Vanilla ninja

This article is about the band Vanilla Ninja. For her debut album of the same name, see Vanilla Ninja (album) .

Vanilla ninja
Vanilla Ninja in August 2005: Triinu Kivilaan, Piret Järvis, Lenna Kuurmaa and Katrin Siska (from left to right)
General information
Genre (s)	Hard rock pop rock
founding	August 2002 (2019 short-term reunification)
resolution	end of 2009
Website	www.vanillaninja.eu
Founding members
Guitar , vocals	Lenna Kuurmaa
Electric bass , vocals	Maarja Kivi
Guitar, vocals	Piret Järvis
Keyboard	Katrin Siska
Last occupation
Guitar, vocals	Lenna Kuurmaa
Guitar, vocals	Piret Järvis
Keyboard	Katrin Siska
former members
Electric bass, vocals	Maarja Kivi (08/2002 - 04/2004)
Electric bass, vocals	Triinu Kivilaan (08/2004 - 01/2006)

Vanilla Ninja was a pop-rock - girl group from Estonia . The band was founded as a quartet before Maarja Kivi left the group in mid-2004 and was temporarily replaced by Triinu Kivilaan until the beginning of 2006 . Since then, Vanilla Ninja has existed as a trio . All members have been solo active since 2009. On December 18, 2019, after ten years, they performed together as the band Vanilla Ninja, where they played five songs live.

history

2002: Foundation and naming

Vanilla Ninja were founded in August 2002 as a four-piece girl group . The original line-up consisted of Maarja Kivi (vocals), Lenna Kuurmaa (vocals), Katrin Siska (background vocals) and Piret Järvis (background vocals). Its producer was the Estonian Sven Lõhmus . On January 26, 2002, Kivi took part in the Eurolaul 2002 , the Estonian preliminary decision for the Eurovision Song Contest 2002 , with the song A Dream and the number three . The song was produced by Raid Liiver. Kärt Tomingas wrote the lyrics of the song. In the end, she finished seventh with 38 points. She was then used as the front woman by Peep Vedla, who was supposed to found a girl band for the TopTen record company .

Lenna Kuurmaa was discovered at the 2002 Fizz Superstar music competition , the Estonian edition of Pop Idol , and was accepted into the band. The group was completed with Piret Järvis and Katrin Siska.

A Vanilla Ninja Ice Cream was produced in Estonia in 2003 and sold over 300,000 times a month. The picture on the packaging consisted of the then current band members Kuurmaa, Kivi, Järvis and Siska. In 2007 the picture was updated a little so that only Kuurmaa, Järvis and Siska could be seen. Vanilla Ninja also promoted a drink called Starter , and an advertisement was in the booklet of their debut album . Club Kung Fu was played as background music in the commercial .

Actually, the four founding members just wanted to call themselves "Ninja". But an Estonian DJ already had this name. Sven Lõhmus and Piret Järvis continued to look for a suitable band name. It should be a two word band name. First it occurred to Järvis that all members had blonde hair. The exception here was Kuurmaa. She had dyed her hair. This is how the first part of the band name, "Vanilla", came about. We always knew we were blonde, cute and friendly, like a vanilla flower , Järvis explained afterwards. Now a second part of the name had to be found. We immediately thought of "Ninja" because our music and character reflected that. We are tough like "ninja warriors". We fight for everything we want to own. So our music is rock. And that's why "Vanilla Ninja" , says Järvis.

2003: Debut album and appearance at Eurolaul

On 8 February 2003, the volume entitled took Club Kung Fu on Eurolaul 2003 part. They had two background singers to support them during the performance. They had starting number eight in the final and made it to tenth and last place with 32 points. On May 30, 2003, the group released their debut album of the same name , which reached number one in Estonia. In addition to the original version of Club Kung Fu , it contains 14 other pop songs in English and Estonian and made the band popular in Estonia. The album sold more than 337,000 copies, making it her most successful to date. In addition, a music video was shot for the Estonian title Nagu Rockstaar (German: "like a rock star"), which was only released in Estonia. A single was not released here. The first songs to be produced were Purunematu and Nagu Rockstaar .

