Jessica Folcker
Encyclopedia
Jessica Folcker born , is a Swedish singer.
, a Stockholm
suburb
, on . Her mother is Swedish
and her father is from Senegal
.
Jessica attended a music school for six years until she was 17. Her big dream of becoming a singer, was fulfilled when she was engaged as a backing singer for the Ace of Base
and Dr. Alban
. She also performed the chorus in Leila K
's hit "Electric
" and did background vocals for E-Type
.
In 1994 Jessica was selected to represent Stockholm in the Miss Sweden
competition.
On Jessica's debut album, named simply Jessica and released in the autumn 1998, she worked with composer and producer Max Martin
, known for having written Britney Spears
' Baby One More Time. The album was an instant hit, and Jessica became an international star overnight. As a result, Jessica travelled to Asia
for a six week long promotional tour across Japan
, the Philippines
, South Korea
, Taiwan
and Thailand
, resulting in high sales in the region, including selling gold. In South Korea, her remake of David Foster
classic Goodbye was used as the theme ballad
for the movie A Promise, and rapidly became the most frequently played song on South Korean radio.
In Sweden, Jessica peaked the top of the single charts with two singles from the album; How Will I Know Who You Are and Tell Me What You like, both selling platinum. She also won two prizes at the awards show of Sweden's major pop radio station, NRJ: New Artist of the Year as well as Swedish Female Artist of the Year. No artist before her had won more than one award until then.
In 2000, two years after releasing her debut album, Jessica Folcker's second album came out, called Dino, nicknamed after one of her producers. Besides Europe and Asia, Jessica wanted to conquer the USA as well this time around. However, since many Americans pronounced her surname similar to "fucker", she decided to change her name to Folker instead, without the c. Jessica's first single from the album, To Be Able To Love, became a minor hit in the states thanks to a remix by DJ Jonathan Peters, and soon Jessica went on a club tour to New York
and New Jersey
.
Another of Jessica Folcker's songs - Lost Without Your Love - once again became the theme tune of another Korean film, Indian Summer. Again, Jessica reached the top of the South Korean airplay chart. In April 2001, Jessica's song Miracles was chosen as the theme melody for the Dutch
Fame Academy
replica, Starmaker. Due to this, she decided to release the song as her second single from the album, her sixth in total.
Jessica debuted in the Swedish national selection for the Eurovision Song Contest
in 2005. In Melodifestivalen 2005
, she performed Om natten. 2006 she tried again, participating in the third semi final heat of Melodifestivalen 2006
on March 4 with the song When Love's Comin' Back Again. She failed, however, to qualify for the semi final.
Biography
Folcker was born as Jessica Elisabeth Angelique Folcker in TäbyTäby
Täby is a trimunicipal locality and the seat of Täby Municipality in Stockholm County, Sweden, with 58,593 inhabitants in 2005. It is also partly located in Danderyd Municipality and Sollentuna Municipality...
, a Stockholm
Stockholm
Stockholm is the capital and the largest city of Sweden and constitutes the most populated urban area in Scandinavia. Stockholm is the most populous city in Sweden, with a population of 851,155 in the municipality , 1.37 million in the urban area , and around 2.1 million in the metropolitan area...
suburb
Suburb
The word suburb mostly refers to a residential area, either existing as part of a city or as a separate residential community within commuting distance of a city . Some suburbs have a degree of administrative autonomy, and most have lower population density than inner city neighborhoods...
, on . Her mother is Swedish
Sweden
Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....
and her father is from Senegal
Senegal
Senegal , officially the Republic of Senegal , is a country in western Africa. It owes its name to the Sénégal River that borders it to the east and north...
.
Jessica attended a music school for six years until she was 17. Her big dream of becoming a singer, was fulfilled when she was engaged as a backing singer for the Ace of Base
Ace of Base
Ace of Base is a pop band based in Gothenburg, Sweden. Its original lineup consisted of Ulf "Buddha" Ekberg, and three siblings, Jonas "Joker" Berggren, Malin "Linn" Berggren and Jenny Berggren...
and Dr. Alban
Dr. Alban
Alban Uzoma Nwapa , known by his stage name Dr. Alban, is a Nigerian, Sweden-based musician and producer with his own record label dr-records. His music can best be described as a Eurodance/hip-hop reggae with a dancehall style. He is most famous for his worldwide 1992 hit "It's My...
