You may frown at the idea of a junior version of The Voice, but the Dutch have pulled it off!
The Voice Kids has given us weeks of brilliant entertainment with some impressive talent not older than 14 years of age.
In tomorrow’s live final one of the favourites for the victory is Fabiënne Bergmans. Do yourself a favour and watch her stunning rendition of Ed Sheeran’s “A Team”.
Eva Simons has unleashed her new single “I Don’t Like You“, which is set to follow in the successful footsteps of her Afrojack collaboration “Take Over Control“. Behind this club banger are the capable hands of Zedd, German producer Anton Zaslavski whose Lady Gaga remix was featured on the Deluxe Edition of “Born This Way”.
Eva Simons first popped onto the music scene in 2004 when she was a contestant on Popstars: The Rivals in The Netherlands. She was voted into girlgroup Raffish who went on to release one album and three singles before disbanding.
Eva started working on music of her own and then finally in 2009 she stepped into the spotlight again. First as the resident singer on Dutch Dancing With The Stars, then as a popstar in her own right.
Her debut single “Silly Boy” leaked as a rumoured Rihanna & Lady Gaga duet. By the time it became clear that Eva was behind the track, it had picked up so much steam that she was signed to EMI for an international release.
Despite recording a truckload of tracks which (as we learned from the leaks) were all kinds of awesome, the project stalled and Eva parted ways with her label.
Now, one of the most promising popstars of The Netherlands has finally returned, with a brand new deal with Interscope to her name.
If “I Don’t Like You” is anything to go by, those years of waiting won’t have been in vain!
“I Don’t Like You” by Eva Simons will be available online as of March 26th.
The HalfStyle remix of “I Don’t Like You” by Eva Simons is available on Soundcloud.
There seems to be no stopping the Belgian dance scene at the moment! Less than two weeks after posting a first and second update on the hottest new releases, here’s a third one!
The opening track to this post comes courtesy of Peter Luts, the mastermind behind Lasgo and AnnaGrace. With production and remix duties on many projects, Peter’s days must be jampacked. Yet he still finds the time to take on a solo project of his own and make himself as much of a household name in the charts as he is behind the scenes.
With his new single Peter sets out to top his biggest success to date, top 10 hit “The Rain” featuring the vocals of The Voice Van Vlaanderen contestant Lien Vervoort. Whereas his last release “Cayo” was an instrumental club anthem, “Everyday“ marks a return to (as of yet unidentified) female vocals over those breezy, summery synths we all know and love! The track comes with an appropriately sunny video, although its love interest might surprise you!
Update 21.03.2012: According to CL in the comments to this post, the singer on Peter Luts’s “Everyday” is Chantal Kashala, one of Belgium’s best loved backing vocals!
A surprising addition to the latest dance releases is the return of Rank 1! Over 10 years since their biggest hit in Belgium, trance gem “Such Is Life“, the Dutch DJ duo is prepared to rule the charts once more. On “Wild And Perfect Day“ they’ve teamed up with trance musician Jochen Miller and, surprisingly, Sarah Bettens!
You may remember Sarah as the leading lady of internationally successful Belgian rock group K’s Choice whose “Not An Addict” is probably one of the most iconic songs ever to come out of this country. Sarah’s vocals complement the blast-out-of-your-car-speakers-with-the-top-down-on-a-sun-filled-roadtrip-ness of “Wild And Perfect Day” perfectly.
Lastly, the brand new Sylver single I talked about in my earlier update now comes with a brand new video! Silvy -who’s really rocking that new hair- went to shoot the “City Of Angels“ video in, well, the city of angels! We see her driving around Sunset Boulevard and Rodeo Drive only stopping to ogle a ripped, shirtless man working out. As you do.
“Everyday” by Peter Luts is available on Spotify and iTunes.
“Wild And Perfect Day” by Rank 1 & Jochen Miller ft. Sarah Bettens is available on Spotify and iTunes.
“City Of Angels” by Sylver is available on Spotify and iTunes.
Before Hadewych Minis won The Netherlands’ most recent season of Celebrity The Mole, she had already been working on music for a while. For example, her website points us towards live performances and covers of Billie Holiday, Erykah Badu, etc.
What better time for the actress to release her first proper single than having just taken home the prize to one of the country’s best loved tv shows?
“Invite You” is a mysterious, atmospheric tune that perfectly captures her “smoke filled blues bar” feel. It’s most definitely not a pop stomper, but the moody, laidback production and her distinctive vocals make “Invite You” an instant favourite for your bedtime or bathtime playlists instead.
