Gabriela Gunčíková (; born 27 June 1993), also known as Gabriela Gun, is a

Czech Czech may refer to: * Anything from or related to the Czech Republic, a country in Europe ** Czech language ** Czechs, the people of the area ** Czech culture ** Czech cuisine * One of three mythical brothers, Lech, Czech, and Rus' Places * Czech, ...

singer. Her singing voice has been described as a cross between

Sheryl Crow Sheryl Suzanne Crow (born February 11, 1962) is an American musician, singer, songwriter and actress. Her music incorporates elements of rock, pop, country, folk, and blues. She has released eleven studio albums, five compilations and three li ...

and

Ann Wilson Anne, alternatively spelled Ann, is a form of the Latin female given name Anna. This in turn is a representation of the Hebrew Hannah, which means 'favour' or 'grace'. Related names include Annie. Anne is sometimes used as a male name in the ...

from the band,

Heart The heart is a muscular organ in most animals. This organ pumps blood through the blood vessels of the circulatory system. The pumped blood carries oxygen and nutrients to the body, while carrying metabolic waste such as carbon dioxide t ...

. She was the runner-up of the second season of ''

Česko Slovenská SuperStar ''SuperStar'' (previously known as ''Česko Slovenská SuperStar'') is a joint Czech- Slovak version of the Idol series' ''Pop Idol''. It was merged from '' Česko hledá SuperStar'' and '' SuperStar Search Slovakia'', which previously had three ...

'' and won the New Artist award at the 2011

Český slavík Český slavík ( en, Czech Nightingale) is a Czech award meant to recognize outstanding achievement and annual popularity in the Czech music industry. It was established in 1996 as the successor to the Zlatý slavík awards, which was establish ...

awards. Gunčíková was a touring vocalist of the

Trans-Siberian Orchestra Trans-Siberian Orchestra (TSO) is an American rock band founded in 1996 by producer, composer, and lyricist Paul O'Neill, who brought together Jon Oliva and Al Pitrelli (both members of Savatage) and keyboardist and co-producer Robert Kinkel to ...

from 2014 until 2015. She represented the Czech Republic at the

Eurovision Song Contest 2016 The Eurovision Song Contest 2016 was the 61st edition of the Eurovision Song Contest. It took place in Stockholm, Sweden, following the country's victory at the with the song "Heroes" by Måns Zelmerlöw. Organised by the European Broadcasting ...

in Stockholm with " I Stand".Česká Televize
/ref> In the Eurovision Gunčíková scored the highest place ever achieved by a Representative from The Czech Republic, being the first ever entry to make it to the Grand Final.

Life and career

2011–2015: ''SuperStar 2011'' and work with Trans-Siberian Orchestra

In 2011, Gunčíková became a finalist on the second season of the Czech-Slovak version of ''

Pop Idol ''Pop Idol'' is a British music competition television series created by Simon Fuller which ran on ITV from 2001 to 2003. The aim of the show was to decide the best new young pop singer (or "pop idol") in the UK based on viewer voting and par ...

'', titled ''

''. She ended up as the show's runner-up, placing behind the Slovak winner Lukáš Adamec. She was the highest placing Czech contestant during the season. Following the show's ending, she was signed to

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 ...

and released her debut album ''Dvojí tvář'' later in the year. Gunčíková appeared on the fifth season of the Slovak version of ''

Dancing with the Stars ''Dancing with the Stars'' is the name of various international television series based on the format of the British TV series '' Strictly Come Dancing'', which is distributed by BBC Studios, the commercial arm of the BBC. Currently the forma ...

'', '' Let's Dance'', which began airing on 9 September 2011. She was paired with professional dancer Peter Modrovský until the dance couple was eliminated on 14 October 2011, finishing in seventh place. She became one of the highest placing Czech celebrities on the show. Gunčíková went on to win the New Artist award at the 2011

awards, also known as the Czech

Grammys The Grammy Awards (stylized as GRAMMY), or simply known as the Grammys, are awards presented by the Recording Academy of the United States to recognize "outstanding" achievements in the music industry. They are regarded by many as the most pres ...

''Let's Dance''

In 2011 she was part of Slovak dancing competition '' Let's Dance'' where she was paired with dancer and two-time champion Peter Modrovský. In 2013, Gunčíková began working with American vocal coach

Ken Tamplin Ken Tamplin (born December 11, 1963) is an American vocal coach, YouTuber, and former Christian rock performer. Founder of Ken Tamplin Vocal Academy, Tamplin is known for his vocal range and vocal training methods. He has contributed to his ...

. She released her second studio album ''Celkem jiná'' this year as well. She graduated from Tamplin's classes in 2014 and subsequently joined the American

progressive rock Progressive rock (shortened as prog rock or simply prog; sometimes conflated with art rock) is a broad genre of rock music that developed in the United Kingdom and United States through the mid- to late 1960s, peaking in the early 1970s. Init ...

band

as a touring vocalist. She departed from the band the following year.

2015–present: Eurovision Song Contest 2016

In March 2016, Gunčíková was announced as the Czech entrant to the

with the song " I Stand". She competed in the second half of the first semi-final on 10 May 2016 in

Stockholm Stockholm () is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in Sweden by population, largest city of Sweden as well as the List of urban areas in the Nordic countries, largest urban area in Scandinavia. Approximately 980,000 people liv ...

, Sweden, and qualified for the grand final (she was the first Czech entrant to do so), where she performed second, and finished in 25th place.

Discography

Studio albums

Singles

Awards and nominations

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Guncikova, Gabriela 1993 births Living people 21st-century Czech women singers People from Kroměříž Czech rock musicians Eurovision Song Contest entrants for the Czech Republic Eurovision Song Contest entrants of 2016 Czech pop singers Universal Music Group artists Trans-Siberian Orchestra members