No Angels

No Angels
The No Angels Nadja Benaissa, Lucy Diakovska, Sandy Mölling and Jessica Wahls (from left to right) at the Kieler Woche 2008.
General information
Genre (s)	pop
founding	2000, 2007
resolution	2003, 2014
Last occupation
singing	Lucy Diakovska
singing	Sandy Mölling
singing	Jessica Wahls (until 2002, from 2007)
former members
singing	Nadja Benaissa (until 2010)
singing	Vanessa Petruo (until 2003)

No Angels ( English for 'No Angels') was a German girl group , originally consisting of five singers, which emerged in 2000 from the first German season of the talent show Popstars . With over five million records sold and four number one hits in the German single charts , the group was considered the most successful girl group in continental Europe until its temporary separation in December 2003 .

In January 2007, four founding members started a comeback with the album Destiny , with which they could not build on past successes. After Nadja Benaissa left in September 2010, the group existed as a trio . In June 2014 the separation of the group was announced.

Band history

2000: pop stars

In September 2000, included Nadja Benaissa , Lucy Diakovska , Sandy Mölling , Vanessa Petruo and Jessica Wahl to 32 (from originally 4,500) young women as part of the of RTL II broadcast singing competition Popstars into Spanish Mallorca flew to take part in a workshop . During the week-long singing and dance training under the direction of the choreographer Detlef "D!" Soost , the participants were reduced to eleven by the judgment of the jury members Simone Angel , Rainer Moslener and Mario M. Mendrzycki. The remaining finalists then returned to Germany.

In November 2000, Benaissa, Diakovska, Mölling, Petruo and Wahls learned within a special edition of the format that if they won the competition they would be part of the final formation. A little later the girl group moved into a domicile in Munich and began preparations for their debut album. At the same time, RTL II carried out a survey for the name of the group, with viewers being able to vote for one of three suggestions - “Elle'ments”, “Champaign” or “No Angels”. The band name was announced during the morning show on the Munich radio station Energy 93.3 . Later it turned out that the name "No Angels" had already been determined and the vote was therefore irrelevant. Many viewers felt betrayed; Because of the election fees telephoned without consideration, fraudulent actions were brought against Polydor by individual voting participants .

2001: the beginning of the success

Vanessa Petruo in an appearance with the No Angels (2001)

The first single was recorded by Cheyenne Records and the newly formed group of the song Daylight in Your Eyes and released in February 2001. The Colombian backing singer Victoria Faiella had recorded this song before and released it in the summer of 2000. The new track recorded by the No Angels went straight to number one in the German, Brazilian, Estonian, Swiss and Austrian singles and airplay charts and made the group known throughout Europe overnight. In Germany, the song became the best-selling single of 2001, with well over a million copies sold.

After the band had already enjoyed success across Europe in mid-2001, it was decided to release Daylight in Your Eyes on the North American market. The music video for the single was re-shot (this time "less sexy") to avoid American censorship . In the US , the single reached number 39 on the US Billboard charts . Due to the moderate chances of success, no further decoupling and career attempts in the USA were made.

In March 2001, the album Elle'ments was released , which also topped the German annual charts with over 1.1 million copies sold. The album received four gold and three platinum awards . The No Angels landed their second number one hit in the summer of 2001 with their third single, the Eurythmics cover There Must Be an Angel . It reached the top of the single charts in Germany as well as in Brazil and Austria. The release Rivers of Joy and the double A single When the Angels Sing / Atlantis reached the top ten of the charts. In the course of its sales success, the album was re-released two more times, on the one hand in a karaoke edition , on the other hand in a special winter edition including three new songs.

After a short tour of Germany in the opening act of DJ Bobo and Westlife , the No Angels then performed as part of their own Rivers of Joy Tour from October 19 to December 10, 2001 in more than 30 cities in Germany, Austria and Switzerland. In addition, the group has received several awards, such as the Bambi , a Comet , the 1Live crown , the Top of the Pops - Award , the Golden Bravo Otto and two echoes .

2002: Now ... Us!

In May 2002, after a six-month studio break, the single Something About Us was released as a pre-release from the follow-up album Now… Us! . The title was written by band member Vanessa Petruo, Alexander Geringas and Thorsten Brötzmann and dealt, among other things, with a number of rumors that had been published the year before and were also parodically implemented in the ECHO award-winning video for the single. With Something About Us, the No Angels reached the top of the hit lists in Germany and Austria for the third time within 14 months.

