Janika Sillamaa (born 23 June 1975) is an

Estonia Estonia, formally the Republic of Estonia, is a country by the Baltic Sea in Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland across from Finland, to the west by the sea across from Sweden, to the south by Latvia, a ...

n singer and actress. Born into a musical family, Sillamaa was herself onstage from a very young age: in the musical theatre Colombina, founded by her mother Kaari Sillamaa, she played lead roles in many children's musicals, including "

Thumbelina Thumbelina (; da, Tommelise) is a literary fairy tale written by Danish author Hans Christian Andersen first published by C. A. Reitzel on 16 December 1835 in Copenhagen, Denmark, with "The Naughty Boy" and "The Travelling Companion" in t ...

" and a revue programme "Mini-Cabaret". In 1993 Sillamaa performed at the

Roskilde Festival The Roskilde Festival is a Danish music festival held annually south of Roskilde. It is one of the largest music festivals in Europe and the largest in the Nordic countries. It was created in 1971 by two high school students and a promoter. In 1 ...

. She was then a student in the pop-jazz department of the Georg Ots Music School in

Tallinn Tallinn () is the most populous and capital city of Estonia. Situated on a bay in north Estonia, on the shore of the Gulf of Finland of the Baltic Sea, Tallinn has a population of 437,811 (as of 2022) and administratively lies in the Harju ' ...

, where her vocal-coaches were

Jaak Joala Jaak Joala (26 June 1950 – 25 September 2014) was an Estonian singer, musician and a member of two bands: Kristallid and Virmalised. He began as a flautist, later adding singing and bass guitar. Biography Early life Jaak Joala was born i ...

and

Kare Kauks Kare-Ülli Kauks (Kare-Ülli Orav by marriage; born 2 June 1961 in Kehra) is an Estonian singer and music teacher. Career Kare Kauks has been vocal-coached by Heidy Tamme at the pop department of Tallinn Music School. As a promising jazz vocali ...

. In 1992 Sillamaa was internally chosen to represent

at Eurovision 1993 - Estonia's first Eurovision participation - with Sillamaa performing eight potential entrant songs in a national preliminary round televised live as Eurolaul 1993 on 20 February 1993. The song selected for Sillamaa to perform as the Estonian Eurovision entrant was " Muretut meelt ja südametuld". With representatives of six other former

Eastern bloc The Eastern Bloc, also known as the Communist Bloc and the Soviet Bloc, was the group of socialist states of Central and Eastern Europe, East Asia, Southeast Asia, Africa, and Latin America under the influence of the Soviet Union that existed du ...

nations and nations of former Yugoslavia, Sillamaa performed "Muretut meelt ja südametuld" at the ''

Kvalifikacija za Millstreet ( en, Preselection for Millstreet, i=yes; french: Présélection pour Millstreet) was a televised song contest held as a qualifying round for the Eurovision Song Contest 1993. Organised by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) and host broadcast ...

'' semi-final round broadcast live on 3 April 1993 in

Ljubljana Ljubljana (also known by other historical names) is the capital and largest city of Slovenia. It is the country's cultural, educational, economic, political and administrative center. During antiquity, a Roman city called Emona stood in the ar ...

, when four of the seven competing entrants were eliminated, including "Muretut meelt ja südametuld" which finished the round at #5. In 1992 Sillamaa played her first adult role in a stage musical: Mary Magdalene ''

Jesus Christ Superstar ''Jesus Christ Superstar'' is a sung-through rock opera with music by Andrew Lloyd Webber and lyrics by Tim Rice. Loosely based on the Gospels' accounts of the Passion, the work interprets the psychology of Jesus and other characters, with ...

'' at the

Linnahall Linnahall ( et, Tallinna Linnahall, 'Tallinn City Hall') (originally the V. I. Lenin Palace of Culture and Sports) is a multi-purpose venue in Tallinn, Estonia. It is situated in the harbor, just beyond the walls of the Old Town, and was complete ...

. Having recorded a few singles as vocalist for rock group the Names from 1995, Sillamaa again participated in

Eurolaul Estonia has participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 27 times since making its debut in 1994. Its first appearance would have taken place in 1993 but a qualification round was installed for seven former Eastern Bloc countries hoping to make t ...

in 1998 bidding to represent Estonia at Eurovision with "Viimne valge kuu" a song composed by Sillamaa's mother Kaari which finished Eurolaul 1998 in fourth place. In 2000 Sillamaa commenced studies at the Higher Drama School of Estonia intending to complete a four-year programme in stage directing. Only a matter of months before her graduation, however, a red card was shown for delicate reasons, possibly. Neither of the sides, nor the commission or the drop-out herself have yet agreed to reveal on the matter. Despite the controversy over the diploma she was never awarded, Sillamaa has since directed stage plays on a regular basis. The 2000s (decade) also mark another turn to Janika Sillamaa's career. Several lead roles of blockbuster

musicals Musical theatre is a form of theatrical performance that combines songs, spoken dialogue, acting and dance. The story and emotional content of a musical – humor, pathos, love, anger – are communicated through words, music, movement ...

have come on her credit, such as

Elton John Sir Elton Hercules John (born Reginald Kenneth Dwight; 25 March 1947) is a British singer, pianist and composer. Commonly nicknamed the "Rocket Man" after his 1972 hit single of the same name, John has led a commercially successful career a ...

`s " Aida" (title role), Ulvaeus-

Andersson Andersson (previously Andjersson) is a Swedish language surname, a form of the surname Anderson. ''Andersson'' is, if several spelling variants are included, the most common surname in Sweden.Chess Chess is a board game for two players, called White and Black, each controlling an army of chess pieces in their color, with the objective to checkmate the opponent's king. It is sometimes called international chess or Western chess to disti ...

" (Svetlana), Schönberg-Boublil`s "

Miss Saigon ''Miss Saigon'' is a stage musical by Claude-Michel Schönberg and Alain Boublil, with lyrics by Boublil and Richard Maltby Jr. It is based on Giacomo Puccini's 1904 opera ''Madame Butterfly'', and similarly tells the tragic tale of a doomed rom ...

" (Ellen) and

Webber Webber may refer to: * Webber, Kansas, a US city * Webber Township, Jefferson County, Illinois, USA * Webber Township, Lake County, Michigan, USA * Webber International University, in Babson Park, Florida, USA * Webber (surname), people with the su ...

`s "

Cats The cat (''Felis catus'') is a domestic species of small carnivorous mammal. It is the only domesticated species in the family Felidae and is commonly referred to as the domestic cat or house cat to distinguish it from the wild members of t ...

" to name a few. In 2009, she formed a rock band, Famagusta, with friends and recorded a single, ''Rong'', which she described as an anthem for women in their 30s. Janika Sillamaa has settled in

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Sillamaa, Janika 1975 births Living people 21st-century Estonian women singers Estonian pop singers Estonian musical theatre actresses Eurovision Song Contest entrants for Estonia Eurovision Song Contest entrants of 1993 20th-century Estonian women singers Tallinn Georg Ots Music School alumni Actresses from Tallinn Singers from Tallinn