Elif Demirezer (born 12 December 1992), also known by her stage name ELIF, is a German rock musician and model of Turkish descent.
Early life Demirezer was born as the daughter of Turkish immigrants in Berlin and is the third of four children. She grew up in the Berlin district of Moabit and attended the OSC KIM school. In addition to performing in both the school musical and the school choir, Demirezer took guitar lessons as a teenager. It was during that time that she wrote her first songs.
Career
Popstars At 16 years old, Demirezer competed in the eighth season of the ProSieben talent show Popstars. She made joint appearances with the All American Rejects (The Wind Blows) and Cassandra Steen (Never Knew I Needed) and finished together with her partner Niklas Dennin to earn second place in the final. {| class="wikitable mw-collapsible mw-collapsed" |- ! colspan="3" | Elif's performances in Popstars |- ! Show !! Song !! Original artist |- | Casting10. September 2009 || Fliegen I Caught Myself || Self-composed Paramore |- | Recall17. September 2009 || – || – |- | Bewährungsshow Elif und Agi vs. Esra und Julia17. September 2009 || Stone Cold Sober || Paloma Faith |- | 1. Workshopwoche Elif, Elena, Esra und Manuela24. September 2009 || Waking Up in Vegas || Katy Perry |- | 2. Workshopwoche Elif und Niklas1. Oktober 2009|| Another Way to Die || Jack White und Alicia Keys |- | 3. Workshopwoche Elif und Aytug vs. Marc und Julia8. Oktober 2009|| "Beautiful Liar" || Beyoncé und Shakira |- | 4. Workshopwoche Elif, Sandra, Andy, Esra, Daniel15. Oktober 2009|| The Scientist || Coldplay |- | 5. Workshopwoche Aytug und Manuela vs. Elif und Sandra22. Oktober 2009|| Burning Down the House || Talking Heads |- | Las Vegas – New York Niklas und Elif29. Oktober 2009|| Free Fallin''' || Tom Petty |- | Las Vegas – New York Elif und Dagmara29. Oktober 2009|| Love Story || Taylor Swift |- | 1. Bandhauswoche Elif und Manu vs Sandra und Valentina5. November 2009 || Bulletproof || La Roux |- | 2. Bandhauswoche Elif und Marc12. November 2009 || "Rehab" || Rihanna |- | 3. Bandhauswoche Elif, Niklas und The All American Rejects 19. November 2009 || The Wind Blows || The All American Rejects |- | 1. Finalphase Elif und Niklas 26. November 2009 || Shadow of the Day || Linkin Park |- | 1. Finalphase Elif und Niklas 26. November 2009 || How to Save a Life || The Fray |- | 2. Finalphase Elif und Niklas 3. Dezember 2009 || Free Fallin' || Tom Petty |- | 2. Finalphase Elif und Niklas 3. Dezember 2009 || Too Perfect || Hanne Sørvaag |- | Halbfinale Elif, Niklas und Cassandra Steen8. Dezember 2009 || Never Knew I Needed || Cassandra Steen und Ne-Yo |- | Halbfinale Elif, Niklas, Leonardo, Vanessa und Leona Lewis 8. Dezember 2009 || Run || Leona Lewis |- | Finale Elif und Niklas10. Dezember 2009 || We Are Broken || Paramore |- | Finale Elif, Niklas und Rihanna10. Dezember 2009 || "Don't Stop the Music" || Rihanna |- | Finale Elif, Niklas, Leonardo und Vanessa10. Dezember 2009 || Too Perfect || Hanne Sørvaag
Solo career
After Popstars, Demirezer reinforced her internet presence on Facebook and YouTube by introducing her own songs, which were mainly in German language. She also worked as a blogger for Webradio's "I Love Radio". In 2012, Demirezer joined Tim Bendzko for his November tour of German clubs. Later, in February 2013, Demirezer became the opening act for Ronan Keating during his tour of Germany.
Later in the year, her first single "Unter meiner Haut" (Under My Skin) was released by Universal Music, and reached number 80 in the German single charts in mid-April. On 7 April 2013, Demirezer joined Seeed, Blumio, Glass Bead Game and Andreas Bourani at the memorial concert in Admiral Palace "I Am Jonny – Voices for Our Brother" commemorating the murder of Jonny K. In early August 2013, a single entitled "200 Days Summer" was released. The video, which shows Demirezer along with tame elephants on the island of Sri Lanka, was directed by Justin Kruse, who worked with Ivy Quainoo, Max Herre, Max Prosa, Leslie Clio and Joy Dena Lane on previous productions.
At the end of August 2013, Demirezer's debut album Unter meiner Haut was released. It was produced by Demirezer herself and Philipp Schwär and reached number 23 on the German album charts. In January 2014, she completed her first tour through German clubs.
Discography
Studio albums TitleAlbum detailsPeak chart positionsGERAUTSWIUnter meiner Haut Released: 30 August 2013 Label: Vertigo/Capitol, Universal Formats: CD, digital download, streaming23——Doppelleben Released: 26 May 2017 Label: Urban, Universal Formats: CD, digital download, streaming1862—Nacht Released: 4 September 2020 Label: Jive Germany, Sony Music Formats: CD, digital download, streaming71845
EP's
2013: Unter meiner Haut 2015: Als ich fortging
Singles
As lead artist TitleYearPeak chart positionsCertificationsAlbumGERAUTSWI"Unter meiner Haut"201380——Unter meiner Haut"Augen zu" (feat. Samra)202092840Nacht
Other singles 2009: Last Man Standing (download only; as Nik & Elif) 2013: 2013: (download only) 2015: 2016: 2017: 2017: 2020: 2020: 2020: 2020: 2020: 2020: 2020: 2020: 2021:
As featured artist TitleYearPeak chart positionsCertificationsAlbumGERAUTSWI"Zu Ende" (Samra feat. Elif)2020438Jibrail & Iblis"Bitte geh" (Mero feat. Elif)143337Seele
Awards and nominations
Results YearAwardNominationWorkResultRef.2019Deutscher MusikautorenpreisNachwuchs (Sparte U)Herselfrowspan=1 2020Bravo Otto AwardsNewcomer / Breakthroughrowspan=1
References
External links
Offizielle Website Welt-Online: Eine Frau ohne Plan B'' (Interview vom 28. März 2013) Songtexte