Monice

Monice (born Monika Ivkić; 6 June 1989, Gradačac, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Yugoslavia) is a Bosnian Croat-Austrian pop singer. She is best known for achieving fourth place in the fifth season of German casting show Deutschland sucht den Superstar (DSDS). Monice released her first album I'm Gonna Make It in 2009. After the end of Deutschland sucht den Superstar, she had a specially published book released, that was sold in Germany and Austria.

Monika Ivkić was born in Gradačac, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and spent her early childhood in Bosnia and Herzegovina before moving to Vienna, Austria, as a young child with her parents. She has German and Bosnian Croatian ancestry. At the age of 17, she dropped out of school and decided to pursue a career as a singer. Monice currently lives in Vienna with her parents and three brothers.

At age 15, Monice participated in the German version of Popstars, a casting show broadcast by the German TV station ProSieben. After getting disqualified because she did not meet the minimum age requirement, she was invited to resubmit her application for the following season, where she progressed through the auditions but failed to make it to the finals.

A year later, she took part in the fifth season of Starmania, a casting show broadcast by the Austrian TV station ORF. Her popularity soared when, in the following year, she qualified for the fifth season of Deutschland sucht den Superstar (DSDS), which is broadcast by RTL, and finished in fourth place.

Monice participated in the fifth season of Deutschland sucht den Superstar (DSDS), the German version of the US talent-search program American Idol. She made it to the quarter-finals, but was then retired through telephone voting and therefore finished in fourth place.

At the show's finale, which pitted Fady Maalouf against eventual winner Thomas Godoj, Monice returned to perform live, both alone and with other contestants. She is also included with the others on the album produced by Dieter Bohlen, Fly Alone. She sings on the title track "Fly Alone" as well as on "All For One" with all the other ten candidates. She also appears singing duets with other finalists on three songs. The album entered the Top Ten of the German album charts.

Following Deutschland sucht den Superstar, Monice did not sign a contract with a record label, citing a desire to express herself musically without being bound by the commercial constraints of her home market. Instead, she recorded a few songs and released them on her official YouTube channel. Later in 2008 she came out with the album "I'm Gonna Make It", available for sale only through the Internet. Some of the songs were performed on Bosnian and Austrian TV but none of them garnered a following. The songs "I'm Gonna Make It" and "Only the Good Die Young" were also offered as remixes.

The album I'm Gonna Make It was not the hoped-for success. Because of low sales Monice first took a break and was still only looking at small events. End of 2008, it has the song "We'll Be Together (Christmas carol)" and was brought out in some of Austria's to watch TV shows. Monice began changing her image at the end of 2008, attempting a shift from ballad singer to pop star, and looking to draw attention by dyeing her hair black and losing some weight.

On 10 February 2010, RTÉ announced that Monice would participate in the Irish national finals for the Eurovision Song Contest 2010 with a song called "Fashion Queen", where she later finished in third place. The song was released a few weeks later, and reached number 86 in the Irish charts. With "Fashion Queen" she wanted to take off again in Germany and Austria, as well as internationally.

"Fashion Queen" received mild controversy on several chat forums and radio stations, as it was claimed to have sounded very similar to Christina Aguilera's song, "Candyman". The song "Fashion Queen" is nevertheless the most successful single of Monice. The accompanying video is also in rotation. Monice is currently working on her first official album. The album is expected in summer 2010 and will also include older songs.

In February 2009, Monice published a book called Lasst euch vom Bohlen nicht verkohlen – Tipps und Tricks für Superstars (und alle, die es werden wollen) (a rough English translation: Don't let Bohlen Carbonize You: Tips and Tricks for Superstars (and Anybody Who Wants to Become One)). She describes how one behaves in casting shows and tricks and tips for people who want to apply there. Ivkic also describes her own impressions of the casting. She writes how one behaves when one casting and how life up to date. But their casting-life she describes in detail. The book, published in German only, was generally quite successful, above all in Austria.

Singles

Sampler

Other songs

• "I'm Gonna Make It" (2008)
• "Together We'll Be" (Christmas carol) (2008)
• "Boiz" (2009)
• "Fashionista" (2009)
• "Only the Good Die Young" (2009)
• "True" (2009)

Remixes

• "I'm Gonna Make It" (club mix) (2008)
• "Only the Good Die Young" (club mix) (2009)