2003 to 2004: Second album, expansion to Europe and change of band members

2. Vanilla Ninja logo

After their debut in Estonia, Vanilla Ninja moved to Germany ; their new record label was Bros Music. The first single released by Vanilla Ninja was Tough Enough in November 2003; shortly afterwards it also appeared in Austria and Switzerland . In Germany and Austria it was placed in the top 20. After the success of the debut single, her previous producer Sven Lõhmus released the title Club Kung Fu on February 16, 2004. This was able to stay in the German single charts for two weeks. At the beginning of 2004 the group advertised a hairstyle product, buyers of the product could win a meet & greet with the band.

On March 3, 2004, they started their 16-concert Tough Enough tour , during which they performed together with the pop stars Preluders , Overground and Bro'Sis . In addition, the guys from 3rd Wish were there at some concerts . In addition to Leipzig , Berlin , Hanover and Ingolstadt , they also performed in Zurich (Switzerland) and Vienna (Austria). The tour ended on March 27, 2004.

On March 22nd, 2004, the group released their third single Don't Go Too Fast , which also hit the charts in Estonia.

After Vanilla Ninja received admission to the Eurovision Song Contest, the single Liar was released on May 24, 2004.

On June 7, 2004, her second studio album, Traces of Sadness, was released . This sold more than 200,000 times. This long player was also number one in Estonia and stayed in Austria for 44 weeks in the album charts. In Germany the CD achieved platinum status, in Austria it was awarded gold .

Maarja Kivi left the group due to her pregnancy in the summer of 2004. As a replacement, it was decided against Charlene Rennit and the bassist Triinu Kivilaan .

The subsequent single When the Indians Cry became a hit, and it was the first time the band made it into the German top 10. The track, which was released in August 2004 as the fifth single in Europe, was the first slow, ballad-like song by Vanilla Ninja. It was also the first song in which the new singer Triinu Kivilaan appeared. Lyrically and musically it is strongly reminiscent of When the Children Cry by the American band White Lion . The next release followed the single Blue Tattoo . The song was first heard as an unplugged version on the limited edition of the album Traces of Sadness . The video for the song was created using blue screen technology . With the song Vanilla Ninja also appeared on The Dome . In 2004 Vanilla Ninja were nominated for the Bravo Otto in the Band Pop category and took third place. They lost to Overground and Silbermond . The latter group won the award.

2005: Third album and appearance at the Eurovision Song Contest

The single collection was released on January 25, 2005 and includes the five singles Tough Enough , Don't Go Too Fast , Liar , When the Indians Cry and Blue Tattoo . It is a hand-signed and limited box set by the group.

After the success of Traces of Sadness , the band went on a three-month tour of Asia . The title I Know , published in March 2005, made it into the top 20 again in Germany and Austria. Two weeks later, Blue Tattoo , their third album, was released. It reached number one on the Estonian album charts and sold more than 10,000 times. It was also able to celebrate successes in German-speaking countries. The single Cool Vibes , released in June 2005, reached number 42 in the German charts. The band suffered a setback when it became known that essential parts of the accompanying video had been taken over as plagiarism from the 1994 video Mindmachine by the group Deine Lakaien .

In May 2005 Vanilla Ninja represented Switzerland at the Eurovision Song Contest ; their manager David Brandes was born here. The song was produced by Brandes and Jane Tempest, who have produced all of the group's songs since November 2003. The lyrics were written by Bernd Opinion , who at that time still appeared as "John O'Flynn". The decision in favor of Vanilla Ninja was made by the entertainment managers of the three Swiss television companies for the three language areas (German, French and Italian), SF DRS , TSR and TSI .

In the final, the group achieved eighth of 24 possible places with the song Cool Vibes with a total of 128 points - the best result for Switzerland since 1993 . During their performance, Kuurmaa took over the lead vocals. Järvis, Kivilaan and Siska only sang in the background. This was Siska's first and so far only appearance in which the keyboard player had sung a song by the band.

