Victoria Unikel (entertainer)

VICTORIA UNIKEL (Russian: Виктория Робертовна Уникель, born October 30, 1977), is an award-winning Russian-American artist - singer, actress, composer, writer, and producer. She is also known as Unikel, Unik-El.
==Biography and education==
Victoria was born in Moscow, on October 30, 1977, to parents with a Jewish, Polish, Russian, Dutch, and Ukrainian lineage and a long history of victimization by the Soviet Communist Party. She has been playing the cello since the age of 5, eventually graduating from the Gnessin State Musical College in Moscow in 1995 as a gifted cellist. From 1998 to 2002 Victoria attended the Russian Institute of Theater Arts, and graduated as summa cum laude. Victoria also performed on theater stages of Moscow in the late 2000’s.
==Career==
From 1996 through 1998, Victoria was a top model with the modeling agency Modus Vivendis, taking part in runway shows and being featured in TV advertising and on the pages of magazines. 
Victoria began recording and producing music albums in the ambient pop style, and these were played on Russian radio, on compilation albums, and a movie, Slova i Muzyka. She then expanded to producing music in English, German, Latin, and Sanskrit languages. Among her projects are The Exorcist (genre: rock), Balance (genre: dark wave), Homo (genre: industrial rock). 
Victoria is the producer, composer, singer, and songwriter all her projects, including The Exorcist - a well-known political, anti-Communist, project that was featured on Russian television, and whose lead singer was an actual exorcist from the Russian Orthodox church. Victoria witnessed several actual exorcisms held by the Russian Orthodox church.Religious themes, including prayers, were woven into every song, and they all revolved around the destruction of the Communist party and principles. There was a petition signed by thousands, and the scandal surrounding this project spilled over into television and all media. The music from The Exorcists was frequently used in German fashion shows to back the runway display.
When political pressure from within the church turned into attention from the patriarch of the Russian Orthodox Church, the priest/singer was forced to quit Victoria’s project. He was replaced by Nikita_Dzhigurda.
Among her political activism, she organized a protest to remove Lenin’s body from the Kremlin along with Nikita Dzhigurda in 2009. The song created for this campaign was titled ‘Remove the Idol From the Kremlin Walls’.
Victoria’s project under the name Balance released an album by the name of Requiem, including the Latin prayers from the Requiem Mass and Sanskrit texts as its lyrics. The album itself and music from this album were distributed in Germany and Russia, and was featured in several movies, where Victoria is listed as composer.
Victoria’s project under the name Unikel, with the album by the name Homo, was in the industrial rock genre. The music from the projects Unikel and Balance were featured in the well-regarded dance performance art show created by Victoria, under the name Unikel Show.
Victoria’s original music was featured in several American, Russian, Ukrainian, French, and Israeli films. In Germany, Victoria had her own fashion label, Unik-El, that produced fashion shows and was featured in others’ projects.
Victoria has been a vocal supporter of the LGBT community, notably taking part in the Red Ribbon project from 2008-2011. The Red Ribbon project was sponsored and supported by the Mayor of Berlin, Klaus Wowereit.
==Writing==
Victoria has produced a comic book, The Exorcist, that is published by comiXology, the largest publisher of comic books in the US.
Recently, she also completed writing her first young adult sci-fi novel: Emma+Luke= Disappear to Nowhere. She is also the screenwriter behind several current film projects – Innocent Voice, Flower of Cambodia.
==Discography==
* Balance - dark wave music album 
* Exorcist - rock music album 
* HOMO - industrial rock music album 
* The Exorcist - comic book published by comiXology
* Orthodox religious prayer album 1 
* Orthodox religious prayer album 2 
* Orthodox religious prayer album 3 
* Orthodox religious prayer album 4 
* Orthodox religious prayer album 5 
* Orthodox religious prayer album 6 
Her music albums are distributed by Amazon, iTunes, Sweet Rains Music, and The Orchard.
==Filmography==
* Detka 2012 
* Nash Domashniy Magazin 2010 
* Ranetki 2010 
* Pravo na Lubov 2005 
* Chastnyi Detektiv 2005 
* The Moscovite from Africa 2004 
* Bourne Supremacy 2004 
* Taksist: Krutye Povoroty 2004 
* Dasha Vasilieva – Lubitelnitsa Chastnogo Syska 2003 
* Stilet 2003 
* Villisy 2002 
==Awards==
Victoria has received a top art award from MOSAIC Federation – she was awarded on-stage at the annual MOSAIC Gala Event in New York City by Tony Schiena and the Ghana Ambassador to the United States - Baffour Adjei Bawuah.
== Victoria Unikel in the media ==
<youtube width="300" height="300">rWusWX_RHhY</youtube>  
<youtube width="300" height="300">I0VBfSP7wPo</youtube>  
<youtube width="300" height="300">4YSRk5tUABc</youtube>  
<youtube width="300" height="300">ibn4axI_9i0</youtube>  
<youtube width="300" height="300">oTkixqdXdTA</youtube>  
== References ==
== External Links ==
*Victoria Unikel official website
*Victoria Unikel on Imdb
*Victoria Unikel on Facebook
*Victoria Unikel on Instagram
*Victoria Unikel on Twitter
*Victoria Unikel on itunes
*Victoria Unikel on Youtube
Category:1977 births
Category:Russian Americans artist
Category:Russian singers
Category:Russian female singers
Category:Russian actresses
Category:Russian Composers
Category:Russian Writers
Category:Record producers