Rykka

Christina Maria Rieder (born 13 March 1986), better known by her stage name Rykka (), is a Swiss-Canadian singer and songwriter from Vancouver, British Columbia. Her songs have been featured on TV, and she has been nominated for several music awards both in British Columbia, and across Canada. On May 12, 2016, she represented Switzerland in the Eurovision Song Contest 2016 in Stockholm with the song "The Last of Our Kind". She sang in the second semi-final of the event.
Life and career.
Early years.
Rykka was born Christina Maria Rieder in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. She began guitar lessons at age 15, then performed at local community festivals. During her two-year program at Vancouver Community College, Christina studied voice with Paula Kremer, while also busking around Vancouver’s Granville Island.
In 2009, she moved to Toronto to record her third independent album "Straight Line" under the performing name “Christina Maria”. The album was produced with the help of several Canadian producers such as David Baxter, Russel Broom, and Ryan Guldemond of Mother Mother.
In 2010, her album "Straight Line" was released in Switzerland under Little Jig Records. Rykka stayed and performed both in Switzerland and in Germany, highlighted by a performance on "Sat.1 Frühstücksfernsehen"; a German television channel boasting an average audience of 1 million viewers. She later received a nomination for Demotape Clinic at M4Music in Switzerland.
2012–2013: "Kodiak".
Kodiak was Rykka's 2012 album. It marked a significant change in her musical career since she formally changed her stage name from Christina Maria. She recorded “Kodiak” under the new name Rykka. The record was produced by Ryan Guldemond of Mother Mother, engineered by Shawn Penner, mixed by Warne Livesey and mastered by Andy VanDette. It was released that year in Switzerland by Little Jig Records.
2013–present: Other work.
In 2013, Rykka released her fourth studio album "Kodiak" under Vissen Record in Canada, following a release of the same album in Switzerland the year before. Later in 2013, she won $100,000.00 in BC's Peak Performance Project.
Rykka played a slot in BC’s well-known Squamish Valley Music Festival (2014), opening for another Peak Performance Project winner, We Are the City. She represented Switzerland in the Eurovision Song Contest 2016 with the song "The Last of Our Kind" (written by Rykka, Jeff Dawson, Mike James, and Warne Livesey) after winning "ESC 2016 – Die Entscheidungsshow". She placed last in the second semifinal of Eurovision 2016.
Personal life.
Rykka splits her time between Zürich in Switzerland and her hometown of Vancouver. She cites Heart, Blondie, Madonna, Björk, Cyndi Lauper, Kate Bush, and Pat Benatar as her main influences. Her paternal grandfather is Swiss. Her maternal ancestry is Dutch, her maternal grandfather comes from Bodegraven and her maternal grandmother is from Woerden.