2005: New management and chart lock

According to research by the Sat.1 file editors, the sales of the singles and albums are said to have been manipulated by the then producer David Brandes. As a result, a three-month chart ban was imposed on the two albums Traces of Sadness and Blue Tattoo by Vanilla Ninja, her two singles Blue Tattoo and I Know , and the single Run & Hide by Gracia Baur and Virus Incorporation ( Heaven Is a Place on Earth ) . In April 2005 David Brandes justified the buying of hamsters on the ZDF talk show Johannes B. Kerner by saying that this was a common practice in the music business and that he would have given his artists a “clear competitive disadvantage” had he refused to adopt this strategy.

In May 2005 the band announced that they wanted to distance themselves from the pop music genre in order to focus more on harder pop rock in the future. After the chart ban a so-called limited edition of the album Blue Tattoo was released. In addition to the already known songs, there are unplugged and classical versions of the album songs as well as some music videos. On November 16, 2005, the record Silent Emotions was released in Japan, but Vanilla Ninja were against the release of this compilation, which only contains unplugged and classical versions of their previously released studio albums Traces of Sadness and Blue Tattoo . On November 25th, a single called Megamix was released as a maxi and 2-track single. The song is a compilation of the debut song Tough Enough , as well as the songs Don't Go Too Fast , When the Indians Cry and Blue Tattoo .

On December 2, 2005, the associated compilation Best Of was released , which placed 70th in Switzerland. It contains all songs that have been released as single to date, as well as selected songs from their previously released albums. These include Destroyed by You , Corner of My Mind and My Puzzle of Dreams . The latter was written by Lenna Kuurmaa and Piret Järvis.

2006: New line-up and album Love Is War

With the album Love Is War , released on May 19, 2006, Vanilla Ninja returned as a trio, as Triinu Kivilaan had left the band due to solo projects. The CD took first place in Estonia. It is the only album for which a commercial was produced. On the Japanese version of the album, in addition to the 12 songs, the two tracks My Name and Love Is Just a War can be heard.

On April 21, 2006, the single Dangerzone was released. On September 8, 2006 the title Rockstarz was released as a single. Rockstarz was able to place itself in the German single charts for a week. Then the Estonians lost their record deal with EMI .

That same year, Vanilla Ninja played as the opening act at the I'm Not Dead tour the singer Pink . In 2006 the band also advertised a mineral water . Kuurmaa promoted inline skaters, for which a commercial was also produced.

2007 to 2008: Birds of Peace and Crashing Through the Doors

Vanilla Ninja at the Eesti Laul 2007

The band tried at Eurolaul 2007 on February 3, 2007 with the title Birds of Peace , which they sang in the Estonian version, a third attempt to participate in the Eurovision Song Contest 2007 . They took fourth place with a total of 7,552 points. With their performance, Vanilla Ninja had over 3000 points more than the fifth-placed Soul Militia .

The year 2007 was marked by the legal dispute with her producer David Brandes, who claimed the rights to the name "Vanilla Ninja". In December 2007, a verdict decided in favor of the band, which has since been allowed to perform internationally again and publish CDs. Kuurmaa and Järvis also performed with Club Kung Fu at the Eesti Otsib Lemmik Laulu , a musical competition in Estonia. Here Kuurmaa took over the lead vocals. Järvis sang in the background. Band member Katrin Siska was not there because she wanted to hold back something from the music scene.

In February 2008 the group performed with the title Birds of Peace at the International Song Festival in Viña del Mar in Chile and won the Silver Seagull for "Best Performer / Artist". In 2008 the single Crashing Through the Doors was released , which was only available for purchase during the Estonia tour in 2008 . The German fans could only order the single in an Estonian online shop. On the CD is a new "Country Version" of their 2004 single Club Kung Fu . This track was produced by Per Gessle , a member of the Roxette group . Kuurmaa and Järvis wrote the lyrics. With Crashing Through The Doors is not a new song, but an English-language version of the already published in 2003 by Per Gessle title Spegelboll . In 2008 Kuurmaa promoted an HIV campaign called Minu inimesed ("My People").

