their popularity and good odds for winning the contest.
Post-Eurovision, split from Brandes and fourth/fifth album
On June 12, 2005 the group released "Cool Vibes" in Switzerland, the single charting at number 17. Despite failing to make the top ten, a surprise as the girls represented Switzerland, the release became their best-placed Swiss single release yet. The single was not released in Germany initially, possibly due to the April 2005 allegations that David Brandes manipulated the chart placing of several of his songs, including "When The Indians Cry" by Vanilla Ninja, which resulted in a short ban from the charts for the group. However, on July 2, the single charted in Germany at the comparatively poor position of #42, and in Austria at #70.In a May 2005 interview with the The Baltic Times
The Baltic Times
The Baltic Times is an independent general interest weekly covering the news, business and culture issues of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania....
, the group attempted to distance themselves from the pop music
Pop music
Pop music is usually understood to be commercially recorded music, often oriented toward a youth market, usually consisting of relatively short, simple songs utilizing technological innovations to produce new variations on existing themes.- Definitions :David Hatch and Stephen Millward define pop...
genre. Piret Järvis told the newspaper that the group "started out with a pop-rock style of music". The band also claimed that their music is gradually become heavier and more typical of the rock
Rock music
Rock music is a genre of popular music that developed during and after the 1960s, particularly in the United Kingdom and the United States. It has its roots in 1940s and 1950s rock and roll, itself heavily influenced by rhythm and blues and country music...
genre.
Following the arguably disappointing performance of the "Cool Vibes" single, the group stopped releasing singles from their Blue Tattoo album, instead concentrating on touring commitments. By the second half of 2005 it would become clear that the group was starting to have problems with their record label, Bros Music, and their manager David Brandes. Since moving from the TOP TEN
TOP TEN
TopTen is an Estonian record label which has started the career of a number of successful Baltic chart acts, including the internationally successful girl group Vanilla Ninja, who are currently the label's most successful act....
label the group had suffered from problems such as the scandal of Brandes buying their singles in bulk to boost chart positions, with the label also suffering problems (such as being 'booted out' of the Sony BMG Music Entertainment
Sony BMG Music Entertainment
Sony BMG Music Entertainment was a recorded music company, which was a 50–50 joint venture between the Sony Corporation of America and Bertelsmann AG...
group). The problems escalated toward the end of 2005 when the girls parted company with Bros Music and Brandes, moving to the EMI
EMI
The EMI Group, also known as EMI Music or simply EMI, is a multinational music company headquartered in London, United Kingdom. It is the fourth-largest business group and family of record labels in the recording industry and one of the "big four" record companies. EMI Group also has a major...
-owned Capitol Music
Capitol Records
Capitol Records is a major United States based record label, formerly located in Los Angeles, but operating in New York City as part of Capitol Music Group. Its former headquarters building, the Capitol Tower, is a major landmark near the corner of Hollywood and Vine...
label. According to press releases from the group's new management, their relationship with Bros Music and Brandes is now "hostile", and any future affiliation with their former manager is therefore unlikely. Brandes himself has claimed that their career "is over", and that their new management company are "amateurs".
After leaving Bros Music, the group began work on what was intended to be their fourth album. Bros Music, however, released a ninth single, "Megamix", in December 2005, along with a "greatest hits" album Best Of
Best Of (Vanilla Ninja album)
Best Of is a best-of album by the Estonian girl band Vanilla Ninja. The album was released in December 2005, and consisted of thirteen songs from their Traces of Sadness and Blue Tattoo albums. The album was released in several countries in Central Europe, failing to make the Top 100 in Germany and...
. According to the girls, they were not consulted about the release of the single or the album, with Järvis asking fans to not buy either release. This, along with the lack of promotion on Bros part, made both the single and album a flop (the single only made the lower reaches of the Swiss and German charts, failing to make the Austrian Top 100 at all, with the album making #70 in Switzerland and failing to chart elsewhere). The band's not knowing about the releases was further backed up by 2004 promotional photos being used for the CD covers, with Maarja Kivi appearing, despite leaving the group over a year beforehand. Kivi's appearance has also been claimed by some to be clever promotion on the part of Brandes, as Kivi is now signed to Bros as a solo artist.
Shortly after the failure of their uncommissioned single and album releases, the group announced that Triinu Kivilaan was leaving the group, with Kuurmaa, Siska and Järvis continuing as a trio. According to the remaining members of Vanilla Ninja, Kivilaan left because of the stress of being in the group, and to concentrate on her studies. Some have still, however, suggested that her leaving may have simply been down to a lack of vocal talent, or due to a rift with the other members. Despite rumours suggesting Kivi might be rejoining the group, it seems that the group will not be adding a fourth member again.
The group released their first original single for almost a year in April 2006, with "Dangerzone" seeing the girls retain their pop-rock sound from previous albums. The single charted on May 7, 2006 in Switzerland, peaking at #18, with the release in Germany placing one position higher. The Austrian release would also make #23, suggesting that the group is likely to continue the success that Traces of Sadness and Blue Tattoo had in Central Europe. Meanwhile, the girl's fifth album Love is War is expected to be released in the near future.
