Jamie-Lee Kriewitz

Jamie-Lee
Kriewitz at a press conference during the Eurovision Song Contest 2016
Born	Jamie-Lee Kriewitz (1998-03-18) 18 March 1998 Bennigsen, Germany
Occupation	Singer activist
Years active	2015–present
Parent(s)	Michael Kriewitz (father) Nicole Kriewitz (mother)
Relatives	Joey Kriewitz (older brother)
Musical career
Genres	Pop
Instruments	Vocals
Years active	2015–present
Labels	Universal Music Group
Associated acts	Joyful Noise Michi Beck Smudo The Voice finalists
Website	www.jamie-lee.eu

Jamie-Lee Kriewitz (pronounced [kʁiːvɪt͡s]; born 18 March 1998), better known by the mononym Jamie-Lee, is a German singer and activist. Born and raised in Bennigsen, Hanover, she performed as a member of the German children choir Joyful Noise before auditioning for the fifth season of The Voice of Germany in 2015.^[1] She competed as one of the seventeen composing members of Team Michi & Smudo and later emerged as the winner after garnering 38% of the public vote.^[2][3] Kriewitz's debut and winner's single, "Ghost", peaked at number 11 on the GfK Entertainment Charts, number 65 in the Ö3 Austria Top 40 and number 26 on the Swiss Hitparade.^[4][5][6] She subsequently signed a recording contract with Universal Music Group; her debut studio album Berlin was released on 29 April 2016 and peaked at number 18 on the Gfk Entertainment Charts.^[4]

Following Xavier Naidoo's disqualification, Kriewitz was announced as one of the ten finalists for Unser Lied für Stockholm, Germany's preliminary decision for their representative at the Eurovision Song Contest 2016, in 2016.^[7] She competed with her debut and winner's single "Ghost" and later emerged as the winner after garnering 44.5% of the public vote.^[8][9] Kriewitz then represented Germany in the Eurovision Song Contest 2016, where she placed twenty-sixth in the final, scoring 11 points: 10 points from the televoting and 1 point from the juries.^[10] Her placement became Germany's second consecutive time at last place since Lena's win with her song "Satellite" in 2010, the first being Ann Sophie with her song "Black Smoke", whom placed twenty-seventh and scored null points in 2015.^[10]

Early life

Jamie-Lee Kriewitz was born in Bennigsen, Hanover on 18 March 1998 to Michael Kriewitz, a former drummer for the German punk rock band 3Zylinder,^[11][12] and Nicole Kriewitz.^[13][14] She has an older brother named Joey.^[15] At the age of 12, Kriewitz became a member of the German children choir Joyful Noise.^[1] At the age of 14, she became a vegan.^[16] Kriewitz originally intended to pursue a degree in Korean studies before deciding to pursue a career as a musician.^[17]

Career

2015: The Voice of Germany

Kriewitz (left) and Ayke Witt (right) performing during The Voice of Germany: Live in Concert.

In 2015, Kriewitz successfully auditioned for the fifth season of The Voice of Germany, singing "The Hanging Tree" by James Newton Howard and Jennifer Lawrence.^[18] She persuaded all four coaches to turn their chairs and chose to compete as one of the 17 composing members of Team Michi & Smudo.^[19] Kriewitz progressed to the battle rounds and was paired against Meike Rosendahl, singing "Royals" by Lorde and was saved by her coach.^[20] She made it to the knockout rounds, where she sang "Berlin" by RY X and was saved by her coach once again.^[21] During the live rounds, Kriewitz sang "Lights Will Guide Me" by Fahrenhaidt and was saved by her coach for the third consecutive time.^[22] On 2 December, the music video for her winner's single, "Ghost", premiered on the Digster On Stage's official YouTube channel.^[23] For the semi-final, Kriewitz sang "Warriors" by Imagine Dragons and was saved by the public vote.^[24] During the grand final, she was required to perform three songs – a duet with her coaches ("Name drauf"), a duet with a singer ("Take Me Home") and the winner's single ("Ghost").^[25][26][27] Kriewitz was later announced as the winner after garnering 38% of the public vote.^[28][29] She then embarked on The Voice of Germany: Live in Concert concert tour with 8 other finalists, which ran from 27 December 2015 in Hof, Bavaria to 13 January 2016 in Hamburg, Germany.^[30]

Performances on The Voice of Germany

     denotes a performance that entered the charts
     denotes winner

2016: Eurovision Song Contest and Berlin

After emerging as the winner of the fifth season of The Voice of Germany, Kriewitz's debut and winner's single, "Ghost", peaked at number 11 on the GfK Entertainment Charts, number 65 in the Ö3 Austria Top 40 and number 26 on the Swiss Hitparade.^[4][5][6] She subsequently signed a recording contract with Universal Music Group. On 12 January 2016, Kriewitz was announced as one of the ten finalists for Unser Lied für Stockholm, Germany's preliminary decision for their representative at the Eurovision Song Contest 2016.^[7] She competed with her debut and winner's single, "Ghost", and performed ninth in the running order of the first round.^[7] She qualified for the second round after garnering 28.78% of the public vote.^[31] Kriewitz performed third in the running order for the second round and later emerged as the winner after garnering 44.5% of the public vote.^[8][9] She performed "Ghost" for the first time since emerging as the winner of Unser Lied für Stockholm on 7 April 2016 at the 25th Echo Awards.^[32][33] On 15 April 2016, the Eurovision Song Contest 2016's self-titled official soundtrack was digitally released and featured "Ghost" in the first disk.^[34]

Kriewitz performing "Ghost" during a rehearsal for the "Big Five" before the final of the Eurovision Song Contest 2016.