The band had founded their own label in Estonia, which was called Vanilla Ninja Records OÜ . Both Birds of Peace and Crashing Through the Doors were published from this company . In June 2008 the restart tour started with other Estonian musicians in Tallinn and Tartu . In December 2008, Vanilla Ninja were in the VIVA telecast the 100 most beautiful stars of all time voted to place 12th On December 9th, 2008 they gave a concert in Moscow . At the end of 2008, Kuurmaa promoted KIA Motors Estonia .

2009 to 2012: tours and solo projects

Vanilla Ninja gave a Rock Diva tour of Latin America in 2009 . The band gave five concerts. Stations were Mexico City ( Mexico ), São Paulo ( Brazil ), Lima ( Peru ), Buenos Aires ( Argentina ) and Santiago de Chile ( Chile ).

In 2009 there was a duet with the Estonian rapper BDÖ. The result is the song Operation B , which he sang with Kuurmaa and Järvis. The song has not been chartered because it was only released as the B-side of BDÖ.'s single Eile nägin ma Eestimaad .

After the Rock Diva tour , all members of the group began their solo projects. Lenna Kuurmaa performed at Eesti Laul 2010 . She took the second of ten possible places with the title Rapunzel . In the same year she was the only current band member to release her solo album, which she titled Lenna . In 2011 she and her bandmate Järvis moderated the preliminary decision shows for the Eurovision Song Contest 2011 on February 26th in Estonia .

Piret Järvis works for the Estonian MTV and also took part in the Estonian preliminary round like Kuurmaa . With Sander Loite, Paul Oja and Kallervo Karu, Järvis appeared as Disko 4000 and with the title Ei Usu . They took seventh place. In addition, on May 14, 2011 she passed on the points from Estonia for the Eurovision Song Contest 2011 in Germany.

Katrin Siska has been politically committed to her hometown Tallinn in the Keskerakond party since August 2009 . Since 2011, Hector Faune has been the new manager of Vanilla Ninja.

As in 2010, Kuurmaa competed in the Estonian preliminary decision for the Eurovision Song Contest 2012 . Her song was called Mina jään and was written by her and Mihkel Raud. Its first appearance took place on December 30, 2011 in Estonia. Mina Jään reached number one in Estonia. Kuurmaa made it to the final of the Estonian preliminary decision, which took place on March 3, 2012. She reached second place behind Ott Lepland . The Estonian preliminary decision for the Eurovision Song Contest 2012, Eesti Laul, was again moderated by Järvis.

A performance of the band announced by Kuurmaa in an Estonian interview for the end of July 2012 to celebrate the 10th anniversary of the band was canceled on July 7, 2012 because the organizers could not agree.

Discography

→ Main articles : Vanilla Ninja / Discography  and List of Vanilla Ninja songs

Studio albums

year	Title music label	Top ranking, total weeks, awardChart placementsChart placements (Year, title, music label , placements, weeks, awards, notes)			Remarks
		DE	AT	CH
2003	Vanilla Ninja TopTen	-	-	-	First published: May 2003 Sales: + 337,000
2004	Traces of Sadness BROS Music	DE3 gold (41 weeks)DE	AT4th gold (33 weeks)AT	CH14 (44 weeks) CH	First published: June 7, 2004 Sales: + 115,000
2005	Blue Tattoo BROS Music	DE4 (8 weeks) DE	AT7 (12 weeks) AT	CH4 (24 weeks) CH	First published: March 14, 2005 Sales: + 10,000
2006	Love Is War EMI / Capitol	DE16 (5 weeks) DE	AT29 (3 weeks) AT	CH14 (9 weeks) CH	First published: May 13, 2006

Participation in the Eesti Laul and the Eurovision Song Contest at a glance

This table gives an overview of all previous contributions by Vanilla Ninja and their band members in the Estonian preliminary round and in the Eurovision Song Contest .

