Janika Sillamaa

Who is Janika Sillamaa?

Janika Sillamaa is an Estonian singer and actress.

Born to the family of musicians, Janika found herself on stage at a very young age: in the musical theatre Colombina, founded by her mother Kaari Sillamaa, she played lead roles in children's musicals, such as "Thumbelina" and a revue programme "Mini-Cabaret", and many more.

In 1993, Janika performed at the Roskilde Rock Festival, at the same time she was studying at the pop-jazz department of the Georg Ots Music School in Tallinn. Among her vocal-coaches were Jaak Joala and Kare Kauks.

In 1992, Janika was internally chosen to represent Estonia at the Eurovision Song Contest 1993. Her song, "Muretut meelt ja südametuld", however, failed to pass the qualifying round in Ljubljana and therefore was not able to participate in the Eurovision final, held in Millstreet, Ireland, that year.

The 1993 also saw her participation in a musical Jesus Christ Superstar where she sang the role of Maria Magdalena.

Soon after, in 1995, she formed her own rock group The Names to release a few singles, and 1998 saw her taking part in Eurolaul again but this time with a song written by her mother Kaari.