Who is Kerli

Kerli's Beginnings
Kerli is an Estonian singer/songwriter from Elva, Estonia- a town with a population of only 5,000 people. Estonia was freed from Russia and became independent in 1991, when Kerli was only 4 years old. However, Kerli has said that it took a long time for Estonian people to change the closed mindset they had about the world, having been very restricted under Soviet rule for 47 years.

Even at a young age, Kerli wanted to become a singer and eventually move to America and travel the world, but initially she was discouraged from doing this and for even thinking about it. As a result, she felt misunderstood during her childhood, especially by her own family. (And though she hasn't outright said so, she's alluded to serious issues with her father in this Formspring question & answer, as well as this one.) Likely this-- combined with an already restrictive culture-- caused her to cope by retreating into her own dream world, writing short stories, poems and such.

She eventually decided she would do everything she could to making her dream a reality, and so she began competing in singing contests in Estonia. In 2002 she entered a Baltic singing contest called Fizz Superstar (and lied about being older in order to compete). She won that and signed with the record label Universal Sweden, but was dropped when the individual who signed her got fired. That same individual signed her to an independent record label, but the label soon went bankrupt.

She tried again and entered the 2004 Eurolaul competition, placing 2nd and gaining fame in her homeland of Estonia. She spent 2 years in Stockholm, Sweden, working on music. She didn't make enough income to afford decent housing and food, having to opt for living in an abandoned house and eating nothing but rice for 3 months straight. So once Kerli turned 18, she made the decision to move to the United States for a better shot at a music career.

She was signed to Def Jam/Island records in 2006 and began writing music for her debut album. But, not knowing anyone in the States and feeling lost and depressed, she began using marijuana regularly (on an almost-daily basis), but eventually stopped, saying in a videochat that in the end, it wasn't worth it. She's since made an effort to be healthier, not just by not smoking or doing drugs, but also eating healthier as well.

Back in Estonia, because they weren't aware that Kerli was working on music even though she had no album out yet, they assumed she wasn't doing anything and had failed at becoming a successful artist. When questioned about it (in this interview), Kerli essentially said she was aware of her fellow Estonians & the Estonian media's negative view of her career, but also said she felt no resentment about it, as they seem to be more understanding & appreciative now of what she was doing in the years before her first album came out (especially now that there's been buzz about her).

Kerli's Music
Kerli finally dropped her debut album Love is Dead, which was released in the States in July 2008. Her song "Walking On Air" is probably the most well-known song from the album. Other songs from this album were used for video games and TV show commercial promos. While the album didn't catch on the way many critics and fans expected it to, it still managed to chart on the Billboard 200 at #126 in the summer of 2008.

When questioned (in this interview) about her music being categorized as pop music (or being categorized at all), Kerli basically said that she doesn't like how music and artists are labeled, but that she doesn't care if she's labeled as pop, and no one else should either.

Kerli herself has categorized the music she makes, as well as her fashion and the imagery she uses in videos, only as being both dark and beautiful.

Comparisons
There has been some negative attention from fans & the media on the fashion similarities between Kerli & another pop artist, Lady Gaga. There have been times when both were seen wearing similar hairstyles, makeup, or particular pieces of clothing. Neither had made any public statement about the similarities until early in 2010.

In January 2010, Kerli had a momentary outburst about Lady Gaga copying her looks and claiming them as her own. She posted her frustrations on her MySpace page. (You can read about that here.)

After being bombarded with negative comments by tons of Gaga fans who read what she said, she later apologized on her Myspace, saying the following (taken from this article):

"I feel awful right now... I wish I wouldn't have done it. I don't want anyone to think I have anything bad to say about her [Lady GaGa] because I've always said that she's awesome at what she does, and I've been watching her career long before anybody knew who she was and met her long before anybody knew who she was.

"This morning I was reading the news and I saw that Lady GaGa also had yellow hair... I've been doing so much to not look anything like her and I feel like everything I do she'll do two weeks later.

"I'm starting my next album cycle and I'm trying to look different so I don't get these comparisons, right. But it's like every time I do something different and I post a picture up on Myspace, she's also looking the same way within two week's time."

She continued by mentioning that she knows members of Lady Gaga's team (which I assume actually means "wardrobe team"), and said that she is frustrated by how much she tries NOT to look like Lady Gaga, but then Gaga goes and gets the same look soon after her. Kerli also goes on to say that it was immature of her to verbally express her frustrations online, and wishes she would have kept it to herself. (You can read the full comment at the previously mentioned link.)

Lady Gaga has made absolutely no comment concerning the incident, and still has not acknowledged any of the fashion similarities between her and Kerli.

