Vanilla Ninja
Vanilla Ninja is a four-piece Estonian girl band which has enjoyed chart success in a number of countries across Europe, especially in Germany and Austria. The original line-up of the group was Maarja Kivi (born January 18, 1986 in Tallinn, Estonia), Lenna Kuurmaa (born September 26, 1985 in Tallinn, Estonia), Katrin Siska (born December 12, 1983 in Tallinn, Estonia) and Piret Järvis (born February 6, 1984 in Tallinn, Estonia). Maarja Kivi left the group in 2004 and was replaced by Triinu Kivilaan (born January 13, 1989 in Viljandi, Estonia).
The group was formed in 2002 and released their self-titled album "Vanilla Ninja" the following year. They have entered national selections for the Eurovision Song Contest twice, failing the first time but proving successful in Switzerland with the song "Cool Vibes". They then finished 8th in the Eurovision Song Contest 2005 final, despite topping the leader board at the half-way stage.
The group have so far released three albums in various countries across Europe; Vanilla Ninja was released in 2003, Traces Of Sadness in 2004, and Blue Tattoo in 2005.
Formation, Eurovision and debut album
Vanilla Ninja formed in 2002 as a four-piece girl band called Viies Element (meaning "Fifth Element"). The original line-up consisted of Maarja Kivi (vocals/bass), Lenna Kuurmaa (vocals/guitar), Katrin Siska (vocals/guitar) and Piret Järvis (vocals/guitar). Although all of the members were effectively vocalists, the main vocalist would usually be different for each song, with Kivi and Kuurmaa appearing to be more frequent on lead vocals.
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 success in their career. The group was essentially manufactured, with none of the girls holding down any notable previous relationship with each other.
In 2003 the group, still under their original name of Viies Element, participated in 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 subsequently allowed the girls to slump to joint 9th place in the Eurolaul results.
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. With the launch of the group successful, along with the name change to "Vanilla Ninja", the girls went on to seek international success in Germany, Switzerland and Austria.
Expansion into Europe
Following a successful debut in Estonia, Vanilla Ninja gone on to look to launch themselves as a band in three German speaking countries of Europe - Germany, Austria and Switzerland. The girls opted to not release their debut album or "Club Kung Fu" in the countries, though, 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.
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".
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 Contest. The Swiss selectors had suffered several years of poor results in the Eurovision, such as a first ever Swiss 'nul 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 actually 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, despite his Swiss connections, 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 falling 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 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 in fact 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.
Further chart success
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 European 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 girl band up to five years older than her. 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.
The third album
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 "The Light Of Hope".
In March 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 seen 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.
Eurovision 2005
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, especially with friendly voting among blocs such as the Scandinavians and ex-Yugoslavs not favouring the Swiss, 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 "Lets 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 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.
Music videos
Vanilla Ninja have made music videos for all of the songs 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 the upcoming release "Cool Vibes" is expected to debut on music video channels in the next couple of weeks.
All of the girl's 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 due to the fact that the girls are signed to Bros Records, a division of Sony Music, when the station has been exposed as being biased for the airplay of artists signed to rival record company Universal.
Tough Enough
The music video for the song "Tough Enough", Vanilla Ninja's second release, debuted on music video channel VIVA in November 2003. The video proved to be the first of several of the groups songs to gain mass airplay on the channel. Set mostly in a rundown, stereotypical German gymnasium, the video created an image for the group, turned them in to well-known celebrities and helped launch them into the mainstream.
The video begun with the girls being denied access to "Boxgym" due to a rule displayed on the door stating "No girls allowed". The girls proceed to force their way in, kicking the door of the gym down having successfully attacked and got past the doorman. The idea of the girls overpowering the rule on the door and managing to get past the large, bulky bouncer created an image of the girls being strong. The idea also touched upon issues of gender inequality.
The remainder of the video is based inside the gym, with the girls performing in a boxing ring. Although lacking much of a storyline after the start of the video, it created an image for the group and gave the girls celebrity status in Germany and Austria. The video, despite being over 18 months old, still gains occasional airplay today.
"Tough Enough" has also been rumoured to be one of the key reasons for Triinu Kivilaan being chosen as the replacement to Maarja Kivi, mainly because in the video the two look almost identical. Apparantely the girls noticed this after looking back at the recording of the video (according to an interview [1] they already knew Kivilaan at the time).
Don't Go Too Fast
"Don't Go Too Fast" was the second Vanilla Ninja video to gain a large amount of airplay, and their third German release. The video, like "Tough Enough", puts across an image of the girls as strong, again a possible reference to gender equality. The video premiered in March 2004 and helped the song reach the edge of the top twenty in Germany and Austria. The song not doing as well in Switzerland is sometimes credited to a lack of airplay on channels other than VIVA, which is not available in the country.
