# Elif Demirezer

Elif Demirezer (born 12 December 1992), also known by her stage name ELIF, is a German pop musician of Turkish descent.

## Early life

Demirezer was born as the daughter of Turkish immigrants in Berlin and is the third of four children. She grew up in the Berlin district of Moabit and attended the OSC KIM school. In addition to performing in both the school musical and the school choir, Demirezer took guitar lessons as a teenager. It was during that time that she wrote her first songs.

## Career
### Popstars

At 16 years old, Demirezer competed in the eighth season of the ProSieben talent show Popstars. She made joint appearances with the All American Rejects (The Wind Blows) and Cassandra Steen (Never Knew I Needed) and finished together with her partner Niklas Dennin to earn second place in the final.
Elif's performances in Popstars :
| Show | Song | Original artist |
| Casting 10. September 2009 | Fliegen I Caught Myself | Self-composed Paramore |
| Recall 17. September 2009 | – | – |
| Bewährungsshow Elif und Agi vs. Esra und Julia 17. September 2009 | Stone Cold Sober | Paloma Faith |
| 1. Workshopwoche Elif, Elena, Esra und Manuela 24. September 2009 | Waking Up in Vegas | Katy Perry |
| 2. Workshopwoche Elif und Niklas 1. Oktober 2009 | Another Way to Die | Jack White und Alicia Keys |
| 3. Workshopwoche Elif und Aytug vs. Marc und Julia 8. Oktober 2009 | "Beautiful Liar" | Beyoncé und Shakira |
| 4. Workshopwoche Elif, Sandra, Andy, Esra, Daniel 15. Oktober 2009 | The Scientist | Coldplay |
| 5. Workshopwoche Aytug und Manuela vs. Elif und Sandra 22. Oktober 2009 | Burning Down the House | Talking Heads |
| Las Vegas – New York Niklas und Elif 29. Oktober 2009 | Free Fallin' | Tom Petty |
| Las Vegas – New York Elif und Dagmara 29. Oktober 2009 | Love Story | Taylor Swift |
| 1. Bandhauswoche Elif und Manu vs Sandra und Valentina 5. November 2009 | Bulletproof | La Roux |
| 2. Bandhauswoche Elif und Marc 12. November 2009 | "Rehab" | Rihanna |
| 3. Bandhauswoche Elif, Niklas und The All American Rejects 19. November 2009 | The Wind Blows | The All American Rejects |
| 1. Finalphase Elif und Niklas 26. November 2009 | Shadow of the Day | Linkin Park |
| 1. Finalphase Elif und Niklas 26. November 2009 | How to Save a Life | The Fray |
| 2. Finalphase Elif und Niklas 3. Dezember 2009 | Free Fallin' | Tom Petty |
| 2. Finalphase Elif und Niklas 3. Dezember 2009 | Too Perfect | Hanne Sørvaag |
| Halbfinale Elif, Niklas und Cassandra Steen 8. Dezember 2009 | Never Knew I Needed | Cassandra Steen und Ne-Yo |
| Halbfinale Elif, Niklas, Leonardo, Vanessa und Leona Lewis 8. Dezember 2009 | Run | Leona Lewis |
| Finale Elif und Niklas 10. Dezember 2009 | We Are Broken | Paramore |
| Finale Elif, Niklas und Rihanna 10. Dezember 2009 | "Don't Stop the Music" | Rihanna |
| Finale Elif, Niklas, Leonardo und Vanessa 10. Dezember 2009 | Too Perfect | Hanne Sørvaag |

### Solo career

After Popstars, Demirezer reinforced her internet presence on Facebook and YouTube by introducing her own songs, which were mainly in German language. She also worked as a blogger for Webradio's "I Love Radio". In 2012, Demirezer joined Tim Bendzko for his November tour of German clubs. Later, in February 2013, Demirezer became the opening act for Ronan Keating during his tour of Germany.
Later in the year, her first single "Unter meiner Haut" (Under My Skin) was released by Universal Music, and reached number 80 in the German single charts in mid-April. On 7 April 2013, Demirezer joined Seeed, Blumio, Glass Bead Game and Andreas Bourani at the memorial concert in Admiral Palace "I Am Jonny – Voices for Our Brother" commemorating the murder of Jonny K. In early August 2013, a single entitled "200 Days Summer" was released. The video, which shows Demirezer along with tame elephants on the island of Sri Lanka, was directed by Justin Kruse, who worked with Ivy Quainoo, Max Herre, Max Prosa, Leslie Clio and Joy Dena Lane on previous productions.
At the end of August 2013, Demirezer's debut album Unter meiner Haut was released. It was produced by Demirezer herself and Philipp Schwär and reached number 23 on the German album charts. In January 2014, she completed her first tour through German clubs.

## Discography
### Studio albums

| Title | Album details | Peak chart positions | Peak chart positions | Peak chart positions |
| Title | Album details | GER | AUT | SWI |
| Unter meiner Haut | Released: 30 August 2013 Label: Vertigo/Capitol, Universal Formats: CD, digital download, streaming | 23 | — | — |
| Doppelleben | Released: 26 May 2017 Label: Urban, Universal Formats: CD, digital download, streaming | 18 | 62 | — |
| Nacht | Released: 4 September 2020 Label: Jive Germany, Sony Music Formats: CD, digital download, streaming | 7 | 18 | 45 |

### EP's

* 2013: Unter meiner Haut
* 2015: Als ich fortging

### Singles
#### As lead artist

| Title | Year | Peak chart positions | Peak chart positions | Peak chart positions | Certifications | Album |
| Title | Year | GER | AUT | SWI | Certifications | Album |
| "Unter meiner Haut" | 2013 | 80 | — | — | | Unter meiner Haut |
| "Augen zu" (feat. Samra) | 2020 | 9 | 28 | 40 | | Nacht |

#### Other singles

* 2009: Last Man Standing (download only; as Nik & Elif)
* 2013: 200 Tage Sommer
* 2013: Nichts tut für immer weh (download only)
* 2015: Als ich fortging
* 2016: Auf halber Strecke
* 2017: Doppelleben
* 2017: Fort Knox
* 2020: Freunde
* 2020: Gitarre
* 2020: Nur mir
* 2020: Alaska
* 2020: Ein letztes Mal
* 2020: Kann das bitte so bleiben
* 2020: Schwarz
* 2020: Aber wo bist du
* 2021: Du liebst nur dich selbst

#### As featured artist

| Title | Year | Peak chart positions | Peak chart positions | Peak chart positions | Certifications | Album |
| Title | Year | GER | AUT | SWI | Certifications | Album |
| "Zu Ende" (Samra feat. Elif) | 2020 | 4 | 3 | 8 | | Jibrail & Iblis |
| "Bitte geh" (Mero feat. Elif) | 2020 | 14 | 33 | 37 | | Seele |

## Awards and nominations
### Results

| Year | Award | Nomination | Work | Result | Ref. |
| 2019 | Deutscher Musikautorenpreis | Nachwuchs (Sparte U) | Herself | Won | |
| 2020 | Bravo Otto Awards | Newcomer / Breakthrough | Herself | Bronze | |