“Invite You” by Hadewych Minis is now available on Spotify and Dutch iTunes.
Here’s something you’ve been missing out on! Lady Lounge has the best female voices from The Netherlands record the greatest pop songs with a lounge twist. Mark den Hartog, Dorian Broekhuyse and Frank Wijn, best known for the Supperclub Lounge Albums, have taken on production duties for our favourite chill album since “Unclubbed“.
You can check out previews from the album in the embedded YouTube video below or the player on the Lady Lounge site. You can also listen to the full songs on YouTube through the links I’ve collected in this post!
Let’s have a look, shall we?
1. Do – Move Closer http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P_JtL06Dg4s Who? One of my favourite Dutch popstars, Dominique Van Hulst, who took the world by storm with her Bryan Adams cover “Heaven”. Originally by? Phyllis Nelson
2. Birgit Schuurman – Just Say Yes http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SX70ugmxqxs Who? Musically the more credible alternative to her famous sister Katja Schuurman. Originally by? Snow Patrol, although the song was at one point recorded by the amazing Nicole Scherzinger.
3. Krystl – I’m In Love http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F5PFLOug9f0
Who? Singer/songwriter whose highest charting single is “Golden Days“. Originally by? The lovely Norwegian by the name Maria Mena, one of my all time favourite singer/songwriters.
6. Pearl Jozefzoon – Crazy http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hdV1a-oRHQE Who? The Voice Of Holland sensation who’s competing to represent The Netherlands at Eurovision this year. Her Wolter Kroes duet “Breken Van De Lijn” was deservedly a Dutch top 10 hit. Originally by? Gnarls Barkley
9. Twarres – Heart Of Glass http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vsdKCe-ojws
Who? When they topped the Belgian and Dutch charts with “Wêr Bisto”, a gorgeous ballad sung in the Friesland dialect, Twarres was a boy/girl duo, now just Mirjam Timmer remains. Originally by? Blondie
10. Carolina Dijkhuizen – I Don’t Want To Talk About It http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jpmHBfM7f-8
Who? Star of the Dutch versions of musicals like The Lion King and Aida. Originally by? Rod Stewart
12. Jennifer Ewbank – Imagine (Undressed Version) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JJv3xw06yaM
Who? The sister of producer and songwriter John Ewbank released single “Line In A Song” from the album “London Tree” after her run on The Voice Of Holland. Originally by? John Lennon
13. Caro Emerald – I Know That He’s Mine (Bonustrack)
Who? Caro Emerald is included as a bonus track with a song from her internationally successful album “Deleted Scenes From The Cutting Room Floor”. Originally by? Caro Emerald
14. Trijntje Oosterhuis – Close To You (Bonustrack)
Who? One half of Total Touch and one of the most respected singers in The Netherlands. She’ll be joining the third season of The Voice Of Holland as one of the coaches.
Originally by? Best known as sung by The Carpenters.
Few things are more annoying than blogs that are left to just fizzle out. And yet even though I know that in a couple of months my life will be jampacked again, I still want to get back to posting about the best pop Belgium, Europe and the world have to offer…
The solution? A pop up blog!
Just as pop up stores come and go, Charley says POP! will be around for the next two to three months. And after that, who knows? But one thing’s for sure, until then www.charleysayspop.be is the place to be to discover pop for an international audience, from a Belgian point of view!
Now before the first posts go up, feel free to take a look at what I’ve been writing about in the past and to speak your mind in the comments!
The year was 1998. It had been about two years since the departure of Ray and Anita left 2 Unlimited without its two singers. The people behind the scenes, however, were not going to let a good brand go to waste.
Enter Romy and Marjon. Two Dutch girls who had some pretty big shoes to fill and a legendary dance group to carry on with. Despite sounding more pop than ever before, the relaunched 2 Unlimited managed to make an impact with ‘Wanna Get Up‘. Two more singles, ‘Never Surrender‘ and ‘Edge Of Heaven‘, were to follow, taking the group back to their club roots.
Unfortunately, this failed to boost album sales. The patchy ‘II’ only spent four weeks in the charts. The number 55 peak was even more disappointing considering the last studio album of the original line-up had been their second to hit number one. Despite their releases doing slightly better in Belgium, 2 Unlimited 2.0 would not live to see the year 1999.