The album Now… Us! was released in June 2002 and also made it to the top of the German album charts. It had sold more than 800,000 times by the end of 2002. The ballad Still in Love with You was another top ten hit in the single and radio charts, while the remix for Let's Go to Bed produced by Mousse T. only reached the top ten on the dance floor charts . In connection with the exclusive concert in Berlin's Tränenpalast on October 2, 2002 , the album When the Angels Swing , produced by Till Brönner , was released in autumn 2002 , a collection of new and newly arranged album recordings in swing arrangements. The Alison-Moyet cover version, All Cried Out , was released in both a swing and a pop version, and the concert was later released on DVD .

The No Angels then traveled again through Germany, Austria and Switzerland as part of the Four Seasons tour. Band member Jessica Wahls, who had already announced her pregnancy in the summer of 2002, left the band on a baby break originally planned for six months. After the birth of her daughter in March 2003, she did not return to the band for the time being in favor of her child and a career as a solo interpreter.

2003: Pure and break up of the band

The remaining members Benaissa, Diakovska, Mölling and Petruo decided to continue with the four of them and recorded their third studio album Pure in the following months . The album was released on August 25, 2003 and, like the two previous albums, was produced by Thorsten Brötzmann and Peter Ries. Regardless of the critical preliminary reports on the now "incomplete" band, the quartet managed to place their fourth number one in the German single charts in April 2003 with the preliminary single No Angel (It's All in Your Mind) . Other single releases were Someday , which reached fifth place in the German charts, and Feelgood Lies , which entered third. Like the two previous studio albums Elle'ments and Now… Us! Pure also reached number one in the German album charts in August 2003; For over 100,000 copies sold, the No Angels received another gold record .

Before the third single Feelgood Lies was released, the No Angels announced in September 2003 that they would break up the band due to the physical exhaustion of several band members. With Reason , a re-recording of an already published title from 2001, the No Angels' last joint single before the breakup was released in November 2003. As part of the release of the album The Best of No Angels , Jessica Wahls also joined the group again. After a few last public appearances and an unplugged concert in Club P1 in Munich as well as in a show sponsored by a mobile operator in December 2003 in the Düsseldorf night residence , the No Angels initially went their separate ways.

2007: Comeback with Destiny

In January 2007 the reunion of the No Angels was announced. While Jessica Wahls returned as a member of the band after leaving in 2002, Vanessa Petruo decided against a comeback with the No Angels in favor of her solo career. The remaining four members then released their first single, Goodbye to Yesterday, in three and a half years, placing them at number 4 in the German single charts. The band's fourth studio album, Destiny , which was released on April 13, 2007, also reached number 4 in the German album charts and was sold more than 30,000 times by June 2007. On June 15, the second single Maybe was released, which was the first single in the group to not make it into the top 20 of the German charts and only sold 15,000 times. On October 19, 2007, the double-A single Amaze Me / Teardrops - a cover version by Womack & Womack from 1988 - was finally released, which reached number 25 on the German Media Control single charts. In Poland Teardrops came in 34th.

In late 2007, the band sang the title track Life Is a Miracle for the cartoon Little Dodo , which was released on January 1, 2008 and the soundtrack of which was released three days later.

2008: Eurovision Song Contest

The No Angels during their performance at the Eurovision Song Contest 2008 in Belgrade , Serbia .

After the record company's expectations had not been met in their first comeback year, Universal offered the band the choice of casting a fifth member for another album or taking part in the preliminary round of the Eurovision Song Contest, which they had declined to participate in a year earlier . On March 6, 2008, the No Angels competed with their single Disappear in the German preliminary decision for the Eurovision Song Contest 2008 in the Deutsches Schauspielhaus in Hamburg against the groups Cinema Bizarre and Marquess and the two solo artists Tommy Reeve and Carolin Fortenbacher . There the band reached first place in the final round with one percentage point (50.5%) ahead of Fortenbacher, which is why they competed for Germany on May 24, 2008 at the 53rd Eurovision Song Contest in Belgrade . In the end, the No Angels achieved third from bottom in the final due to the equality of points between the last three. The single was released on February 29th and placed in the following week of the preliminary decision at number 4 in the German single charts. In Austria Disappear reached 37th and in Bulgaria 40th place in the single charts.

On June 24, 2008 Universal Music released the album Very Best of No Angels , which, with the exception of Germany, Austria and Switzerland, was released across Europe to promote the band. A short time later, the group, which had managed itself since the reunion, signed a contract with their new manager Khalid Schröder, through whose contacts they traveled to Los Angeles , California in July 2008 to meet with songwriter and producer Evan Bogart and his Team to work on new songs. Producer Rick Nowels also provided the No Angels with new productions during their stay. From November 2008 to March 2009 the No Angels recorded songs for their fifth studio album in New York , Berlin and Rastede with a new team of producers.

