Anastazia Kortscheck

**Anastazia Michaela Kortscheck** (born 23 July 1984), sometimes known by her stage name **ZIA**, is a Lungarian singer, songwriter, and model. She has been a member of the Lungarian girl group VENOM since 2007, and also releases solo music under the name ZIA.

## Life and career

### Early life

Kortscheck was born in Munbach on 23 July 1984 to parents Jakob and Rosanna Kortscheck (née *Sammermann*). Her father works in advertising, while her mother works in sales. She has an elder brother named Antoni, who was born in 1982. Kortscheck was raised in the Neunschauss neighborhood of Upper Munbach.

Kortscheck began primary school in 1990, where she describes herself as "shy". Due to her shyness, she resorted to writing poetry, and later began writing songs as a teenager. She graduated from primary school in 1996, and later graduated from secondary school in 2000. After graduating, she began studying at the Royal Lungarian Academy of Music, and graduated in 2003. Originally, Kortscheck planned to study opera at the University of Munbach, but was denied admission and ultimately decided to pursue a career in pop music instead.

### 2003–present: Early career and work with VENOM

After graduating high school, Kortscheck began a career as a professionally model and moved into an apartment with friends in the Nordersaun neighborhood. When she wasn't modeling, she recorded demo tapes to send to record companies, but never received a callback.

In 2006, Kortscheck received an audition at Intercontinental Music Lungary for an upcoming girl group through her modeling connections. She continued to pass through the rounds of auditions, and ultimately was announced as one of the three members of the group, now called VENOM, along with Lena Karuschmann and Ella Mann. The trio released their debut single "Mamma" the following year. "Mamma" went on to become a widely successful single throughout Lungary, and became well-known for its provocative music video. Following the success of the single and music video, the group began adopting a highly sexual image, and started to cause minor controversies for their red carpet outfits and antics. Their debut self-titled studio album was released in November 2007, and reached the peak position on the Lungarian albums chart.

In 2008, VENOM was announced as one of the twelve competitors in *Lüngarderisch Song 2009*, the Lungarian national selection for the World Song Contest. Their entry for the competition, "Soldiers", was later unveiled to the public in January 2009, and debuted atop the Lungarian singles chart. They went on to win the competition, earning the right to represent Lungary in the World Song Contest 2009. At the contest, they went on to win, becoming the first girl group to ever win and the sixth entrant from Lungary to win. Following their win, their second studio album *Soldiers of Hate* was released in July 2009.

The group later released the single "Chocolate". The song went on to become the group's best-selling single of all-time, being certified diamond in Lungary. The group's third studio album *Poison Kiss*, was later released in February 2011. Like its lead single, the album went on to become their most successful of all-time as well, peaking at number-one in Lungary for six consecutive weeks, and being certified diamond. The album also produced the widely successful single "Kiss", which garnered controversy for its highly sexual imagery. The group supported the album with the *Poison Kiss World Tour*, which ran from March 2011 to December 2011. Following Karuschmann's departure in 2012, Kortscheck has commonly been referred to as the leader of the group.

VENOM has went on to release three further albums with Kortscheck: *The Power of Three* in 2013, *Gemini* in 2015, and *Sailors* in 2017. Kortscheck is the only member of VENOM to be included on every album the group has released.

### 2013–present: Solo projects

Rumors began to arise of Kortscheck leaving the group to begin a solo career in June 2013, after it was announced that she had signed solo recording contracts with Intercontinental Music Lungary and Android Music. This is because members of VENOM do not sign solo contracts, but instead are signed as members of VENOM. Kortscheck later confirmed that she was beginning a solo career, but stated that she was not leaving the group and would only release solo music while she was not busy with VENOM.

In April 2014, Kortscheck released "Dead In the Water", her debut solo single under the stage name ZIA. The song was similar in style to the music released by VENOM, heavily incorporating dance-pop and electro beats. The song was successful throughout Lungary, and was certified platinum in the country. Kortscheck's debut solo studio album *Blood Diamonds*, was later released in June 2014. She promoted the album with the *Blood Diamonds Tour*, which performed shows in Lungary and Haff from July 2014 to August 2014.

In January 2015, Kortscheck revealed that she had been writing songs for her second solo album, and that she'd begin work on it after VENOM releases their next album. The album's lead single "Blossom", was later released in May 2016. The song was not as successful commercially as her previous releases, but was a critical success. It peaked within the top forty in Lungary, and was certified gold. Her second studio album *Careless* was later released in July 2016, and she promoted it with the *Careless World Tour*, which ran from August 2016 to October 2016. In December 2017, Kortscheck revealed that she was recording her third studio album.

## Personal life

Kortscheck resides in the Laun neighborhood of Upper Munbach. In 2012, she spoke regarding her sexuality, stating, "I don't identify with labels. I've been with men and women, I love them both. I just like who I like".

## Discography

*Main article: ZIA discography.*

* *Blood Diamonds* (2014)
* *Careless* (2016)