Michelle (German singer)
Encyclopedia
Michelle is the stage name of German
singer Tanja Shitawey (née Hewer). She was born in Villingen-Schwenningen
on 15 February 1972. She represented Germany in the Eurovision Song Contest 2001
with the song Wer Liebe lebt
("To Live for Love"), which placed 8th from 23 participating countries with 66 points. She is one of the most popular singers of Germany during the last decade.
recognized Michelle's talent. A little bit later, the songwriter Jean Frankfurter wrote and produced the song Und heut' nacht will ich tanzen ("And Tonight I Wanna Dance") for her. Michelle's first single became a great success. Michelle got the chance to perform at ZDF-Hitparade
, one of Germany's most popular music shows of the time. Her performance made her popular throughout the country.
Afterwards she participated in several German pop music festivals, for example the preliminary competitions for the Eurovision Song Contest or the traditional "Deutsches Schlagerfestival". She won the latter in 1997 with her single Wie Flammen im Wind ("As flames in the wind"). The album with the same name gained her her first TOP 10 success in Germany. The following years marked the heyday of her career, gaining her two more TOP 10 albums, golden records and the chance to represent Germany in 2001's Eurovision Song Contest in Copenhagen
.
In 2003 she decided to take a break to cure out some major health problems, both physical and psychical. Her 2005 comeback album Leben ("Life") was another success, reaching TOP 3 in Germany and was awarded another golden record. Afterwards she started a modelling career and released My Passion, a cover album of disco classics. After a breakdown on stage on 30 January 2007 she had to cancel her 2007 tour of Germany due to health problems. In March 2007, Tanja Shitawey decided to put the "project" Michelle to an end.
In October 2009 she released a new album called Goodbye Michelle and played several concerts and TV shows, explaining she wanted "to give her fans a real farewell". She stated, however, that this was definitely her final album under the name Michelle. The new single from her album Goodbye Michelle will be Nur noch dieses Lied. It's the second single after the song Goodbye Michelle. The third single will be Gefallener Engel in May 2010.
In November 2010 she relieses her new album "Der beste Moment".
with a sister and a brother in a difficult social background, her parents being violent alcoholics. At the age of 10 she became a foster child.
Michelle's love life inspired the media, especially the yellow press, as much as her music did. She has dated several German TV and music business celebrities, including Tagesschau presenter Jens Riewa and singer Matthias Reim
, who fathered one of her daughters. Michelle lives with her second husband Josef Shitawey and her three children in North Rhine-Westphalia
.
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
singer Tanja Shitawey (née Hewer). She was born in Villingen-Schwenningen
Villingen-Schwenningen
Villingen-Schwenningen is a city in the Schwarzwald-Baar district in southern Baden-Württemberg, Germany. It has 80,941 inhabitants .-History:...
on 15 February 1972. She represented Germany in the Eurovision Song Contest 2001
Eurovision Song Contest 2001
The Eurovision Song Contest 2001 was the 46th Eurovision Song Contest and was held on 12 May 2001 in the Parken Stadium in Copenhagen, Denmark. It was the first time in 36 years that Denmark hosted the Eurovision Song Contest, thanks to the Olsen Brothers' win the previous year in Stockholm...
with the song Wer Liebe lebt
Wer Liebe Lebt
"Wer Liebe lebt" was the German entry in the Eurovision Song Contest 2001, performed in German and English by Michelle.The song was performed nineteenth on the night, following Poland's Piasek with "2 Long" and preceding Estonia's Tanel Padar & Dave Benton with "Everybody". At the close of voting,...
("To Live for Love"), which placed 8th from 23 participating countries with 66 points. She is one of the most popular singers of Germany during the last decade.
Career
Michelle has been singing in local amateur bands since age 14. Through a friend who was working at a state broadcast company, she got the chance to perform on German TV in 1993. The popular German singer Kristina BachKristina Bach
Kristina Bach is a German "Schlager" singer, lyricist and music producer. Bach is noted for her 3 ½-octave vocal range.-Biography:...
recognized Michelle's talent. A little bit later, the songwriter Jean Frankfurter wrote and produced the song Und heut' nacht will ich tanzen ("And Tonight I Wanna Dance") for her. Michelle's first single became a great success. Michelle got the chance to perform at ZDF-Hitparade
ZDF-Hitparade
The ZDF - Hitparade, or Hitparade for short, was one of the most popular and most well-known music television series by German TV channel ZDF. It was developed by Truck Branss and Dieter Thomas Heck and first broadcast on January 18, 1969...
, one of Germany's most popular music shows of the time. Her performance made her popular throughout the country.
Afterwards she participated in several German pop music festivals, for example the preliminary competitions for the Eurovision Song Contest or the traditional "Deutsches Schlagerfestival". She won the latter in 1997 with her single Wie Flammen im Wind ("As flames in the wind"). The album with the same name gained her her first TOP 10 success in Germany. The following years marked the heyday of her career, gaining her two more TOP 10 albums, golden records and the chance to represent Germany in 2001's Eurovision Song Contest in Copenhagen
Copenhagen
Copenhagen is the capital and largest city of Denmark, with an urban population of 1,199,224 and a metropolitan population of 1,930,260 . With the completion of the transnational Øresund Bridge in 2000, Copenhagen has become the centre of the increasingly integrating Øresund Region...
.
In 2003 she decided to take a break to cure out some major health problems, both physical and psychical. Her 2005 comeback album Leben ("Life") was another success, reaching TOP 3 in Germany and was awarded another golden record. Afterwards she started a modelling career and released My Passion, a cover album of disco classics. After a breakdown on stage on 30 January 2007 she had to cancel her 2007 tour of Germany due to health problems. In March 2007, Tanja Shitawey decided to put the "project" Michelle to an end.
In October 2009 she released a new album called Goodbye Michelle and played several concerts and TV shows, explaining she wanted "to give her fans a real farewell". She stated, however, that this was definitely her final album under the name Michelle. The new single from her album Goodbye Michelle will be Nur noch dieses Lied. It's the second single after the song Goodbye Michelle. The third single will be Gefallener Engel in May 2010.
In November 2010 she relieses her new album "Der beste Moment".
Private life
Michelle grew up in BlumbergBlumberg
Blumberg is a municipality situated in the Schwarzwald-Baar region of Baden-Württemberg, Germany, 19 kilometres south of Donaueschingen, on the southern edge of the Schwarzwald, The Black Forest and lying directly on the border with Switzerland’s Canton of Schaffhausen.-History:The town of Blumberg...
with a sister and a brother in a difficult social background, her parents being violent alcoholics. At the age of 10 she became a foster child.
Michelle's love life inspired the media, especially the yellow press, as much as her music did. She has dated several German TV and music business celebrities, including Tagesschau presenter Jens Riewa and singer Matthias Reim
Matthias Reim
Matthias Reim is a German singer-songwriter. His 1990 single "Verdammt, ich lieb' dich" was a hit in several European countries, and spent sixteen consecutive weeks at the No.1 spot in the German charts.-Early life:Reim was born on 26 November 1957 in Korbach, Hesse. He grew up in Homberg...
, who fathered one of her daughters. Michelle lives with her second husband Josef Shitawey and her three children in North Rhine-Westphalia
North Rhine-Westphalia
North Rhine-Westphalia is the most populous state of Germany, with four of the country's ten largest cities. The state was formed in 1946 as a merger of the northern Rhineland and Westphalia, both formerly part of Prussia. Its capital is Düsseldorf. The state is currently run by a coalition of the...
.