. She also performed the chorus in Leila K
Leila K
Laila El Khalifi better known by her stage name Leila K, is a Swedish Eurodance singer and former rapper of Moroccan descent.-Biography:...
's hit "Electric
Electric (Leila K song)
"Electric" is a song performed by Leila K. The song was released as a single in late 1995 and later included on the 1996 album Manic Panic. The chorus is sung by Jessica Folcker....
" and did background vocals for E-Type
E-type (musician)
Bo Martin Erik Eriksson , better known by his stage name E-Type, is a Swedish Eurodance musician.-Early years:...
.
In 1994 Jessica was selected to represent Stockholm in the Miss Sweden
Miss Sweden
Miss Sweden , is the title of the Swedish beauty pageant, which ran from 1949-2003, by the female magazine VeckoRevyn and production company Strix in partnership with MTG. The competition qualified delegates to the global contests Miss Universe and first runner ups to Miss World...
competition.
On Jessica's debut album, named simply Jessica and released in the autumn 1998, she worked with composer and producer Max Martin
Max Martin
Martin Karl Sandberg, known professionally as Max Martin, is a Swedish music producer and songwriter. Raised in Stenhamra, a suburb of Stockholm, Sweden, he broke through as a producer and songwriter in the mid to late 1990s after crafting a string of hits for pop artists like the Backstreet Boys,...
, known for having written Britney Spears
Britney Spears
Britney Jean Spears is an American recording artist and entertainer. Born in McComb, Mississippi, and raised in Kentwood, Louisiana, Spears began performing as a child, landing acting roles in stage productions and television shows. She signed with Jive Records in 1997 and released her debut album...
' Baby One More Time. The album was an instant hit, and Jessica became an international star overnight. As a result, Jessica travelled to Asia
Asia
Asia is the world's largest and most populous continent, located primarily in the eastern and northern hemispheres. It covers 8.7% of the Earth's total surface area and with approximately 3.879 billion people, it hosts 60% of the world's current human population...
for a six week long promotional tour across Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
, the Philippines
Philippines
The Philippines , officially known as the Republic of the Philippines , is a country in Southeast Asia in the western Pacific Ocean. To its north across the Luzon Strait lies Taiwan. West across the South China Sea sits Vietnam...
, South Korea
South Korea
The Republic of Korea , , is a sovereign state in East Asia, located on the southern portion of the Korean Peninsula. It is neighbored by the People's Republic of China to the west, Japan to the east, North Korea to the north, and the East China Sea and Republic of China to the south...
, Taiwan
Taiwan
Taiwan , also known, especially in the past, as Formosa , is the largest island of the same-named island group of East Asia in the western Pacific Ocean and located off the southeastern coast of mainland China. The island forms over 99% of the current territory of the Republic of China following...
and Thailand
Thailand
Thailand , officially the Kingdom of Thailand , formerly known as Siam , is a country located at the centre of the Indochina peninsula and Southeast Asia. It is bordered to the north by Burma and Laos, to the east by Laos and Cambodia, to the south by the Gulf of Thailand and Malaysia, and to the...
, resulting in high sales in the region, including selling gold. In South Korea, her remake of David Foster
David Foster
David Walter Foster, OC, OBC , is a Canadian musician, record producer, composer, singer, songwriter, and arranger, noted for discovering singers such as Michael Bublé, Josh Groban, and Charice Pempengco; and for producing some of the most successful artists in the world, such as Céline Dion, Toni...
classic Goodbye was used as the theme ballad
Theme music
Theme music is a piece that is often written specifically for a radio program, television program, video game or movie, and usually played during the title sequence and/or end credits...
for the movie A Promise, and rapidly became the most frequently played song on South Korean radio.
