Nicole Seibert (née Hohloch; born 25 October 1964), known professionally as Nicole, is a German singer, songwriter, musician and producer. In 1982 she was the first German representative to win 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 ...

. She has released more than 25

studio albums An album is a collection of audio recordings issued on compact disc (CD), vinyl, audio tape, or another medium such as digital distribution. Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early 20th century as individual 78 rpm records co ...

and 80

singles Singles are people not in a committed relationship. Singles may also refer to: Film and television * ''Singles'' (miniseries), a 1984 Australian television series * ''Singles'' (1992 film), written and directed by Cameron Crowe * ''Singles'' ...

, some of which she performed and recorded in, among other languages,

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

Dutch Dutch commonly refers to: * Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands * Dutch people () * Dutch language () Dutch may also refer to: Places * Dutch, West Virginia, a community in the United States * Pennsylvania Dutch Country People E ...

, and French. She wrote the music and lyrics for some of her recordings.

Career

Hohloch was born in

Saarbrücken Saarbrücken (; french: link=no, Sarrebruck ; Rhine Franconian: ''Saarbrigge'' ; lb, Saarbrécken ; lat, Saravipons, lit=The Bridge(s) across the Saar river) is the capital and largest city of the state of Saarland, Germany. Saarbrücken is S ...

Saarland The Saarland (, ; french: Sarre ) is a state of Germany in the south west of the country. With an area of and population of 990,509 in 2018, it is the smallest German state in area apart from the city-states of Berlin, Bremen, and Hamburg, and ...

West Germany West Germany is the colloquial term used to indicate the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG; german: Bundesrepublik Deutschland , BRD) between its formation on 23 May 1949 and the German reunification through the accession of East Germany on 3 O ...

. She began performing at the age of four, but did not achieve commercial success until she was 16, when her first single ("Flieg nicht so hoch, mein kleiner Freund") was released. It peaked at #2 in

Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...

and reached Top 40 positions on multiple

European European, or Europeans, or Europeneans, may refer to: In general * ''European'', an adjective referring to something of, from, or related to Europe ** Ethnic groups in Europe ** Demographics of Europe ** European cuisine, the cuisines of Europe ...

music charts. When she was 17, she won the 1982 Eurovision Song Contest with "

Ein bißchen Frieden "Ein bißchen Frieden" (; "A Bit of Peace") is a German-language song, written by prolific German Eurovision-writing duo Ralph Siegel (music) and Bernd Meinunger (lyrics) for the Eurovision Song Contest 1982, held in Harrogate, United Kingdo ...

", which reached #1 on multiple European music charts. After the end of the contest's voting, Hohloch reprised the song by performing parts of it in English, French and Dutch, along with the original German. Interviewed years later, she made a statement regarding the points received from

Israel Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...

: "But the most important victory (was) that a German girl gets 12 points from Israel with a song about peace." In the interview, she also stated that she received an invitation from the Israeli government (which she accepted) to go to

Tel Aviv Tel Aviv-Yafo ( he, תֵּל־אָבִיב-יָפוֹ, translit=Tēl-ʾĀvīv-Yāfō ; ar, تَلّ أَبِيب – يَافَا, translit=Tall ʾAbīb-Yāfā, links=no), often referred to as just Tel Aviv, is the most populous city in the G ...

to sing for soldiers stationed there. She recorded an English version of "A Little Peace", which reached #1 on the

UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart (currently titled Official Singles Chart, with the upper section more commonly known as the Official UK Top 40) is compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC), on behalf of the British record industry, listing the top-s ...

. It went on to be the 500th

number one Number One most commonly refers to: * 1 (number) Number One, No. 1, or #1 may also refer to: Music Albums * ''Number 1'' (Big Bang album), and the title song * ''No. 1'' (BoA album), and the title song * ''No.1'' (EP), by CLC * ''n.1 ...

single Single may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * Single (music), a song release Songs * "Single" (Natasha Bedingfield song), 2004 * "Single" (New Kids on the Block and Ne-Yo song), 2008 * "Single" (William Wei song), 2016 * "Single", by ...

in the

. Full versions in French ("La Paix sur Terre"),

("Een beetje vrede"),

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many Latin American countries **Spanish cuisine Other places * Spanish, Ontario, Can ...

("Un poco de paz"),

Danish Danish may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to the country of Denmark People * A national or citizen of Denmark, also called a "Dane," see Demographics of Denmark * Culture of Denmark * Danish people or Danes, people with a Danish a ...

("En smule fred"), Slovene ("Malo miru"),

Russian Russian(s) refers to anything related to Russia, including: *Russians (, ''russkiye''), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries *Rossiyane (), Russian language term for all citizens and peo ...