#	year	Artist	Contribution	broadcast
1	2002	Maarja	"A Dream"	Eurolaul 2002
2	2003	Vanilla Ninja (Kuurmaa, Järvis, Siska and Kivi)	" Club Kung Fu "	Eurolaul 2003
3	2005	Vanilla Ninja (Kuurmaa, Järvis, Siska and Kivilaan)	" Cool Vibes "	Eurovision Song Contest 2005
4th	2007	Vanilla Ninja (Kuurmaa, Järvis and Siska)	"Birds of Peace"	Eurolaul 2007
5	2010	Lenna	"Rapunzel"	Eesti Laul 2010
6th		Disco 4000	"Egg Usu"
7th	2011	Lenna Kuurmaa and Piret Järvis	Moderation of the Eesti Lauls 2011	Eesti Laul 2011
8th		Piret Järvis	Estonian points announcer	Eurovision Song Contest 2011
9	2012		Moderation of the Eesti Lauls 2012	Eesti Laul 2012
10		Lenna	"Mina jään"
11	2014		"Supernoova"	Eesti Laul 2014
12	2017		"Slingshot"	Eesti Laul 2017

Web links

Commons : Vanilla Ninja  - Collection of Images

• Official website
• Vanilla Ninja at Discogs (English)

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Vanilla Ninja: Hard Rock (Accessed April 15, 2012)
2. ↑ Vanilla Ninja make Poprock  ( page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. (Accessed April 15, 2012)  
3. ↑ Allmusic: Vanilla Ninja Make Poprock (Accessed April 15, 2012)
4. ↑ Triinu to leave Vanilla Ninja in January 2006 (accessed November 5, 2011)
5. ↑ Vanilla Ninja is back on vanillaninja.eu (accessed March 24, 2020)
6. ↑ Founded in August 2002 ( Memento of the original from October 12, 2009 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. (Accessed April 15, 2012) 
7. ↑ A Dream (Accessed April 15, 2012)
8. ↑ Production of A Dream (Accessed April 15, 2012)
9. ↑ Placements from Eesti Laul 2002 (accessed on April 15, 2012)
10. ↑ Vanilla Ninja Ice Cream: A Success in Estonia (Retrieved October 30, 2011)
11. ↑ ^{a b c d e f} vanillaninja.eu: Adverts (accessed on July 15, 2012)
12. ↑ The Origin of the Name "Vanilla Ninja" (Accessed April 15, 2012)
13. ↑ Club Kung Fu at Eesti Laul 2003 (Accessed April 15, 2012)
14. ↑ Eighth place in the final of the Eesti Lauls 2003 ( accessed on April 15, 2012)
15. ↑ Placements from Eesti Laul 2003 (accessed on April 15, 2012)
16. ↑ ^{a b c d} Estonian chart positions (Accessed April 15, 2012)
17. ↑ The Beginnings of Vanilla Ninja (accessed November 5, 2011)
18. ^ Club Kung Fu: First published (accessed April 15, 2012)
19. ↑ The Tough Enough Tour (Accessed April 15, 2012)
20. ↑ First publication of Don't Go Too Fast (accessed April 15, 2012)
21. ↑ Don't Go Too Fast ranked 19th in Estonia (accessed April 15, 2012)
22. ↑ austriancharts.at First publication of the single Liar (accessed on April 15, 2012)
23. ↑ Charlene might be a substitute: Maarja Kivi is to leave Vanilla Ninja (accessed February 16, 2012)
24. ↑ Vanilla Ninja 2004 nominated for the Bravo Otto (accessed November 20, 2011)
25. ↑ vanillaninja.xz.lt: "Singlai" ( Memento of the original from March 18, 2013 in the Internet Archive ) 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. (accessed on November 6, 2011) 
26. ↑ "Bros Music" web shop: Single Collection  ( page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. (accessed on November 6, 2011)  
27. ↑ Sales figures for "Blue Tattoo" ( Memento of the original from March 18, 2013 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. (Accessed November 6, 2011) 
28. ↑ Vanilla Ninja will represent Switzerland at the Eurovision Song Contest 2005 (accessed October 30, 2011)
29. ↑ Criminal complaint against snitch producer (accessed on July 12, 2019)