Now this is where today’s post comes in. If, like myself, you find yourself on a rainy Wednesday morning wondering what Romy and Marjon are up to, worry no more. It pleases me to say that both are still doing what they love, if maybe not on the world stage 2 Unlimited gave them. Rumours of a reunion under the name ‘2’ or ‘II’ aside, both have been keeping busy with solo endeavours.
Marjon van Iwaarden seems to have moved in a more jazz oriented direction. Her website lists the many projects and live bands she’s involved in, as well as informing us of her work as a vocal coach.
Romy Snoeijers turns out to be a hardworking lady as well these days. As a voice-over she’s done commercials for the likes of Disney and DKNY. On top of that she’s working as a model, doing corporate film productions and tv hosting. Finally, her site has an entire section on her music career with audio samples to bring you up to speed.
Romy’s post-2 Unlimited highlight is surely ‘Don’t Break My Heart‘. In October of 2004 the TMF Awards needed an official anthem. Romy teamed up with Dutch DJ Cor Fijneman on what was to be the opening act of the night. The song may only have managed a spot on the Belgian Bubbling Under chart, but even just the slightly distorted “Don’t go breaking my heeeaaarrrt baaaaaabe” at 1:47 is enough to make it a hidden gem in my books.
That is until 2008 when this Belgian blonde wanted to prove once and for all that she could sing. The Thomas G:Son penned ‘Addicted To You‘ got her a place in the Eurosong 2008 final and finally kickstarted her musical plans.
Tanja decided to form Jameerah, an international celebrity girl group. Originally called Models & Misses, the group consisted of Tanja, herself Miss Belgium 1998, Belgian Topmodel contestant Elisa Guarraci, Dutch actress Jasmine Sendar and former Miss Germany Nelly Marie Bojahr.
The summer of 2009 saw the release of Jameerah’s first hit. Catchy pop tune ‘All Eyes On Me‘ had previously been recorded by boyband MaddHouse, but with Bill Padley on production duties Tanja & co. were the first to take it to the charts.
After their first single peaked at 25 the girls got themselves another top 50 hit with ‘Stickup‘. Two versions of their sophomore video were made, one for the Les BoyZ remix and one for the main radio edit.
This is where things started falling apart for the foursome. Promotion for ‘Stickup‘ was interrupted by Tanja’s pregnancy. Rather than get on with a third Jameerah single after her maternity leave, their manager got Tanja her own post-baby reality show.
In the end she and manager Dany Peleman could no longer agree on their plans for the future. The two parted ways after eleven years of working together.
Tanja’s first project without a manager was B-A-B-E, somehow short for Blonde Ambition Babes. She was joined by model Griet Vanhees and Lesley-Ann Poppe, best known for her prominent cleavage on the Belgian version of Come Dine With Me. The trio recorded the cheeky ‘(Itsie Bitsie Boe) Geef Maar Lekker Toe!‘. Naughty lyrics, a (literally) homemade choreography and a 2011 beat with some Luv’ influences thrown in for good measure got B-A-B-E a whole lot of press. Sales however were less than stellar and the trio got dropped by their label shortly after.
Still keen on a proper pop career, Tanja was hoping to pick things up with Jameerah where they left them in the summer of 2010. However, since their former manager owns the group name, the four girls were forced to reinvent theirselves.
Tanja, Jasmine, Elisa and Nelly finally decided on the name Fourlicious. New music from the band formerly known as Jameerah isn’t online yet, but their Twitter and Facebook accounts will keep you updated on their progress.
If, however, one fourth of the group is enough to tide you over until the first Fourlicious release then you’re in luck. Elisa Guarraci is making a third foray into solo stardom, having previously been a contestant on Topmodel and Eurosong. On ‘The Last Goodbye‘ the Belgian/Italian singer has teamed up with Philip D, producer of ‘Stickup‘ and the ‘All Eyes On Me’ video edit. Together with David Vervoort, formerly behind Lasgo, he wrote Elisa her own trance anthem.
Elisa really delivers on this ‘When Love Takes Over’ inspired track. I wouldn’t have minded ‘The Last Goodbye‘ being a Fourlicious song one bit. In fact, let’s just edit in some shots of the other girls and BAM, you’ve got your big Fourlicious hit!
Do – Move Closer
2 Unlimited – Edge Of Heaven
_geef_maar_lekker_toe_s.jpg "B-A-B-E - (Itsie Bitsie Boe) Geef Maar Lekker Toe!")