2009: Welcome to the Dance

The Welcome to the Dance advertising campaign was overshadowed by Benaissa's arrest in April 2009 on suspicion of dangerous assault . She was charged with having unprotected sex with several people without informing them of her HIV infection. The arrest and the subsequent headlines further worsened the band's image, which had been tarnished since the Eurovision Song Contest. The grocer REWE put its advertising with the No Angels on hold and canceled the band's participation in the Rewe family festivals . The band gave their first concert in 2009 on July 3rd in St. Pölten ( Austria ), where they also presented songs from their fifth studio album for the first time.

On July 15th, 2009 the No Angels presented their album Welcome to the Dance at a press event in Berlin . In the same month, the video for the single One Life was shot, which was released as a pre-release in late August 2009. She rose to number 15 in the German single charts.

The album was released on September 11, 2009. This fifth studio album by No Angels stands out musically from their previous albums. Due to the collaboration with their new American producers, it is their first album whose genre can be described as dance . It entered the German album charts at number 26 in the first week and fell off the charts again after just two weeks.

The second single was announced in October 2009, the song Derailed , which should be released on November 27, 2009. Although the song had already been sent out as a promo CD and the band had advertised the song on various TV appearances such as The Dome 52, the release was canceled four days before the scheduled date without giving a reason.

From 2010: acoustic tour, dissolution

In April 2010 the band members took part in a 'No-Angels-Special' from The Perfect Celebrity Dinner . In May 2010 the band completed the acoustic tour An Intimate Evening With ... No Angels , where they presented songs from their ten-year history in smaller clubs in various German cities. Four days before the start of the tour, Benaissa canceled her participation in the tour for health reasons. After a criminal case in August 2010, Benaissa announced her departure from the band in September 2010.

In February 2011 the band recorded two new songs in Rastede , where some of the pieces from their last album were recorded. Although "a lot of new things" were announced on the band's official website on the occasion of the band's ten-year existence, the three band members began to concentrate on their solo careers again. In December 2011, the band came together again for an appearance at an AIDS gala in Hanover and also in March 2013 as part of an anniversary broadcast on RTL II, which celebrated its 20th anniversary.

In June 2014, Diakovska announced in an interview with Bunte that no further reunions were planned. Mölling also confirmed in an interview with the Aachener Zeitung in November 2014 that no further reunions were planned and that they had ended with the topic of No Angels.

For the 50th anniversary show of the Golden Camera award ceremony , Diakovska, Mölling and Wahls appeared together on the red carpet in February 2015 and were part of a jury of former winners specially appointed for the anniversary. At the beginning of 2019 Diakovska and Mölling were guests on the show My Hit, Your Song .

Timeline: band members

member		2000		2001		2002		2003		2004	2005	2006	2007		2008		2009		2010		2011		2012		2013		2014
	Vanessa Petruo (2000-2003)
	Nadja Benaissa (2000-2003; 2007-2010)
	Lucy Diakovska (2000-2003; 2007-2014)
	Sandy Mölling (2000-2003; 2007-2014)
	Jessica Wahls (2000-2002; 2007-2014)

Discography

→ Main article : No Angels / Discography  and list of No Angels songs

Studio albums

year	title	Top ranking, total weeks, awardChart placementsChart placements (Year, title, rankings, weeks, awards, notes)			Remarks
		DE	AT	CH
2001	Elle'ments	DE1 × 7 Sevenfold gold (74 weeks)DE	AT1 platinum (48 weeks)AT	CH1 platinum (44 weeks)CH	First published: March 12, 2001 Sales: + 1,130,000
2002	Now ... Us!	DE1 (33 weeks) DE	AT2 gold (20 weeks)AT	CH4th gold (17 weeks)CH	First published: June 24, 2002 Sales: + 800,000
2003	Pure	DE1 gold (16 weeks)DE	AT2 (12 weeks) AT	CH9 (9 weeks) CH	First published: August 25, 2003 Sales: + 100,000
2007	Destiny	DE4 (9 weeks) DE	AT14 (3 weeks) AT	CH22 (4 weeks) CH	First published: April 13, 2007 Sales: + 30,000
2009	Welcome to the dance	DE26 (2 weeks) DE	AT65 (1 week) AT	CH95 (1 week) CH	First published: September 11, 2009

Tours

• Rivers of Joy Tour
  (October 19 to December 10, 2001)
• Four Seasons Tour
  (November 7th to December 3rd, 2002)
• An Intimate Evening with No Angels
  (May 17 to May 22, 2010)

Awards

• 1Live crown
  • 2001: in the "Best Newcomer" category
  • 2002: in the category "Best Band"
  • 2003: in the category "Best Single" (No Angel (It's All in Your Mind))

• AOL Award
  • 2007: in the category "Stars of the Night 2007"

• Bambi
  • 2001: in the category "Pop National"

