Elaiza () is a German band from Berlin that represented Germany at the

Eurovision Song Contest 2014 The Eurovision Song Contest 2014 was the 59th edition of the Eurovision Song Contest. It took place in Copenhagen, Denmark, following the country's victory at the with the song "Only Teardrops" by Emmelie de Forest. Organised by the European B ...

in Copenhagen, Denmark, with their song "

Is It Right "Is it Right" is a song by German band Elaiza. Written by Elżbieta Steinmetz, Frank Kretschmer, and Adam Kesselhaut, it was released in Germany on 28 February 2014 as the lead single from their debut studio album '' Gallery'' (2014). It at th ...

". The leader of the group is Elżbieta "Ela" Steinmetz. She was born in

Ukraine Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the List of European countries by area, second-largest country in Europe after Russia, which Russia–Ukraine border, borders it to the east and northeast. Ukraine also borders Belarus to the nor ...

and is of mixed

Polish Polish may refer to: * Anything from or related to Poland, a country in Europe * Polish language * Polish people, people from Poland or of Polish descent * Polish chicken * Polish brothers (Mark Polish and Michael Polish, born 1970), American twin ...

and Ukrainian origin as her mother comes from Poland and her father is from

. 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.

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 A hard disk recorder (HDR) is a system that uses a high-capacity hard disk to record digital audio or digital video. Hard disk recording systems represent an alternative to reel-to-reel audio tape recording and video tape recorders, and provide n ...

. 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. 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''

With their song ''Is It Right'' written together with Mesanic Music headwriter Adam Kesselhaut, Elaiza applied via YouTube for the so-called

wild card Wild card most commonly refers to: * Wild card (cards), a playing card that substitutes for any other card in card games * Wild card (sports), a tournament or playoff place awarded to an individual or team that has not qualified through normal pla ...

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 Hamburg (, ; ), officially the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg,. is the List of cities in Germany by population, second-largest city in Germany after Berlin and List of cities in the European Union by population within city limits, 7th-lar ...

. The

trio Trio may refer to: Music Groups * Trio (music), an ensemble of three performers, or a composition for such an ensemble ** Jazz trio, pianist, double bassist, drummer ** Minuet and trio, a form in classical music ** String trio, a group of three ...

won the

televoting Televoting (also telephone voting, phone voting, and call-in voting) is a method of decision making and opinion polling conducted by telephone. Televoting can also extend to voting by SMS text message via a mobile cell phone. Broadcast contest ...

, which qualified them to start at the German preselection ''Unser Song für Dänemark'' on 13 March 2014 at Lanxess-Arena,

Cologne Cologne ( ; ; ) is the largest city of the States of Germany, German state of North Rhine-Westphalia and the List of cities in Germany by population, fourth-most populous city of Germany with nearly 1.1 million inhabitants in the city pr ...

, with seven other contenders. In the third and final round Elaiza won the televoting with 55 percent against the band

Unheilig Unheilig (German for "Unholy") is a German band that draws from a variety of influences, including various Pop music, pop and Electronic music, electronic styles as well as heavier, Nihilism, nihilistic hard rock. The band was founded in Aache ...

, which is very popular in Germany. On 28 March 2014 they released their debut studio album ''

Gallery Gallery or The Gallery may refer to: * Gallery (surname), a surname Arts, entertainment, and media * Art gallery ** Contemporary art gallery ** Online art gallery Music * Gallery (band), an American soft rock band of the 1970s Albums * ' ...

'', 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 Smila ( ) is a city located on Dnieper Upland near the Tyasmyn River, in Cherkasy Raion, Cherkasy Oblast of Ukraine. The Tiasmyn River, a tributary of the Dnieper River, flows through the city. In January 2022, the estimated population was 65, ...

) — vocals, piano * Laura Zimmermann (born 8 April 1989 in

Munich Munich is the capital and most populous city of Bavaria, Germany. As of 30 November 2024, its population was 1,604,384, making it the third-largest city in Germany after Berlin and Hamburg. Munich is the largest city in Germany that is no ...

Bavaria Bavaria, officially the Free State of Bavaria, is a States of Germany, state in the southeast of Germany. With an area of , it is the list of German states by area, largest German state by land area, comprising approximately 1/5 of the total l ...

West Germany West Germany was the common English name for the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG) from its formation on 23 May 1949 until German reunification, its reunification with East Germany on 3 October 1990. It is sometimes known as the Bonn Republi ...

–

accordion Accordions (from 19th-century German language, German ', from '—"musical chord, concord of sounds") are a family of box-shaped musical instruments of the bellows-driven free reed aerophone type (producing sound as air flows past a Reed (mou ...

, violin, backing vocals * Natalie Plöger (born 3 September 1985 in

Leer Leer may refer to: * Leer, Lower Saxony, town in Germany ** Leer (district), containing the town in Lower Saxony, Germany ** Leer (Ostfriesland) railway station * Leer, South Sudan, town in South Sudan ** Leer County, an administrative division ...

Lower Saxony Lower Saxony is a States of Germany, German state (') in Northern Germany, northwestern Germany. It is the second-largest state by land area, with , and fourth-largest in population (8 million in 2021) among the 16 ' of the Germany, Federal Re ...

) —

string bass The double bass (), also known as the upright bass, the acoustic bass, the bull fiddle, or simply the bass, is the largest and lowest-pitched string instrument, chordophone in the modern orchestra, symphony orchestra (excluding rare additions ...

, backings * Yvonne Grünwald (born 10 May in

Salzwedel Salzwedel (, officially known as Hansestadt Salzwedel; ) is a town in Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. It is the capital of the district (''Kreis'') of Altmarkkreis Salzwedel, and has a population of approximately 21,500. Salzwedel is located on the Ger ...

Saxony-Anhalt Saxony-Anhalt ( ; ) is a States of Germany, state of Germany, bordering the states of Brandenburg, Saxony, Thuringia and Lower Saxony. It covers an area of and has a population of 2.17 million inhabitants, making it the List of German states ...

East Germany East Germany, officially known as the German Democratic Republic (GDR), was a country in Central Europe from Foundation of East Germany, its formation on 7 October 1949 until German reunification, its reunification with West Germany (FRG) on ...

) — accordion,

Glockenspiel The glockenspiel ( ; or , : bells and : play) or bells is a percussion instrument consisting of pitched aluminum or steel bars arranged in a Musical keyboard, keyboard layout. This makes the glockenspiel a type of metallophone, similar to the v ...

, backing vocals. Grünwald left the band in August 2016 to pursue other music projects.

Discography

Albums

Singles

Other charted songs

References

{{Authority control German musical trios German all-female bands Articles containing video clips Musical groups from Berlin Eurovision Song Contest entrants