In Sweden, Jessica peaked the top of the single charts with two singles from the album; How Will I Know Who You Are and Tell Me What You like, both selling platinum. She also won two prizes at the awards show of Sweden's major pop radio station, NRJ: New Artist of the Year as well as Swedish Female Artist of the Year. No artist before her had won more than one award until then.
In 2000, two years after releasing her debut album, Jessica Folcker's second album came out, called Dino, nicknamed after one of her producers. Besides Europe and Asia, Jessica wanted to conquer the USA as well this time around. However, since many Americans pronounced her surname similar to "fucker", she decided to change her name to Folker instead, without the c. Jessica's first single from the album, To Be Able To Love, became a minor hit in the states thanks to a remix by DJ Jonathan Peters, and soon Jessica went on a club tour to New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
and New Jersey
New Jersey
New Jersey is a state in the Northeastern and Middle Atlantic regions of the United States. , its population was 8,791,894. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York, on the southeast and south by the Atlantic Ocean, on the west by Pennsylvania and on the southwest by Delaware...
.
Another of Jessica Folcker's songs - Lost Without Your Love - once again became the theme tune of another Korean film, Indian Summer. Again, Jessica reached the top of the South Korean airplay chart. In April 2001, Jessica's song Miracles was chosen as the theme melody for the Dutch
Netherlands
The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...
Fame Academy
Fame Academy
Fame Academy is a televised competition to search for and educate new musical talents. The winner received a chance to become a successful music artist. The prize consisted of a £1m recording contract with a major record company, plus the use of a luxury apartment in London and a sports car for one...
replica, Starmaker. Due to this, she decided to release the song as her second single from the album, her sixth in total.
Jessica debuted in the Swedish national selection for the Eurovision Song Contest
Eurovision Song Contest
The Eurovision Song Contest is an annual competition held among active member countries of the European Broadcasting Union .Each member country submits a song to be performed on live television and then casts votes for the other countries' songs to determine the most popular song in the competition...
in 2005. In Melodifestivalen 2005
Melodifestivalen 2005
Melodifestivalen 2005 was the selection for the 45th song to represent Sweden at the Eurovision Song Contest. It was the 44th time that this system of picking a song had been used. Five semifinals had taken place to select the ten songs for the final, in Gothenburg, Linköping, Skellefteå, Växjö and...
, she performed Om natten. 2006 she tried again, participating in the third semi final heat of Melodifestivalen 2006
Melodifestivalen 2006
Melodifestivalen 2006 was the selection for the 46th song to represent Sweden at the Eurovision Song Contest. It was the 45th time that this system of picking a song had been used. Five semifinals had taken place to select the ten songs for the final, in Leksand, Karlstad, Karlskrona, Gothenburg...
on March 4 with the song When Love's Comin' Back Again. She failed, however, to qualify for the semi final.
Comeback 2007
Jessica worked in the studio on her fourth album since 2006. After being at several labels she is now signed to the Indie Label Cosmos Records. The album was released in 2007 under the title Skin Close and had an Electronic/80's Pop-sound. It was her first English-record since 2000. The only song of the record that was released as a single was Snowflakes. The album failed to make an impact on the public.Singles
- 1998: Tell Me What You Like
- 1998: How Will I Know (Who You Are)
- 1998: I Do
- 1999: Tell Me Why
- 1999: Goodbye
- 2000: To Be Able To Love
- 2000: Crash Like A Wrecking Ball
- 2000: Miracles
- 2000: Trehundra Dar (Blues featuring Jessica Folcker)
- 2001: Lost Without Your Love
- 2002: (Crack It!) Something Goin' On (Bomfunk MCs featuring Jessica Folcker)
- 2005: Du Kunde Ha Varit Med Mig
- 2005: Om Natten
- 2005: Vad Gör Jag Nu
- 2005: En Annan Sång
- 2006: When Love's Comin' Back Again
- 2007: Snowflakes
- 2007: Hot Night
Studio albums
- 1998: Jessica
- 2000: Dino
- 2005: På Svenska
- 2007: Skin Close