• Bavarian music lion
  • 2007: in the "Best Comeback" category

• Bravo Otto
  • 2002: "Gold" in the "Superband Pop" category
  • 2003: "Gold" in the "Superband Pop" category
  • 2004: "Silver" in the "Superband Pop" category

• Comet
  • 2001: in the category "Best Act National"
  • 2001: in the category "Act National"
  • 2003: in the category "Band National"

• ECHO Pop
  • 2002: in the category "National Rock / Pop"
  • 2002: in the category "National Rock / Pop Single" (Daylight in Your Eyes)
  • 2003: in the category "National Music Video Clip" (Something About Us)

• Golden camera
  • 2003: in the category "Pop National"

• Maxim
  • 2003: in the "Woman of the Year" category

• NRJ Music Award
  • 2003: in the category "Best German Song" (Something About Us)

• Radio Rainbow Award
  • 2002: in the category "Newcomers 2001"

• Scene price
  • 2009: in the category "Best National Song" (Disappear)
  • 2010: in the category "Best National Song" (One Life)

• Top-of-the-Pops Award
  • 2001: in the category "Top Single Germany" (There Must Be an Angel)

• World Music Award
  • 2002: in the category "Best-Selling German Act"

Web links

Commons : No Angels  - Collection of pictures, videos and audio files

• No Angels at laut.de
• Official website ( Memento of February 7, 2014 in the Internet Archive )

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Jörg Oberwittler: Casting band No Angels: Girls trade, round two. In: Spiegel Online . March 19, 2007, accessed October 15, 2014 . 
2. ↑ Casting Stars - Thoroughly wrong . In: Der Spiegel . No. 24 , 2007 ( online ).
3. ↑ Article on musicline.de , with mention of voting fraud; Retrieved April 21, 2006
4. ↑ Trouble about No Angels: Who owns the song? In: Spiegel Online . February 15, 2001, accessed June 9, 2018 . 
5. ↑ Big Market History. In: Top40 charts. Retrieved February 28, 2007 . 
6. ↑ Singlecharts - Annual charts 2001 ( Memento from January 13, 2010 in the Internet Archive )
7. ↑ Elle'ments : Database. In: Ifpi. Archived from the original on September 27, 2007 ; Retrieved September 20, 2009 (Where is the source?). Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.  
8. ↑ https://www.vip.de/vips/no-angels-t2709.html found at vip.de, accessed on October 22, 2019
9. ↑ After three and a half years of hard work, the girl group No Angels is now disbanding due to collective exhaustion
10. ↑ Nadja Benaissa: Everything will be fine , p. 156
11. ↑ All information & news about No Angels | VIP.de. Retrieved October 22, 2019 . 
12. ↑ spiegel.de: Stars on probation
13. ↑ Chaos among the No Angels
14. ^ Astrid Bischof: Justice: Arrest warrant canceled. Welcome - the new life of Nadja Benaissa. In: Sueddeutsche.de . May 17, 2010, archived from the original on September 16, 2009 ; accessed on October 15, 2014 . Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.  
15. ↑ Video shoot for "One Life". In: No Angels Inside. Retrieved July 11, 2009 . 
16. ↑ Officially: “Derailed” is the second single. In: Official fansite. October 18, 2009, archived from the original on October 21, 2009 ; accessed on October 15, 2014 . 
17. ↑ Heavenly sounds on "The Dome 52". In: Official fansite. Archived from the original on July 17, 2012 ; accessed on October 15, 2014 . 
18. ↑ "Derailed" is postponed! In: Official fansite. Archived from the original on July 19, 2012 ; accessed on October 15, 2014 . 
19. ↑ Vox.de: The Round of 25 April: No Angels Special
20. ↑ noows.de ( Memento from May 30, 2010 in the Internet Archive )
21. ↑ rtl-hessen.de ( Memento from December 18, 2013 in the Internet Archive )
22. ↑ noangels-music.de
23. ↑ dernewsticker.de
24. ↑ Lucy Diakowska: No more contact with Nadja! In: Bunte . June 21, 2014, accessed October 15, 2014 . 
25. ^ No special role: Sandy Mölling in the Grenzlandtheater
26. ↑ [1]
27. ↑ Archived copy ( Memento from January 25, 2015 in the Internet Archive )
28. ↑ My Hit Your Song , ProSieben, January 31, 2019.
29. ↑ Singing and dancing Pop stars wanted. ( Memento of May 29, 2008 in the Internet Archive ) n-tv.de, June 13, 2007, accessed on November 12, 2019.
30. ↑ «We are ready» ( Memento from December 23, 2008 in the Internet Archive )
31. ↑ "No Angels win scene award". In: No Angels Inside. January 11, 2009, archived from the original on February 11, 2013 ; accessed on May 19, 2018 . 
32. ↑ Last voting look-up. In: Official fansite. Retrieved October 15, 2014 .