Elaiza

Elaiza
Background information
Origin	Berlin, Germany
Genres	Folk, indie, alternative
Years active	2013–present
Members	Elżbieta "Ela" Steinmetz Laura Zimmermann Natalie Plöger
Past members	Yvonne Grünwald (2013–2016)

Elaiza presenting themselves 2014.

Elaiza (German: [ɛlaˈiːza])^[1] is a German band from Berlin that represented Germany at the Eurovision Song Contest 2014 in Copenhagen, Denmark, with their song "Is It Right".^[2][3] The leader of the group is Elżbieta "Ela" Steinmetz. She was born in Ukraine and is of mixed Polish and Ukrainian origin as her mother comes from Poland and her father is from Ukraine.^[4][5] This cultural background is reflected in the sound of her songs.

Career

Early beginnings

At the age of 16 Steinmetz began to work as a singer-songwriter at Valicon-Studios, Berlin. At the recording studio she met accordionist Yvonne Grünwald. At some event Grünwald saw a photo of Natalie Plöger with her string bass, and Plöger was invited to play with them.^[6]

2013: Formation

Early in 2013 the three women founded the band Elaiza. At Emil Berliner Studios Elaiza produced in March 2013 the LP "March 28" via direct-to-disk recording. The record was named after the date of recording and was published by the label Berliner Meister Schallplatten. Since then the band applied itself to the production of its debut album, which is in progress in collaboration with the Valicon-producer team at Berlin. In 2013 the band won the newcomer award at the famous Women-of-the-World-Festival.^[7] In January 2014 Elaiza released an EP with the songs Is It Right, Fight Against Myself and Without.

2014–present: Eurovision Song Contest and Gallery

Elaiza at Eurovision Song Contest 2014

Main articles: Eurovision Song Contest 2014 and Gallery (Elaiza album)

With their song Is It Right written together with Mesanic Music headwriter Adam Kesselhaut, Elaiza applied via YouTube for the so-called wild card for the German preselection, where the broadcaster had seeded seven acts. Elaiza were chosen to perform among the ten best entries at a club concert at Edelfettwerk, Hamburg. The trio won the televoting, which qualified them to start at the German preselection Unser Song für Dänemark on 13 March 2014 at Lanxess-Arena, Cologne, with seven other contenders. In the third and final round Elaiza won the televoting with 55 percent against the band Unheilig, which is very popular in Germany. On 28 March 2014 they released their debut studio album Gallery, it peaked at number 24 in Germany. Elaiza represented Germany at the Eurovision Song Contest on 10 May 2014 at Copenhagen.

Members

• Elżbieta "Ela" Steinmetz (born 11 October 1992 in Smila, Ukraine) — vocals, piano
• Laura Zimmermann (born 8 April 1989 in Munich, Bavaria, West Germany – accordion, violin, backing vocals
• Natalie Plöger (born 3 September 1985 in Leer, Lower Saxony, West Germany) — string bass, backings
• Yvonne Grünwald (born 10 May in Salzwedel, Saxony-Anhalt, East Germany) — accordion, Glockenspiel, backing vocals. Grünwald left the band in August 2016 to pursue other music projects.^[8]

Discography

Albums

Title	Details	Peak chart positions
		GER [9]
Gallery	Released: 28 March 2014 Label: Heart of Berlin Format: Digital download, CD	24
Restless	Released: 6 May 2016 Label: Heart of Berlin Format: Digital download, CD	92
Liebe & Krieg	Released: 14 February 2020 Label: Ariola Format: Digital download, CD	87

Singles

Title	Year	Peak chart positions							Certifications	Album
		GER [9]	AUT [10]	DEN [11]	IRE [12]	POL [13]	SWI [14]	UK [15]
"Fight Against Myself"	2014	50	—	—	—	—	—	—		Gallery
"Is it Right"		4	14	39	83	1	43	161	BVMI: Gold[16]
"I Don't Love You"		—	—	—	—	—	—	—
"Hurricane"	2016	—	—	—	—	—	—	—		Restless
"Real"		—	—	—	—	—	—	—
"—" denotes single that did not chart or was not released in that territory.

Other charted songs

Title	Year	Peak chart positions	Album
		GER [9]
"Without"	2014	88	Gallery

References

1. "Info," Heart of Berlin, 2013. Archived 30 March 2014 at the Wayback Machine
2. Brey, Marco (26 February 2014). "Germany: Full line-up for club concert on Thursday". Eurovision.tv. Retrieved 13 March 2014.
3. Leon, Jakov (13 March 2014). "[Developing story]: Elaiza wins Unser Song für Dänemark!". Eurovision.tv. Retrieved 13 March 2014.
4. "Unser Song für Dänemark Wildcard: Elaiza – "Der ESC verkörpert unsere Musik"". Prinz Blog. Archived from the original on 6 March 2014. Retrieved 24 February 2014.
5. eurovision.tv (15 April 2014). "[Elaiza]: Elaiza biography eurovision.tv". eurovision.tv. Archived from the original on 26 March 2014. Retrieved 15 April 2014.
6. "Schnapsverkostung macht Musik-Wunder von "Elaiza" wahr". Pforzheimer Zeitung. 17 March 2014. Archived from the original on 21 March 2014. Retrieved 21 March 2014.
7. ""Fashion Meets Music" Nachwuchs-Casting beim Women of the World Festival". Women of the World Festival. 4 March 2014. Retrieved 14 March 2014.
8. Elaiza (6 August 2016). "Dear Fans..." Facebook. Retrieved 17 August 2016.
9. Peak chart positions for albums in Germany:
   • Elaiza: "Discographie von Elaiza". GfK Entertainment. Retrieved 21 February 2020.
   • Ela.: "Discographie von Ela". GfK Entertainment. Retrieved 21 February 2020.
10. Hung, Steffen. "Discographie Elaiza". Austrian Charts Portal. Hung Medien (Steffen Hung). Archived from the original on 12 May 2014.
11. Hung, Steffen. "Discography Elaiza". Danish Charts Portal. Hung Medien (Steffen Hung).
12. Peak positions in Ireland:
    • For "Is it Right": "Chart Archive > 15 May 2014". Irish Recorded Music Association. Archived from the original on 5 October 2016. Retrieved 16 May 2014.
13. "Top Airplay". ZPAV. Archived from the original on 9 August 2014. Retrieved 28 July 2014.
14. Hung, Steffen. "Discographie Elaiza". Swiss Charts Portal. Hung Medien (Steffen Hung). Archived from the original on 21 May 2014.
15. Peak positions in the United Kingdom:
    • For "Is it Right": "CHART: CLUK Update 24.05.2014 (wk20)". Zobbel.de.
16. "GOLD/PLATIN/DIAMOND- Auszeichnungen in Deutschland" (PDF) (in German). musikindustrie.de. Archived from the original (PDF) on 25 December 2015. Retrieved 16 August 2015.

Awards and achievements
Preceded by Cascada with "Glorious"	Germany in the Eurovision Song Contest 2014	Succeeded by Ann Sophie with "Black Smoke"