While many Eurovision artists are highly successful in their home nations, there are fewer acts that have reached incredible peaks internationally. Cascada entered Eurovision with an immensely successful career under their belts, and even with some of the biggest international dance hits, they were not automatically granted a ticket to represent Germany at Eurovision, but rather, had to compete for their place.
Who Is Cascada?
Cascada is a German dance act consisting of Natalie Horler and producers DJ Manian and DJ Yanou. The group was originally formed in 2004, with the trio also releasing music under various names. Due to the success of Cascada, they began to put their full focus into the act.
The Journey to Eurovision
After releasing two singles with limited success, the group released ‘Everytime We Touch’ which gained attention internationally. The song was certified platinum and gold certifications worldwide and in a matter of months, the music video was released and an album was recorded.
The album featured seven songs, including their previous hit single, as well as ‘Miracle’ which also went on to achieve success in the UK and US. The album remained in the top 40 UK charts for 24 weeks, peaking at number 2. The album also gained them two World Music Award nominations, and they won the World’s Best-Selling German Artist award.
At the end of 2007, Cascada released ‘Perfect Day’, their second album. The album contained a number of cover songs as well as two tracks that were recorded by Horler and DJ Manian under a different stage name. The US version of the album replaced those two songs, as well as two other tracks.
In 2009, Cascada released ‘Evacuate the Dancefloor’ which debuted in the UK at number 1 and charted in the top 5 in Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Ireland and New Zealand. The song was released in the US later in the year, and peaked at number 25 in the charts. The song was nominated for an MTV Music Award, and has been featured in a number of dance-oriented video games. The group released an album of the same name, and while popular, did not reach the heights of the single alone.
In 2010, they released a new single titled ‘pyromania’, and the following year saw the release of ‘San Francisco’ and ‘Au Revoir’. Both singles were featured on the album ‘Original Me’.
In 2012, Horler joined the jury of a German singing contest, Deutschland sucht den Superstar, and in Christmas of the same year, released ‘It’s Christmas Time’ which included a cover version of the classic Wham! song, ‘Last Christmas’.
In 2013, Cascada released the single ‘Glorious’, which was set to compete in the German Eurovision selection. The ended up winning the contest, and as a result went on to represent Germany at Eurovision. Germany went on to finish in a somewhat disappointing 21st place with just 18 points.
What Happened Next?
The group released their second greatest hits album titled ‘The Best of Cascada’ which also included the brand-new track, ‘The World is in My Hands’. They also worked on an acoustic album which featured some of the band’s hits, as well as some covers including a duet with Robin Stjernberg for his Eurovision entry, ‘You’.
In 2014, they released ‘Blink’, a single originally recorded by pop group U.V.U.K. At that stage, they announced that there were no plans for a new album, but instead releasing new singles. They released ‘Madness’ which featured Manchester based rapper, Tristan ‘Tris’ Henry.
Natalie Horler took a break from the group in 2015 due to her pregnancy, and in September gave birth to a daughter named Jamie. She returned to the stage in December, performing shows in Norway, Austria and Germany.
The following year saw extensive touring across Norway and the United Kingdom. In 2017, they released a new single titled ‘Run’. A few months later, the song ‘Playground’ was released, and became the official song of the 2017 Ice Hockey World Championship which was hosted in Cologne, Germany and Paris, France. She performed the song at the opening ceremony in May that year.
In 2018, they returned with a single titled ‘Back For Good’, and a year later, they released ‘Like The Way I Do’. The song was then released as a ballad version in 2020.
The most recent single was titled ‘One Last Dance’ featuring Trans-X.