The Next Chapter
Despite all of this, Kerli has moved forward. She had two songs- "Strange", with the band Tokio Hotel, and "Tea Party"- on the soundtrack to the live action movie version of Alice in Wonderland in 2010. (Click here to watch Kerli's "Tea Party" video.) She's also supposedly completed music for the next album, which is expected to be released sometime in 2012. She's described her new sound & look as "Bubblegoth". The first single, "Zero Gravity", is already available on iTunes and has a music video which you can watch below.

First photo of a fairy/elf/elfin-looking Kerli in a lace dress is courtesy of Last.fm.

Second photo of Kerli singing, wearing a feathery white dress was taken by Melanie Wydler on 18.9.2008 (September 18, 2008) and is courtesy of Wydler and Flotgarn.com (located much closer to the bottom of the webpage; in fact, better to start at the bottom and scroll up).

Third photo of Kerli singing, wearing a black lace outfit courtesy of Photobucket.com.

Fourth photo of Kerli courtesy of Photobucket.com.

Photo of Kerli with star decals by her eye courtesy of Photobucket.com.

Official Kerli Links/Webpages

• Kerli's Official Website, KerliMusic.com (includes music, photos, a fan forum, merchandise & more)


• Moonchild Academy (where Kerli blogs with her fans & Moonchildren; also featured at the above website, KerliMusic.com)


• KerliMusic on YouTube (features music videos, vlogs & clips from Kerli herself)


• Kerli's Formspring Page (where fans can ask her questions, and she answers them- she's on Formspring at least a few times a month now it seems)


• Kerli's Twitter page, @KerliMusic


• Kerli's Buzznet Page


• Kerli's MySpace Account (I don't know if she's updated this account at all recently, but it is hers)


• Kerli on IslandDefJam.com


• Kerli on Facebook

Kerli Links/Webpages Run By Fans

• Moon Children's Official Myspace (Kerli's Street Team)


• Kerli Wiki


• Kerli.net


• Table of Love Forums/Kerli.friendhood.net (this is where the "Interaction" section of the Kerli.net redirects to)


• MoonChildMiko on YouTube (this fan posts Tweets about Kerli news & sometimes links to some Kerli-related articles as well)


• KerliKoiv.ru (Russian fansite)


• KerliDaily Tumblr blog



• Kerli's Twitter Fanpages (you can follow my Kerli's Twitter Pages list for any new Kerli twitter fanpages I find before they're added here, as I don't always add them here immediately):
  
  @kerlitv
  @MoonChildMiko
  @KerliKoivPoland*
  @KerliKoivFans
  @KerliKoiv
  @kerlinews
  @KerliKoivRu (Russian Twitter page for Russian fansite)

Other Kerli Links/Webpages

• Kerli page on MTV.com


• Kerli page on PureVolume.com


• Kerli lyrics on eLyrics.net


• Kerli Google Image Search

While there are definitely some key issues I disagree with her quite strongly on (no, I'm not listing them here), I've decided to just agree to disagree with her on those issues & admire her for other things:

1) Kerli is super-creative (I relate strongly to creative people), and it shows in her music videos and concerts, as well as her fashion sense. In fact, I love, love her fashion sense. Not everything (the leather dress in the "Walking on Air" video is a bit too much for my taste), but most of it. From her hair extensions to her chunky platform shoes, and some of the unusual outfits she's worn- I love it.

What I don't like - that Kerli maybe now feels like she can't be herself without a certain someone (mentioned earlier) ripping it off and not acknowledging that the look was inpsired by her. If that someone would at least say that they pulled the idea from her instead of pretending that they came up with it themselves, there would be absolutely no issue at all. I hope that in the future the comparisons between her and this other person stop altogether, and that Kerli is acknowledged for being an artist in her own right.

2) Kerli has very eclectic music. Some of it does sound like music you would hear on the radio, and some of it does not. And she seems to put a lot more of her own emotions into her music than most artists do. Sure, other artists might say that they do, but their music sure doesn't come across as emotional as Kerli's music does. Perhaps it's because she seems to feel things much stronger and much deeper, and isn't afraid to show those emotions.

3) Kerli has a big heart. She wants love, peace, and happiness for everyone. She always makes an effort to connect with her fans, which includes vlogs & live videochats and answering questions on her Formspring account. She doesn't just say she cares about her fans- she shows it. And you know what? It's really hard to hate on someone like that. Really hard.

Photo of Kerli in her panda outfit performing at the February 2010 Alice in Wonderland fan event in Los Angeles, California is courtesy of Zimbio.com.

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OR

Cherry Ambition (my official Twitter page for my Cherry Ambition blogs)