The video is based in a all-girls jail (or, at least, only shows girls in the jail, with the exception of the groups drummer). At the beginning of the video Maarja Kivi is seen being forced in to a prison cell, before being interrogated under the threat of physical discipline. It appears that she refuses to give over information, leading to further interrogation and a full-body search for possessions. The storyline, which doesn't appear to end in the video, continues through the video in conjunction with the band playing in front of a group of jailmates. Although not as popular as the "Tough Enough" video, "Don't Go Too Fast" followed a similiar formula and furthered the girls image.
When The Indians Cry
"When The Indians Cry" was Vanilla Ninja's fifth Central European release, and their most popular video to date (in terms of apparent airplay). It was also the first to feature Triinu Kivilaan, who fit in surprisingly well. Unlike previous videos, the song was not a powerful and fast-paced song, but instead a ballad. As a result the video was very different, not portraying the previous 'strong' image and instead showing the girls softer side.
The video premiered in August 2004 and proved to be successful, appearing on VIVA several times everyday (impressive for a station with a large playlist of many genres, to cover a 100-song German chart). In the video the girls travel via horse in a desert-like area, probably meant to imitate the territories of Native Americans. The video features mostly the girls performing, with a lot of close-up shots, inparticularly on Kivilaan to emphasise that she is new to the group (incidentally, she had replaced the most common lead singer, when in fact she has proved to take a 'back seat' role in the group). The small amount of storyline in the video is mainly based around the activities of native Americans, the group discovering a dream catcher at the end of the video which had been constructed throughout.
Blue Tattoo
The video for "Blue Tattoo" premiered in December 2003. The song was their sixth Central European release, and the first from their Blue Tattoo album. A ballad with slightly more power than "When The Indians Cry", the video proved to put across a more Gothic image of the group that previous videos, for the best part the members having dyed black hair and darkly-coloured make up. The video proves to be very dark, with images of travelling nuns and a wizard casting spells whilst chanting. The video features the girls singing in their gothic look for half of the video, with close-ups of their normal-looking selves cast in ice at the same time. At the half-way stage the aforementioned wizard casts a spell, bursting the ice and releasing the girls, whilst at the same time making their gothic selves disappear into thin air.
The video then features the girls performing in their more regular appearance until the end of the video. With the girls now very popular it would be no surprise that the video gained a lot of airplay, although not as much as the previous single. The video, unlike their other bigger hits, is now not seen much at all on VIVA and other music video stations.
I Know
"I Know" is the seventh, and most recent music video and single by Vanilla Ninja. Possibly benefiting for the first time from a large budget, the video caused mild controversy by featuring a man hitting his wife early on in the video. Like some early videos such as "Tough Enough", the video shows the girls as strong again, addressing the controversial issue of men hitting their wives. The video mainly relies on its storyline, although shows the girls performing as in all their videos.
The video begins with an argument between a man and his girlfriend or wife. He then hits her, handling her aggressively and shouting (although what he is saying is not clear and cannot be heard). The girl then meets up with Piret Järvis, the main vocalist in the video, who comforts her whilst he is in the other room. Järvis then goes to speak to him, and he tries to flirt with her, only to be caught by his girlfriend/wife. Despite this he and his girlfriend casually walk out, and are seen happily drinking champagne at their home soon after. After a short interlude of the girls performing the song, two masked persons dressed as ninjas are seen climbing up their building, followed by another two. One of them is then seen kicking a window through, hanging on ninja rope, and subsequently landing in their room. The girlfriend then pushes him away, joins the 'ninjas', and he is subsequently tied to a chair, gagged, and put into an elevator.
At the end of the video, rather unsurprisingly, the girlfriend is seen walking away from the building with the members of Vanilla Ninja. The video, the first of the bands to possess a notable storyline, received good reviews for addressing the issue well and helped the song to reach #12 in Germany and #17 in Austria.
Discography: Singles
- Club Kung Fu (2003/2004)
- German chart position: #95
- Tough Enough (2004)
- German chart position: #13
- Austrian chart position: #16
- Swiss chart position: #52
- Don't Go Too Fast (2004)
- German chart position: #23
- Austrian chart position: #21
- Swiss chart position: Did not chart
- Liar (2004)
- German chart position: #23
- Austrian chart position: #22
- Swiss chart position: #43
- When The Indians Cry (2004)
- German chart position: #8
- Austrian chart position: #7
- Swiss chart position: #27
- Blue Tattoo (2004)
- German chart position: #9
- Austrian chart position: #12
- Swiss chart position: #22
- I Know (2005)
- German chart position: #13
- Austrian chart position: #17
- Swiss chart position: #27
Discography: Albums
- Vanilla Ninja (2003)
- Traces Of Sadness (2004)
- German chart position: #3
- Austrian chart position: #4
- Swiss chart position: #14
- Blue Tattoo (2005)
- German chart position: #4
- Austrian chart position: #7
- Swiss chart position: #4