The group is extremely popular in their native Estonia, with the girls seen as a-list celebrities
A-list
A-list is a term that alludes to major movie stars, or the most bankable in the Hollywood film industry.The A-list is part of a larger guide called The Hot List that has become an industry-standard guide in Hollywood...
in the Baltic countries
Baltic countries
The term Baltic states refers to the Baltic territories which gained independence from the Russian Empire in the wake of World War I: primarily the contiguous trio of Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania ; Finland also fell within the scope of the term after initially gaining independence in the 1920s.The...
. The three members are also seen as something of sex symbol
Sex symbol
A sex symbol is a celebrity of either gender, typically an actor, musician, supermodel, teen idol, or sports star, noted for their sex appeal. The term was first used in the mid 1950s in relation to the popularity of certain Hollywood stars, especially Marilyn Monroe and Brigitte...
s in their homeland, with a 2006 poll by the Estonian magazine
Magazine
Magazines, periodicals, glossies or serials are publications, generally published on a regular schedule, containing a variety of articles. They are generally financed by advertising, by a purchase price, by pre-paid magazine subscriptions, or all three...
Kroonika
Kroonika
Kroonika is a popular Estonian magazine which is typically popular with young Estonian persons aged between 13 and 30 years of age. The magazine is published in the Estonian language, and includes gossip and news on the country's biggest celebrities....
voting Piret Järvis the country's most attractive female. The top five of the poll also featured Siska (2nd) and Kuurmaa (4th). Interestingly, Kivilaan was not included, despite being a former model.
Eurolaul 2007
Vanilla Ninja participated in Eurolaul 2007, the Estonian preselection for the Eurovision Song Contest 2007Eurovision Song Contest 2007
The Eurovision Song Contest 2007 was the 52nd edition of the Eurovision Song Contest. It was won by first-time appearance as an independent country Serbia and was held at the Hartwall Areena in Helsinki, Finland from 10 May to 12 May. The host broadcaster was YLE.Finland earned the right to host...
, with the song "Birds of Peace". Their song placed 4th.
Viña del Mar Festival 2008
Broken Records International founder, Héctor Faune, tried to contact Vanilla Ninja with no success, until two Polish fans (Tomek & Yo – Tomek), from the site love-ninjas gave to Faune Lenna's direct contact, so he could propose to the band the idea to participate in the Viña del Mar Festival 2008, representing their native Estonia.This Festival is the most important of this category in Latin America
Latin America
Latin America is a region of the Americas where Romance languages – particularly Spanish and Portuguese, and variably French – are primarily spoken. Latin America has an area of approximately 21,069,500 km² , almost 3.9% of the Earth's surface or 14.1% of its land surface area...
, girls participated with their power ballad "Birds of Peace", and they won the "Silver Seagull" which is the maximum trophy of the Festival and ten thousand dollars as the Best Performers / Interpreters of the festival contest.
Latin America: A new market for Vanilla Ninja
Their visit to Chile, was a big success. There are plans to take Vanilla Ninja to Latin America again, for a promo tour anytime soon. They might start in Mexico CityMexico City
Mexico City is the Federal District , capital of Mexico and seat of the federal powers of the Mexican Union. It is a federal entity within Mexico which is not part of any one of the 31 Mexican states but belongs to the federation as a whole...
, then there are also contemplated the following places: São Paulo, Brazil / Buenos Aires, Argentina / Santiago, Chile. The representatives of Vanilla Ninja in Latin America (Broken Records International) are working to take girls to even more places in Latin America, waiting that everyone will know them in this part of the world.
Trademark issues solved
The trademark "Vanilla Ninja" was invented by Piret Järvis and the first producer of the band, Sven LõhmusSven Lõhmus
Sven Lõhmus is an Estonian pop-composer, producer and lyricist.Established producer from Estonia. He has worked with leading artists of the Baltic States, including Vanilla Ninja , the Suntribe, the Urban Symphony. 3 times, in 2003, 2004, 2010, he won the award for "best author" to the "Eesti...
in 2002. After a legal battle that started in 2006, the trademark was recovered thanks to Andres Aavik & Aleksander Ots in January 2008, now Vanilla Ninja has the rights to use its own name.
Vanilla Ninja recording a Per Gessle song
Vanilla Ninja's 2008 single "Crashing Through the Doors" was written by Per GesslePer Gessle
Per Håkan Gessle is a Swedish pop singer-songwriter, guitarist, and harmonicist. He is the lead singer of the Swedish pop group Gyllene Tider and formed Roxette with Marie Fredriksson...
from Roxette
Roxette
Roxette are a Swedish pop music duo, consisting of Marie Fredriksson and Per Gessle . Formed in 1986, the duo became an international act from the late 1980s, when they released their breakthrough album Look Sharp!...
with lyrics by Piret and Lenna. "Broken Records International" put the Vanilla Ninja girls in contact with Per Gessle himself, who was glad to cooperate. The song peaked at #2 in Estonian charts.