("Немного мира"),

Polish Polish may refer to: * Anything from or related to Poland, a country in Europe * Polish language * Poles Poles,, ; singular masculine: ''Polak'', singular feminine: ''Polka'' or Polish people, are a West Slavic nation and ethnic group, w ...

("Troszeczkę ziemi, troszeczkę słońca"), and Hungarian ("Egy kis nyugalmat kívánok én", with Neoton Família) have also been recorded. Later in 1982, she released two studio albums, one German (''Ein bißchen Frieden'') and the other in English (''A Little Peace''). Like the

title track A title track is a song that has the same name as the album or film in which it appears. In the Korean music industry, the term is used to describe a promoted song on an album, akin to a single, regardless of the song's title. Title track may a ...

s, most of the songs have corresponding German and English tracks. In 2005 she co-produced her album ''Alles Fliesst'', which was released in May of that year. In 2008, she released the album ''Mitten ins Herz'', which was accompanied by a three-month "unplugged" tour that ended in January 2009. Early in her career, the songs she recorded and performed were primarily written by composers such as

Ralph Siegel Ralph Siegel (born 30 September 1945) is a German record producer and songwriter. Siegel is one of the most notable figures at the Eurovision Song Contest, in which he has participated with 24 songs so far, among them the 1982 winner song Ein bi ...

Bernd Meinunger Bernd Meinunger (born 30 September 1944 in Meiningen) is a German lyricist and record producer (with Hanne Haller) who frequently works with Ralph Siegel and David Brandes. Several of his songs have represented Germany in the ''Eurovision Song ...

, , and . For the recordings of songs in other languages, she's worked with, among others,

Paul Greedus The Settlers are an English folk-orientated music group, originally from the English West Midlands, who formed in the mid-1960s. The band folded in the early 1980s, relaunched in 2018, and disbanded again in 2021. Formation and genre The gro ...

, , , and

Jean-Paul Cara Jean-Paul Cara (born 9 September 1948, Montpellier) is a French singer and composer. He has authored several songs that have won prizes at the Eurovision contest, most notably the single '' L'Oiseau et l'Enfant'' in collaboration with Joe Grac ...

. In 2016 she worked with Siegel and Meinunger when making her studio album ''Traumfänger'', and Hohloch (as Seibert) is also credited with some of the compositions. In 2019, for the songs on her studio album ''50 ist das neue 25'', she worked with

Heinz Rudolf Kunze Heinz Rudolf Erich Arthur Kunze (born 30 November 1956, in Espelkamp-Mittwald, North Rhine-Westphalia) is a German writer and rock singer. His greatest hit was ''Dein ist mein ganzes Herz'' (not to be confused with the homonymous song from the op ...

, Jens Carstens, , , , and , and is credited with songs from that album as well. In 2020, Hohloch celebrated her 40th anniversary in the

music industry The music industry consists of the individuals and organizations that earn money by writing songs and musical compositions, creating and selling recorded music and sheet music, presenting concerts, as well as the organizations that aid, train, ...

with a

concert tour A concert tour (or simply tour) is a series of concerts by an artist or group of artists in different cities, countries or locations. Often concert tours are named to differentiate different tours by the same artist and to associate a specific to ...

; however, these dates were re-scheduled due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...

. Mostly associated with being a

Schlager music Schlager music (, " hit(s)") is a style of European popular music that is generally a catchy instrumental accompaniment to vocal pieces of pop music with simple, happy-go-lucky, and often sentimental lyrics. Typical Schlager tracks are eith ...

ian, she has also recorded and released

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a major ...

, pop,

rock Rock most often refers to: * Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids * Rock music, a genre of popular music Rock or Rocks may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wales ...

and

gospel Gospel originally meant the Christian message ("the gospel"), but in the 2nd century it came to be used also for the books in which the message was set out. In this sense a gospel can be defined as a loose-knit, episodic narrative of the words an ...

songs.

Personal life

Hohloch is one of four children, born to Marliese and Siegfried Hohloch. She grew up with her brother and two sisters in the small community of

Nohfelden Nohfelden is a municipality in the district of Sankt Wendel, in Saarland, Germany. It is situated approximately north of Sankt Wendel, and southwest of Idar-Oberstein. It was formed during administrative reform in January 1974 from the merger o ...

in Saarland. It was there that she attended school and graduated from high school. She is an honorary citizen of her hometown of Nohfelden. Hohloch married Winfried Seibert (a childhood friend she had known since she was 14) in a

civil ceremony A civil, or registrar, ceremony is a non-religious legal marriage ceremony performed by a government official or functionary. In the United Kingdom, this person is typically called a registrar. In the United States, civil ceremonies may be performed ...

on 17 August 1984; a day later they had a wedding ceremony in a church. They have two children. She likes to give concerts in churches because of the atmosphere and

acoustics Acoustics is a branch of physics that deals with the study of mechanical waves in gases, liquids, and solids including topics such as vibration, sound, ultrasound and infrasound. A scientist who works in the field of acoustics is an acoustician ...

