See me livin' like a movie

I'm going to be doing some traveling for the next two weeks. I'm expecting at least some of the places I'm visiting to have Internet access, so I don't expect it to be an entirely post-free two weeks, but posts may very well be more sporadic (though if I get some big chunks of time I'll write up some stuff and set it to automatically post).

I know I keep promising to write about Kalomoira and Kate Ryan, and I really will--hopefully the downtime that goes along with traveling will coerce me into doing that--but for now, here's a super-quick post with a song from Belgian singer Natalia, an Idol runner-up who's made herself far more than that in her home country. I've posted a few of her songs before, but none from her most recent album, so here's "Glamorous," a slightly funky, slightly urban, but mainly just pop-with-synths song (though don't let the title and the mention of synths make you expect something that sounds musically [ignoring the lyrics for a moment] like the Fergie song). Besides the horns, the song's effects sound sort of sound like the inner workings of a machine put into the service of a catchy mid-tempo pop song). It was the album's second single and released back in 2007.

To buy Natalia's third album, Everything & More, go here (physical) or here (digital).

Next up: Kalomoira or Kate Ryan, hopefully!

Don't count me out

I'd almost finished this post when I completely changed my mind about what I wanted to post--I'd finished the actual post and was in the middle of my finishing mini wrap-up of what some female Belgian singers were doing when--well, here's what I had, cut and pasted:

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We really will finish the Fame Factory special at some point, and in the near future, I think, but I think we're looking at a couple day break from it.

[Actual post with artist description, song, and where to buy before moving on to...]

Mini-update on some female Belgian singers:

Kate Ryan has a new single coming out; it's called "L.I.L.Y. (Like I Love You)" and you can hear some of it at the end of this performance edit: video pulled from YouTube, but you can listen to a lower quality clip here. Not enough for me to really make up my mind about it, though.

Via PubliSpain: Katerine (who I know I wrote about over at the HotStuff Files) has another single out, making this the second one for her upcoming second album. It's called "Don't Put It On Me" and you can listen to a partial performance of it here.

Natalia, the Idol runnerup-turned-more-than-that who I keep meaning to investigate since I've heard good things about her, is releasing the second single from her third album. In its single version, "Glamorous" will feature En Vogue, with whom (along with Shaggy) she's going to be doing some concerts. You can listen to it in low quality here (it's probably best to open that link in a new window, and no, it's not the Fergie song). I guess I sort of associate her with pop with disco influences, though that's based only on the slightest of knowledge and this latest single doesn't fit that description--check out first album single "I've Only Begun To Fight" (it really benefits from being in higher quality, especially that intro) for a taste of that disco side.. I really do need to go listen to her albums, given how popular she is...and probably post about her.
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But of course, at that point I'd listened to "I've Only Begun To Fight" enough that I decided to skip over (for the moment) what I'd originally written about for today and post that instead. I still haven't heard very much by her at all, so I can't even begin to evaluate it in comparison to the rest of her work--I have no idea how good any of her albums are, though I'm really thinking now I need to find out. As a little bit of background about Natalia, her full name is Natalia Druyts, she's got a sort of soulful voice, and she took second on the first series of Idol in Belgium, but she's by far the most successful contestant so far; she's even achieved that ever-so-difficult task for the ex-Idol contestant: releasing a second album that outsells your first.

I've Only Begun To Fight--very pop and very disco (strings--yay!), as well as having some horns that remind me of the '60's. At times, it's hard for me to believe that this was the second single from someone off of an Idol show, and I love Idol.

And oh, why not throw in one more too...

Risin'--the lead single for her second album, this song is more gospel influenced, I think, though it's got some electro touches at various points and is very poppy. Shamelessly upbeat and a complete feel-good song and for that, I might prefer it to "I've Only Begun To Fight," though I think that's probably the better song.

To buy Natalia's first album, This Time, go here (physical) or here (digital) and to buy her second album, Back For More, go here (physical) or here (digital). You can also pick up both albums as part of one package here (physical) or here (digital; it's worth mentioning that, if you're going the digital route, you can get the whole double album package for €9.99, so there's really no point just buying one or the other).

Next up: maybe a Danish singer.