| Kaire Vilgats | |
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| Background information | |
| Born | 11 January 1976 Pärnu, Estonia |
| Genres | |
| Occupation(s) | Singer, actress |
Kaire Vilgats (born 11 January 1976 [1] ) is an Estonian vocalist and actress, known for numerous roles in stage musicals. Over the years, she has repeatedly participated in the Eurovision Song Contest as a backing vocalist for Estonian entries.
Kaire Vilgats was born and spent her childhood in Pärnu, a resort town in the south-west of Estonia, where she also went to school. She learnt the accordion in a music school before taking classes in singing.
Vilgats has later been trained in pop-jazz singing at the Georg Ots Music School in Tallinn, with Silvi Vrait as her vocal coach.
In 1999, Vilgats was awarded third place in the Kaks takti ette contest for young singers, organized by Estonian Television. The winner of that season was an Estonian rock star, Tanel Padar, with Eda-Ines Etti in second position. The same year, she was cast in the company of the Estonian production of the musical La Cage aux Folles which was her theatre début. A series of supporting roles in musicals were to follow.
Kaire Vilgats has been the musical director of the Estonian Puppet Theatre in Tallinn, where she composed music for children's musicals and plays, like, The Little Witch by Otfried Preußler.
In 2006, she was nominated for an Estonian theatre prize for the supporting role of Amps in the musical Romeo & Julia but did not win.
As a chorist, Vilgats has appeared in Evita , La Cage aux Folles , Georg and Mort. She is also a voice actress and vocal coach.
Kaire Vilgats is a backing vocalist for different Estonian pop acts, such as Anne Veski, Ivo Linna or Maarja.
With 7 appearances, she is holding the record of biggest number of participations in the Eurovision Song Contest for Estonia. In 2000 and 2002, she sang backing vocals for the Estonian and Maltese songs, and did the same for Estonia at 2014, 2016, 2017 and 2019 contests. The 2020 contest in Rotterdam she was to attend as a backing singer got cancelled due to the pandemic spread of coronavirus.
Vilgats provided her vocals for the album Family. We are Family, released in 2003 as a cooperative effort of several popular vocalists, such as Nele-Liis Vaiksoo and Lauri Pihlap. She has also performed with the Estonian Police Orchestra and a number of other orchestras and groups.
Kaire Vilgats has been open about her weight problems and has therefore given patronage to sporting events, like Tartu Maraton in which she successfully participates. She has co-hosted and participated in TV-shows, Your Face Sounds Familiar among many.
In 2021, she had a small role in the Ergo Kuld directed comedy film Jahihooaeg. [2] In 2023, she appeared as Sohvia in the Kuld directed feature film comedy Suvitajad. [3]
Vilgats is a mother of three children - two sons and a daughter. She is divorced from a music producer Johannes Lõhmus.
Vilgats' mother is Ester Vilgats, a news journalist for Estonian Public Broadcasting.
Les Misérables is a French historical novel by Victor Hugo, first published in 1862, that is considered one of the greatest novels of the 19th century. Les Misérables has been popularized through numerous adaptations for film, television and the stage, including a musical.
Jean Valjean is the protagonist of Victor Hugo's 1862 novel Les Misérables. The story depicts the character's struggle to lead a normal life and redeem himself after serving a 19-year-long prison sentence for stealing bread to feed his sister's starving children and attempting to escape from prison. Valjean is also known in the novel as Monsieur Madeleine, Ultime Fauchelevent, Monsieur Leblanc, and Urbain Fabre.
Les Misérables, colloquially known as Les Mis or Les Miz, is a sung-through musical with music by Claude-Michel Schönberg, lyrics by Alain Boublil and Jean-Marc Natel, and a book by Schönberg and Boublil, based on the 1862 novel of the same name by Victor Hugo. The original French musical premiered in Paris in 1980 with direction by Robert Hossein. Its English-language adaptation, with lyrics by Herbert Kretzmer, produced by Cameron Mackintosh, has been running in London since October 1985, making it the longest-running musical in the West End and the second longest-running musical in the world after the original Off-Broadway run of The Fantasticks.
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Koit Toome, is an Estonian singer and musical actor.
Nele-Liis Vaiksoo is an Estonian singer and actress, known for her work in musical theatre.
Silvi Vrait was an Estonian singer and music teacher.
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Estonia was represented by Ines, with the song "Once in a Lifetime", at the 2000 Eurovision Song Contest which took place on 13 May in Stockholm. "Once in a Lifetime" was chosen as the Estonian entry at the national final, Eurolaul, on 5 February.
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Estonia participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 2014 with the song "Amazing" written by Timo Vendt and Tanja. The song was performed by Tanja. The Estonian broadcaster Eesti Rahvusringhääling (ERR) organised the national final Eesti Laul 2014 in order to select the Estonian entry for the 2014 contest in Copenhagen, Denmark. The national final consisted of three shows: two semi-finals and a final. Ten songs competed in each semi-final and the top five from each semi-final as determined by a jury panel and public vote qualified to the final. In the final, the winner was selected over two rounds of voting. In the first round, a jury panel and a public vote selected the top two to qualify to the superfinal. In the superfinal, "Amazing" performed by Tanja was selected as the winner entirely by a public vote.
Estonia participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 2017 with the song "Verona" written by Sven Lõhmus. The song was performed by Koit Toome, who had previously represented Estonia in the Eurovision Song Contest in 1998 where he placed twelfth with the song "Mere lapsed", and Laura, who had previously represented Estonia in the Eurovision Song Contest in 2005 as part of the group Suntribe where she failed to qualify to the final with the song "Let's Get Loud". The Estonian broadcaster Eesti Rahvusringhääling (ERR) organised the national final Eesti Laul 2017 in order to select the Estonian entry for the 2017 contest in Kyiv, Ukraine. The national final consisted of three shows: two semi-finals and a final. Ten songs competed in each semi-final and five from each semi-final as determined by a jury panel and public vote qualified to the final. In the final, the winner was selected over two rounds of voting. In the first round, a jury panel and a public vote selected the top three to qualify to the super final. In the super final, "Verona" performed by Koit Toome and Laura was selected as the winner entirely by a public vote.
Mirtel Pohla is an Estonian stage, film and television actress.
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"Storm" is a song performed by Swedish singer Victor Crone. It was co-written/produced by Electronic Producer duo Kisma. The song represented Estonia at the Eurovision Song Contest 2019 in Tel Aviv. It was performed during the first semi-final on 14 May 2019, and qualified for the final, where it finished in 20th place with 76 points.
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