. Since she was a child, she has found answers in her

spirituality The meaning of ''spirituality'' has developed and expanded over time, and various meanings can be found alongside each other. Traditionally, spirituality referred to a religious process of re-formation which "aims to recover the original shape o ...

and firmly believes that

guardian angel A guardian angel is a type of angel that is assigned to protect and guide a particular person, group or nation. Belief in tutelary beings can be traced throughout all antiquity. The idea of angels that guard over people played a major role in A ...

s will take care of her. This belief was reinforced by some events in her life. In one such instance, Hohloch had planned a trip for

Thailand Thailand ( ), historically known as Siam () and officially the Kingdom of Thailand, is a country in Southeast Asia, located at the centre of the Indochinese Peninsula, spanning , with a population of almost 70 million. The country is bo ...

in the winter of 2004, around the time the

tsunami A tsunami ( ; from ja, 津波, lit=harbour wave, ) is a series of waves in a water body caused by the displacement of a large volume of water, generally in an ocean or a large lake. Earthquakes, volcanic eruptions and other underwater explo ...

struck, killing over 220,000 people. Due to strong recommendations from friends, she cancelled her trip to Thailand and went to

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...

instead. She supports various humanitarian causes, such as

child abuse Child abuse (also called child endangerment or child maltreatment) is physical, sexual, and/or psychological maltreatment or neglect of a child or children, especially by a parent or a caregiver. Child abuse may include any act or failure to a ...

prevention, and healthy activities for homeless children in the

Philippines The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no), * bik, Republika kan Filipinas * ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas * cbk, República de Filipinas * hil, Republ ...

. She continues to campaign for

Rett syndrome Rett syndrome (RTT) is a genetic disorder that typically becomes apparent after 6–18 months of age and almost exclusively in females. Symptoms include impairments in language and coordination, and repetitive movements. Those affected often h ...

and for "life without chains". She has been to

Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent, after Asia in both cases. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of Earth's total surface area ...

twice for

Welthungerhilfe Deutsche Welthungerhilfe e. V. – or Welthungerhilfe (literally: World Hunger Help) for short – is a German non-denominational and politically independent non-profit and non-governmental aid agency working in the fields of development coopera ...

Honors and Awards

* 1982: First place at the Eurovision Song Contest * 1983: Second place at the

World Popular Song Festival The , also known as Yamaha Music Festival and unofficially as the "Oriental Eurovision", was an international song contest held from 1970 until 1989. It was organised by the Yamaha Music Foundation in Tokyo, Japan from 1970 until 1989. The first ed ...

Tokyo Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, with an estimated 37.468 ...

with the song "So viele Lieder sind in mir" * 1991: Winner of the German ''Schlagerparade'' with the song "Ein leises Lied". * 1993:

Echo Award Echo Music Prize (stylised as ECHO, ) was an accolade by the , an association of recording companies of Germany to recognize outstanding achievement in the music industry. The first ECHO Awards ceremony was held in 1992, and it was set up to hono ...

for ''Best Schlager Female Artist'' (of 1992) * 1999:

Saarland Order of Merit The Saarland Order of Merit (german: Saarländischer Verdienstorden) is the highest award of the German State of Saarland. Established on 10 December 1974, the order is presented in recognition for outstanding service to Saarland by the Minister ...

Discography

Studio albums

Literature

* Guido Knopp, Peter Arens: ''Our best. The 100 greatest Germans.'' Econ, Munich 2003, .

References

External links

Official Website
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Seibert, Nicole 1964 births Living people Eurovision Song Contest winners Eurovision Song Contest entrants for Germany Eurovision Song Contest entrants of 1982 Schlager musicians German women musicians German-language singers People from Saarbrücken

Nicole Nicole may refer to: People * Nicole (name) * Nicole (American singer) (born 1958), a contestant in season 3 of the American ''The X Factor'' * Nicole (Chilean singer) (born 1977) * Nicole (German singer) (born 1964), winner of the 1982 Euro ...

Recipients of the Saarland Order of Merit Echo (music award) winners