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Ketevan "Katie" Melua (Georgian: born 16 September 1984) is a British-Georgian singer and musician, who was born in Georgia, but moved to Northern Ireland at the age of eight and then relocated to England at the age of 14. Melua is signed to the small Dramatico record label, under the management of songwriter Mike Batt, and made her musical debut in 2003. She is, as of 2006, the United Kingdom's biggest-selling female artist and Europe's highest selling European female artist.
In November 2003, at the age of just 19, Melua released her first album, Call Off the Search, which reached the top of the United Kingdom album charts and sold 1.8 million copies within its first five months of release. Her second album, Piece by Piece, was released in September 2005 and to date has gone platinum four times.
Early life
Ketevan Melua was born in Kutaisi, Georgia, which then was part of the Soviet Union, in 1984 and spent her first years with her grandparents in the capital Tbilisi before moving, with her parents and brother, to the town of Batumi, Ajaria where her father worked as a heart specialist. During this time Melua experienced severe poverty, having to carry buckets of water up four flights of stairs to her family's flat. Melua would later cite this experience as the reason why she shuns certain materialistic aspects of fame and fortune.
In 1993, in the aftermath of the Georgian Civil War, the family moved to Belfast, Northern Ireland, where her father took up a position at the prestigious Royal Victoria Hospital. Whilst living in Belfast, Melua attended Roman Catholic schools, St. Catherine's Primary School and Dominican College, Fortwilliam, while her younger brother attended Protestant schools. The family moved again to Redhill, Surrey, in 1998, although Melua recently moved out of the family home in favour of an apartment in the Paddington area of London, where she has transformed the spare bedroom into a recording studio. As a result of her diverse upbringing at an early age, Melua can speak three languages: Georgian, Russian and English.
First television appearance
Due to her politically unstable upbringing in Georgia and troubled Belfast, Melua initially planned to become either a historian or a politician. This changed in 2000, at the age of 15, when Melua took part in a talent competition on British television channel ITV called "Stars Up Their Nose" (a spoof of Stars in Their Eyes) and was part of the children's program "Mad for it!". Melua won the contest by singing Badfinger's Without You. The prize was £350 worth of MFI vouchers with which she bought a chair for her father. Had she lost the contest, she would have been gunged.
Schooling
After completing her GCSEs at Nonsuch High School in Surrey, Melua attended the BRIT School for the Performing Arts in the London Borough of Croydon, undertaking a BTEC with an A-level in music. She began to write songs whilst at the school. Melua first met her future manager, producer Mike Batt, when studying at the school.
Melua didn't attend University, though she has often stated her desire to do so, saying that English literature, history and physics would be her courses of choice should she ever get the chance to go to University in the future.
Personal life
Melua met Luke Pritchard, lead singer of The Kooks, when they were both studying at the BRIT School where they began to court. Melua and Pritchard rarely speak of the relationship, but what is known is that the couple dated for three years and even discussed marriage. However, as she became more successful, the relationship came into difficulties and they split up in March 2005.
Melua is known to have smoked cannabis for recreation and for musical inspiration. However, in 2004, Melua announced that she had stopped taking the illegal substance for the latter reason as it "dented her creativity".
Adrenaline junkie
Melua is sometimes referred to as an 'adrenaline junkie' as she enjoys rollercoasters and fun fairs and often paraglides and hang glides. She has also skydived twice and taken several flying lessons and in 2004 she was lowered from a 200 metre building in New Zealand at 60mph. When asked about Melua being an 'adrenaline junkie', Mike Batt said, "she [Melua] enjoys extremes, but in life her emotions are always in check."
British nationality
On 10 August 2005, Melua became a British citizen along with her parents and brother. The citizenship ceremony took place in Weybridge, Surrey. The ceremony was important to Melua because if her father had lost his job before becoming a citizen, the family would have been forced to return to Georgia. On gaining British nationality, Melua was eligible for a British passport, which makes it easier for her to travel around the world. Becoming a British citizen meant that Melua had held three citizenships before she was 21; first Soviet, then Georgian and finally British. After the ceremony, Melua stated her pride at her newest nationality. "As a family, we have been very fortunate to find a happy lifestyle in this country and we feel we belong. We still consider ourselves to be Georgian, because that is where our roots are, and I return to Georgia every year to see my uncles and grandparents, but I am proud to now be a British citizen."
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