Kerli

Cast

Born

February 7, 1987 · Elva, Tartumaa, Estonia

Birth name

Kerli Kõiv

Kerli was born in Estonian small town Elva. She started with singing in early years. She also studied dancing and piano. In 2002 she got her first recognition by winning the Baltic singing contest Fizz Superstar (Baltic version of Pop Idol (2001)) She lied about her age to enter the contest as the minimum age requirement was 15. At 16 Kerli dropped out of school to pursue her musical career. With the win of the Fizz Superstar contest she gained a contract that was unsuccessful. Estonian media labeled her failure as "Kerli Syndrome". In 2005 she movie to United States where she signed to Island Def Jam Music Group in 2006. She started to work with producer, songwriter David Maurice and in 2007 she released self-titled EP and in 2008 her debut album "Love Is Dead" that charted in the Billboard 200 at #126 in the summer of 2008.