Nica & Joe are a vocal duo consisting of Veronika Belyavskaya and Joseph Guyton; Belyavskaya was born in Legnica, Poland, and studied at the Maastricht Academy of Music in The Netherlands, while Guyton was born in Ann Arbor, Michigan, and attended the Juilliard School of Music in New York. They met a few months before taking part in the second season of the German casting show The X Factor in 2011, where they eventually finished in third place. Nica & Joe's self-titled debut album was released that year, featuring a mixture of pop balladry and classical music with cover versions of songs by Queen, Frankie Goes to Hollywood, and Metallica. The record reached number 25 on the German album charts. ~ Christian Genzel