Ida Maria Børli Sivertsen, better known simply as Ida Maria, is a Norwegian musician and songwriter. Her first album, Fortress Round My Heart, was released in 2008. In November 2010, she released her second album Katla in Norway; the album was released internationally on 7 June 2011. In August 2013, Maria digitally released her third album Love Conquers All in Norway.
Biography
Early life
Maria was born and raised in Nesna. She taught herself to play guitar and began performing at local concerts at age 14.
Career
Maria gained considerable success in Norway in 2007 after winning two national competitions for unknown artists - Zoom urørt 2006 and Urørtkonkurransen 2007 - and playing successful shows at the annual Norwegian music industry festival 2007 and 2008. Her singles, "Oh My God" and "Stella", were both played regularly on the Norwegian national radio station NRK P3. Maria later expanded her popularity outside Norway, notably in the United Kingdom where she appeared on Later... with Jools Holland, was interviewed by The Times, and performed at the Glastonbury Festival. In September 2009, she released a remix of her first single "Oh My God" with punk rock icon Iggy Pop singing backing vocals. Having performed at various festivals, including Reading, and being nominated for Best Rock/Indie Artist category at the BT Digital Music Awards 2008, Ida Maria has toured in Scandinavia, the UK, the United States and Australia. She performed her song "I Like You So Much Better When You're Naked" on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno in 2009. Her second album, Katla, was released in Norway on 8 November 2010 and internationally on 7 June 2011. Her fourth album was released on 18 April 2016, consisting of a collection of American spirituals. She competed in the Melodi Grand Prix 2018, and attempt to represent Norway in the Eurovision Song Contest 2018 with the song 'Scandilove'.
Soundtracks
Maria's song "I Like You So Much Better When You're Naked" was used in episode 8 of My Life As Liz entitled "A Prom to Remember Part 2". It was played during the dancing sequence at the prom. The song was also included in the soundtrack of the film Lesbian Vampire Killers. Her song "Louie" is being used for some commercials for the FX TV show Louie. It was again used as the inspiration for the title of episode 12, season 6 of Grey's Anatomy The song "Oh My God" was one of the first songs announced to be used in Rock Band 3. Maria's song "Keep Me Warm" was used in the season 4 finale of the ABC drama Grey's Anatomy and during some Nivea commercials during fall 2009. It has also been used in the UK drama show Skins, in series 4, episode 1. Maria's song "Oh My God" was in the trailer for It's Kind of a Funny Story and The Virginity Hit. Maria was one of the co-headliners of the 2009 Perez Hilton Presents tour. On 17 September 2009, after a Boston show, she pulled out of the tour, citing exhaustion. Her song "Bad Karma" from Katla was used in the 2011 film Scream 4 and episodes of Gossip Girl, Teen Wolf, Royal Pains and Being Human together with the song "Quite Nice People", both from the album Katla. Ida Maria's song "Oh My God" was used in a Finnish film, Sisko tahtoisin jäädä, released in 2010. Ida Maria's song "Oh My God" was also used in American Netflix Show, Big Mouth Season 2 Episode 2, released in 2018. The song "Cold Blooded" has been featured on the soundtracks for the Melissa McCarthy comedy Spy and the musical drama Jem and the Holograms. The song "I eat boys like you for breakfast" was used in the first episode of Season 10 of Jenter, a Norwegian TV and web series directed at children and teenagers on NRK Super. The song “Devil” is featured on the trailer for Vampyr.
Collaborations
In 2007, Maria sang vocals for the track "I Love You, You Imbecile" by Pelle Carlberg. In 2008, she sang backing vocals for the track "Words" on Guillemots' album Red. In 2009, she collaborated with the Norwegian band DeLillos for the track "Flink" on their album Huskeglemme. Maria has collaborated with the Norwegian rapper Joddski on two occasions, first on the track "Sannhetsserum" on his 2010 album Krig & Kjærlighet, and secondly on the track "Hold Ut" on is 2011 album Bensin På Bålet. In 2012, she did a duet with Anthony Green for the track "Can't Be Satisfied" on his 2012 album Beautiful Things.
Personal life
Maria is reported to experience synesthesia, which leads her to see colours when she hears music. She said:
