| Maarja-Liis Ilus | |
|---|---|
Maarja-Liis Ilus in support concert "Sing Ilves to president" |
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| Background information | |
| Birth name | Maarja-Liis Ilus |
| Born | 24 December 1980 Tallinn, Estonia |
| Genres | Pop |
| Years active | 1984–present |
| Website | www.maarja.ee |
Maarja-Liis Ilus, sometimes better known by her performing name Maarja (born 24 December 1980 in Tallinn, Estonia) is a pop musician. Maarja has achieved some chart success in a number of countries across Europe and Asia. She has also represented her native Estonia in the Eurovision Song Contest twice, and is often credited as being the first Estonian solo artist to achieve international chart success.
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Maarja-Liis Ilus' music career started at the age of 4, when she debuted in the musical film "Õnneseen" ("Lucky Fellow"). She also performed with the Estonian Television children's choir and 1996 saw the release of her self-titled debut album Maarja.
In 1996, Maarja became a true household name of Estonia for representing Estonia at the Eurovision Song Contest 1996 with the song "Kaelakee hääl" (in a duet with Ivo Linna) which would go onto finish 5th at the contest, held in Oslo that year. The exposure from competing in Eurovision would ultimately make Geffen Records notice the young Ilus, signing her for her first international album release. Her Eurovision entry was recorded half in English and half in Greek and she performed it as a duet, along with Greek singer Yiorgos Doukas. She also visited Greece for promotion and made a guest appearance in the Greek version of Disney Club.
Meanwhile, Ilus entered the Eurolaul again in 1997, winning with the solo "Keelatud maa" which eventually finished 8th in the Eurovision Song Contest 1997. The result helped to further solidify her popularity in Estonia, making her second album First In Line an instant success there when released on August 25, 1998. The album, which was Ilus' first effort entirely in English, was also released internationally. Ilus would not achieve the same success when she tried to break through into the American mainstream, though, with the album essentially failing to make any impact on the Billboard charts. Ilus would also release the mostly Estonian language album Kaua veel later on in 1998, with the album winning her the Estonian Female Singer of the Year award.
Ilus' next album would be City Life in 2001. Following the release of City Life, she entered the Melodifestivalen of 2003 in Sweden with the song "He Is Always On My Mind", although she would be eliminated at the semi-final stage. The release of the song as a single (and release of a modified version of City Life, with the song as the first track) achieved no notable commercial success.
Ilus would enter Eurolaul for the third time in 2004, performing the self-written "Homme", which would ultimately finish in 4th place. The same year she worked on smooth jazz projects, working with the club jazz band Hinkus and performing vocals on Tõnu Raadik's Flow of Dreams album.
She also recorded a duet song "And You Came" with the Latvian pop singer Lauris Reiniks in 2005.
In early 2006, Ilus publicly stated that she was unhappy that former Vanilla Ninja bassist and lead vocalist Maarja Kivi, another Estonian singer who has achieved international success, was also using the performing name of Maarja for her debut solo single. The two using the same name has confused some into believing that Kivi and Ilus are the same person.
Late 2008 saw the release of her new studio album "Homme" with the title song included and only a year later she released a Christmas album for the Estonian market.
In 1999 Maarja became a Goodwill Ambassador for UNICEF.
In 2002 she made her debut in a musical, namely the one of "Miss Saigon" where she starred as Ellen. Later on, she has performed in several musicals staged in Estonia, such as "The Sound of Music" (Maria), "Cats" (Grizabella), "Evita" (Eva Peron) and "Rent" (Joanne).
| Awards and achievements | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Silvi Vrait with "Nagu merelaine" |
Estonia in the Eurovision Song Contest (with Ivo Linna) 1996 |
Succeeded by Maarja-Liis Ilus with "Keelatud maa" |
| Preceded by Maarja-Liis Ilus & Ivo Linna with "Kaelakee hääl" |
Estonia in the Eurovision Song Contest 1997 |
Succeeded by Koit Toome with "Mere lapsed" |
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