Iiris Vesik (born 16 July 1991), better known as simply Iiris, is an Estonian singer, songwriter, and stage actress. Her debut album ''The Magic Gift Box'' was released in March 2012 under

EMI Music Finland EMI Group Limited (originally an initialism for Electric and Musical Industries, also referred to as EMI Records Ltd. or simply EMI) was a British transnational conglomerate founded in March 1931 in London. At the time of its break-up in 2012 ...

. She's also the singer of the group Night Tapes.

Life and career

Early life

Vesik began attending Jakob Westholmi Gümnaasium in 1998, and later graduated in 2010. She has a younger brother and two younger half-sisters. She began her music career after placing third in the Estonian singing competition ''Tähtede laul'' in 2003. Vesik went on to place third again in the televised Estonian singing competition ''Kaks Takti Ette'' in 2007.

Music career

Vesik has competed to represent Estonia in the

Eurovision Song Contest The Eurovision Song Contest (), sometimes abbreviated to ESC and often known simply as Eurovision, is an international songwriting competition organised annually by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU), featuring participants representing pr ...

on three occasions. In 2008, her song "Ice-Cold Story", written by Riine Pajusaar, placed second in the Eurolaul competition. In 2010 she returned with the self-composed song "Astronaut", placing fourth in the Eesti Laul competition. In 2016, along with Cartoon,

Kerli Kerli Kõiv (; born 7 February 1987), better known mononymously as Kerli, is an Estonian singer and songwriter. Born in Elva, Kerli entered multiple singing competitions before being signed to Island Records in 2006 by LA Reid. In 2007, she re ...

& Kristel Aaslaid she was one of the writers for "Immortality" performed by Cartoon and Kristel Aaslaid at Eesti Laul 2016. She competed with Agoh in

Eesti Laul 2018 Estonia participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 2018 with the song "La forza" written by Mihkel Mattisen, Timo Vendt, Ksenia Kuchukova and Elina Nechayeva. The song was performed by Elina Nechayeva. The Estonian broadcaster Eesti Rahvusringh ...

with the song “Drop That Boogie” and placed 5th in the final. 2010 was a year that rocketed Iiris into the spotlight. After the showcase festival

Tallinn Music Week Tallinn Music Week (TMW) is an international new music showcase, city culture festival and networking event for music and creative industry professionals, held every spring in Tallinn, Estonia since 2009. Operated by Tallinn-based company Shiftwo ...

, Iiris got people talking. “Especially good performance and great songwriting”, said Dietmar Schwenger of the ''

MusikWoche The ''MusikWoche'' is a German music professional magazine. In its subtitle, it calls itself "The news magazine for the music industry". It is thus a trade magazine for the music industry in German-speaking countries. Since 2014, it has been publi ...

''. Invitations from festivals like Popkomm (Germany), Musiikki & Media (Finland), The Great Escape (UK), Positivus (Latvia) and Iceland Airwaves (Iceland) followed soon. At the beginning of 2011 Iiris became the artist of the week on MTV Iggy’s blog – “A depressingly few amount of bands have “it.” In fact, I’m pretty sure I didn’t know what “it” was, until I listened to Estonian singer/songwriter/pianist Iiris. Because whatever “it” is, she definitely has it. Iiris has the eclecticism, the smarts, the innovation, the pop sound, not to mention the adorable/pretty image to become a huge mega mega, mega star.” Iiris was signed to

EMI EMI Group Limited (originally an initialism for Electric and Musical Industries, also referred to as EMI Records Ltd. or simply EMI) was a British Transnational corporation, transnational Conglomerate (company), conglomerate founded in March 1 ...

Finland in June 2011. Her debut album ''The Magic Gift Box'', produced by Ago Teppand (a.k.a. Sethh), was released on 28 March 2012. Iiris is often compared to Estonian pop singer

, and they are both fans of each other. After Universal Music Group bought EMI, Iiris has been releasing her songs on Universal Music Finland.

Musical style

Iiris is frequently compared to artists such as

Björk Björk Guðmundsdóttir ( , ; born 21 November 1965), known mononymously as Björk, is an Icelandic singer, songwriter, composer, record producer, and actress. Noted for her distinct three-octave vocal range and eccentric persona, she has de ...

Florence & The Machine Florence and the Machine (stylised as Florence + the Machine) are an English indie rock band that formed in London in 2007, consisting of lead vocalist Florence Welch, keyboardist Isabella Summers, guitarist Rob Ackroyd, harpist Tom Monger, and ...

Kate Bush Catherine Bush (born 30 July 1958) is an English singer, songwriter, record producer and dancer. In 1978, at the age of 19, she topped the UK Singles Chart for four weeks with her debut single " Wuthering Heights", becoming the first female ...

and

Regina Spektor Regina Ilyinichna Spektor (russian: Регинa Ильинична Спектор, ; born February 18, 1980) is a Russian–born American singer, songwriter, and pianist. After self-releasing her first three records and gaining popularity in ...

Discography

;Studio albums * ''The Magic Gift Box'' (2012,

Virgin Records Virgin Records is a record label owned by Universal Music Group. It originally founded as a British independent record label in 1972 by entrepreneurs Richard Branson, Simon Draper, Nik Powell, and musician Tom Newman. It grew to be a world ...

) ;EPs * ''Chinaberry Girl'' (2013,

Universal Music Group Universal Music Group N.V. (often abbreviated as UMG and referred to as just Universal Music) is a Dutch–American multinational music corporation under Dutch law. UMG's corporate headquarters are located in Hilversum, Netherlands and its ...

) * ''Hope'' (2016, Dreamweaver) * ''Dream Forever In Glorious Stereo'' (20I9) (with Night Tapes) * ''Download Spirit'' (2020) (with Night Tapes) ;Singles * "Ice-Cold Story" (Audiosus, 2007) * "Alien" (Rockhouse, 2008) * "Astronaut" (Sethh Sound, 2010) * "Melyse" (EMI Music Finland, 2011) * "Weirdo" (EMI Music Finland, 2012) * "Tigerhead" (Universal Music Finland, 2013) * "Iiridescent Love" (Hand In Hive U.K, 2015) * "Hope" (Dreamweaver, 2016) * "Stranger" (Dreamweaver, 2017)

Awards and nominations

, - , rowspan="1" , 2010 , Herself , Skype "Go Change The World Award" @ TMW , , - , rowspan="1" , 2012 , "Melyse" , Estonian Music Award for Best Music Video , , - , rowspan="5" , 2013 , rowspan="3" , ''The Magic Gift Box'' , Estonian Music Award for Best Album , , - , Estonian Music Award for Best Debut Album , , - , Estonian Music Award for Best Pop Album , , - , rowspan="1" , Herself , Estonian Music Award for Best Female Artist , , - , "Weirdo" , Estonian Music Award for Best Music Video , , - , rowspan="1" , 2014 , "Tigerhead" , Estonian Music Award for Best Music Video ,

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Iiris 1991 births Living people 21st-century Estonian women singers Estonian stage actresses Estonian child actresses Estonian child singers Indie pop musicians Synth-pop singers 21st-century Estonian actresses Alumni of Goldsmiths, University of London Eesti Laul contestants