Music videos
Vanilla Ninja have made music videoMusic video
A music video or song video is a short film integrating a song and imagery, produced for promotional or artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a marketing device intended to promote the sale of music recordings...
s for all of the singles they have released, although some have proved to be more popular than others. The first music video to feature Triinu Kivilaan was "When The Indians Cry", with previous videos featuring the now departed Maarja Kivi. "When The Indians Cry", along with "Tough Enough" and "Blue Tattoo" have been the most successful of Vanilla Ninja's videos, in terms of airplay
Airplay (song)
Airplay is a term used in the radio broadcasting industry to state how frequently a song is being played on over-the-air radio stations. For example, a song which is being played several times every day would be classed as receiving a large amount of airplay...
, to date. The video for "Cool Vibes" is the most recent of their videos to gain airplay, featuring regularly on Central European Video Channels throughout June and July 2005.
All of the girls' videos have been extremely popular on German video channels, gaining airplay mainly on the popular music channel VIVA. The feat of airplay on VIVA is even more impressive because, from late 2003 until late 2005, the girls were signed to Bros Records
Bros Records
Bros Music is a Central European record label owned by the major record company Sony Music Entertainment. The label is based in Germany and is the home to several successful chart acts, including E-Rotic, Marya Roxx, Bad Boys Blue, Gracia, Chris Norman and Virus Incorporation...
, distributed by Sony BMG Music, when the station has been exposed as being biased for the airplay of artists signed to rival record company Universal.
Vanilla Ninja received a considerable amount of bad publicity for their "Cool Vibes" video, which seemingly stole material from Deine Lakaien
Deine Lakaien
Deine Lakaien is a German Darkwave group composed of Macedonian vocalist Alexander Veljanov and the classically trained composer, pianist and drummer Ernst Horn.- History :...
's video for their single "Mindmachine". It should be noted, however, that there is currently no proof that the band members of Vanilla Ninja knew about the alleged stolen material. That is because the video was produced in a phase of separation from David Brandes and he alone did the production for the video.
Discography
Studio albums- Vanilla NinjaVanilla Ninja (album)Vanilla Ninja is the self-titled debut album by the Estonian girl band Vanilla Ninja. The album came out on May 30, 2003 and was only ever released in Estonia, despite the group's subsequent success in Germany, Austria and Switzerland...
(2003) - Traces of SadnessTraces of SadnessTraces of Sadness is the second album by the Estonian girl band Vanilla Ninja. Released in June 2004, the album included the hit singles "Tough Enough", "Liar" and "When the Indians Cry"...
(2004) - Blue TattooBlue Tattoo (album)Blue Tattoo is the third album by the Estonian girl band Vanilla Ninja, and the last original Vanilla Ninja album released by Bros Records. Following up the successful 2004 album Traces of Sadness, Blue Tattoo looks to be the group's most successful album yet with the singles "Blue Tattoo" , "I...
(2005) - Love is WarLove is WarLove is War is Vanilla Ninja's fourth studio album, released by EMI Music Germany in May 2006. This is the first album by girls as a three-piece band. The process of recording took about 6 months. Most of the songs are co-written by the band members - Lenna and Piret, what makes this album the most...
(2006)
Compilations
- Best OfBest Of (Vanilla Ninja album)Best Of is a best-of album by the Estonian girl band Vanilla Ninja. The album was released in December 2005, and consisted of thirteen songs from their Traces of Sadness and Blue Tattoo albums. The album was released in several countries in Central Europe, failing to make the Top 100 in Germany and...
(2005)
Awards and nominations
|-| style="text-align:center;"|2006
| rowspan="1" style="text-align:left;"|Vanilla Ninja
| Best Baltic Act at MTV European Music Awards
|
|-
Current
- Lenna KuurmaaLenna Kuurmaa-External links:...
– vocals, guitar - Katrin SiskaKatrin SiskaKatrin Siska is an Estonian musician and member of the Estonian pop-rock band Vanilla Ninja.Alongside her musical commitments, Siska has also been studying finance and accounting at a vocational school and international relations and diplomacy in Tallinn...
– keyboard - Piret JärvisPiret JärvisPiret Järvis is an Estonian singer, guitarist and songwriter of the popular girl group Vanilla Ninja and an indiegroup Disko4000....
– guitar, vocals
Former
- Maarja Kivi – vocals, bass (2002–2004)
- Triinu KivilaanTriinu KivilaanTriinu Kivilaan is an Estonian vocalist and former model, best known as a former member of the popular girl group Vanilla Ninja. She had been modelling for several years when she replaced Maarja Kivi in the group in 2004, having met the other members of the group a year earlier...
– bass, vocals (2004–2005)