30. ↑ Charts blocked: three artists from Bros Music are thrown out of the charts ( memento of the original from December 16, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link has been inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. (Accessed November 22, 2011) 
31. ↑ Music database: Vanilla Ninja - Silent Emotions (accessed April 8, 2012)
32. ↑ First published by Love Is War (Accessed April 15, 2012)
33. ↑ The Love Is War Commercial ( Accessed April 15, 2012)
34. ↑ Tracklist of the Japanese version of Love Is War (Accessed April 15, 2012)
35. ↑ Dangerzone: First published (Accessed April 15, 2012)
36. ↑ Rockstarz: First published (accessed April 15, 2012)
37. ↑ Rockstarz in the German charts ( Memento of the original from March 4, 2016 in the Internet Archive ) 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. (Accessed April 15, 2012) 
38. ↑ Vanilla Ninja touring with Pink (accessed October 30, 2011)
39. ↑ youtube.com spot of Ara ole topis! Liiguta! (Accessed July 15, 2012)
40. ↑ Birds of Peace at Eesti Laul in Estonian (accessed November 5, 2011)
41. ↑ Placements from Eesti Laul 2007 (accessed on April 15, 2012)
42. ↑ Club Kung Fu at the Eesti Otsib Lemmik Laulu ( accessed on April 15, 2012)
43. ↑ Crashing Through the Doors in Germany ( Memento of the original from December 25, 2008 in the Internet Archive ) 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. (Accessed November 2, 2011) 
44. ↑ Chrashing Through the Doors - Production ( Memento of the original from August 15, 2011 in the Internet Archive ) 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. (Accessed April 15, 2012) 
45. ↑ dailyroxette.com: Vanilla Ninja records Gessle-penned song , May 5, 2008 ( Memento of the original from August 15, 2011 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. 
46. ↑ 12th place in the VIVA show Special Charts and appearance in Moscow (accessed on November 5, 2011)
47. ↑ Rock Diva-Tour 2009 (Accessed April 15, 2012)
48. ↑ Operation B: The Song (Accessed April 15, 2012)
49. ↑ Haste nägin ma Eestimaad: B-Side Operation B (Accessed April 15, 2012)
50. ↑ Placement at Eesti Laul 2010 (accessed on April 15, 2012)
51. ↑ Eesti Laul 2011 - moderation (accessed on April 15, 2012)
52. ↑ The cast of the band Disko 4000 (accessed April 15, 2012)
53. ↑ Eesti Laul 2010, Disko 4000 (accessed on April 15, 2012)
54. ↑ Katrin Siska in the Keskerakond (accessed November 3, 2011)
55. ↑ Hector Faune talks about Vanilla Ninja (Accessed April 15, 2012)
56. ↑ Kuurmaa is the second to start at Eesti Laul 2012 (accessed on February 24, 2012)
57. ↑ Lenna also takes part in Eesti Laul in 2012 (accessed on April 15, 2012)
58. ↑ Mina jään (accessed December 31, 2011)
59. ↑ Mina jään is number one in Estonia (Accessed April 15, 2012)
60. ↑ Eesti Laul finalists are complete ( memento of the original from March 22, 2012 in the Internet Archive ) 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. (Accessed April 15, 2012) 
61. ↑ Ott Lepland for Estonia to Baku  ( page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. (Accessed April 15, 2012)  
62. ↑ Järvis moderates the Eesti Laul 2012 (accessed on April 15, 2012)
63. ↑ Interview with Lenna Kuurmaa on Comeback 2012 ( Memento of the original from August 27, 2012 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. (Accessed April 15, 2012) 
64. ↑ No comeback in 2012
65. ↑ ^{a b} Sales of Vanilla Ninja ( Memento of the original from March 18, 2013 in the Internet Archive ) 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.