Kriewitz's debut studio album, Berlin, was released on 29 April 2016 and debuted at number 18 on the GfK Entertainment Charts.^[4] The studio album's track list featured songs based on her experiences on the fifth season of The Voice of Germany.^[35] Despite being commercially successful, Berlin received mixed reviews from music critics. Johanna Bruckner, reporting for the Süddeutsche Zeitung magazine, gave the studio album a positive review and described Berlin as a "clever marketing strategy" and the track list as "encouraging songs".^[36] However, Alex Klug, reporting for the laut.de magazine, criticized the studio album by saying: "Admittedly, the purgatory-like ESC-media machine had a much worse work as Berlin."^[37] She will embark on her second headlining tour to promote Berlin on 19 October 2016 to 27 October 2016 with eight dates overall.^[38]

In the Eurovision Song Contest 2016, Kriewitz was one of the five automatic qualifiers due to the "Big Five" rule. She performed tenth in the running order of the final and later achieved the lowest score of 1 point from the national jury.^[39] Kriewitz then received 10 points from the televoting and ultimately placed twenty-sixth after totaling up to only 11 points.^[39] During an interview with the Unser Lied für Stockholm presenter Barbara Schöneberger, Kriewitz expressed her sadness on her placement by commenting: "Well, of course I'm a little sad that it actually happened and I finished last. But I personally don't think it's my fault and I was really satisfied with my performance."^[40] Despite performing poorly in the Eurovision Song Contest 2016, "Ghost" debuted at number 10 on the Sweden Heatseekers.^[41]

She posed for the June 2016 issue of the Welt Vegan magazine, which held a raffle for five copies of her debut studio album Berlin.^[42][43] On 25 June 2016, Kriewitz was a jury member for 2016 KWF Audition In Berlin, Germany's preliminary decision for their representative at the K-Pop World Festival 2016.^[44]

Activism

Kriewitz is an animal rights activist. She collaborated with the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals for their "Vegan life is the best life" project, where her Japanese decora kei-inspired outfit and an autographed poster was auctioned.^[16] During an interview with PETA, Kriewitz explained her perspective on equality of all living things by saying: "The difference between the dog and pork is simply not for me - it is inhumane, animals that cannot defend themselves to abuse. I take my responsibility for all animals too seriously and would also say 'no' to leather, wool and animal experiments."^[16]

Discography

Albums

Singles

Concert tours

Headlining

• The Voice of Germany: Live in Concert (2016)^[30]
• Berlin Tour (2016)^[38]

Awards and nominations

Notes

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Jamie-Lee Kriewitz.

• Official website
• Jamie-Lee Kriewitz on the Universal Music Group website.

Germany in the Eurovision Song Contest
Participation 1956 1957 1958 1959 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017
Artists 1950s Walter Andreas Schwarz Freddy Quinn Margot Hielscher Margot Hielscher Alice & Ellen Kessler 1960s Wyn Hoop Lale Andersen Conny Froboess Heidi Brühl Nora Nova Ulla Wiesner Margot Eskens Inge Brück Wenche Myhre Siw Malmkvist 1970s Katja Ebstein Katja Ebstein Mary Roos Gitte Cindy & Bert Joy Fleming Les Humphries Singers Silver Convention Ireen Sheer Dschinghis Khan 1980s Katja Ebstein Lena Valaitis Nicole Hoffmann & Hoffmann Mary Roos Wind Ingrid Peters Wind Maxi & Chris Garden Nino de Angelo 1990s Chris Kempers & Daniel Kovac Atlantis 2000 Wind Münchener Freiheit Mekado Leon Stone & Stone Bianca Shomburg Guildo Horn Sürpriz 2000s Stefan Raab Michelle Corinna May Lou Max Gracia Texas Lightning Roger Cicero No Angels Alex Swings Oscar Sings 2010s Lena Lena Roman Lob Cascada Elaiza Ann Sophie Jamie-Lee Kriewitz
Songs 1950s "Im Wartesaal zum großen Glück" "So geht das jede Nacht" "Telefon, Telefon" "Für zwei Groschen Musik" "Heute Abend wollen wir tanzen geh'n" 1960s "Bonne nuit ma chérie" "Einmal sehen wir uns wieder" "Zwei kleine Italiener" "Marcel" "Man gewöhnt sich so schnell an das Schöne" "Paradies, wo bist du?" "Die Zeiger der Uhr" "Anouschka" "Ein Hoch der Liebe" "Primaballerina" 1970s "Wunder gibt es immer wieder" "Diese Welt" "Nur die Liebe läßt uns leben" "Junger Tag" "Die Sommermelodie" "Ein Lied kann eine Brücke sein" "Sing Sang Song" "Telegram" "Feuer" "Dschinghis Khan" 1980s "Theater" "Johnny Blue" "Ein bißchen Frieden" "Rücksicht" "Aufrecht geh'n" "Für alle " "Über die Brücke geh'n" "Lass die Sonne in dein Herz" "Lied für einen Freund" "Flieger" 1990s "Frei zu leben" "Dieser Traum darf niemals sterben" "Träume sind für alle da" "Viel zu weit" "Wir geben 'ne Party" "Verliebt in Dich" "Planet of Blue" "Zeit" "Guildo hat euch lieb!" "Reise nach Jerusalem – Kudüs'e seyahat" 2000s "Wadde hadde dudde da?" "Wer Liebe lebt" "I Can't Live Without Music" "Let's Get Happy" "Can't Wait Until Tonight" "Run & Hide" "No No Never" "Frauen regier'n die Welt" "Disappear" "Miss Kiss Kiss Bang" 2010s "Satellite" "Taken by a Stranger" "Standing Still" "Glorious" "Is It Right" "Black Smoke" "Ghost"
(Note: Entries scored out are when Germany did not compete)