Alsou - Let It Be Me

The absolutely gorgeous Alsou Safina Tenisheva (her name means "Rose Water") was born on the 27th June 1983 in Bugalma, Eastern Russia, but moved to London when she was 12. She is a big star in her homeland, so big in fact that she is arguably the biggest music act in Russia, selling loads of albums.

She represented Russia in the Eurovision Song Contest in Stockholm in 2000, where she came an impressive 2nd with her Britney-style stomper "Solo", which was her first English release, after releasing a couple of Russian language albums in Russia. The song became a hit all over Europe, and is the biggest selling single ever in Russia. This was followed by a duet with Enrique Iglesias, "You're My #1", neither of which were released in the UK.

So far, she has had one solitary UK Top 40 hit with "Before You Love Me", which got to #27 in May 2001, despite getting #1 on the Daily MTV chart shown with it's Matrix-style video. A second single produced by one half of the Artful Dodger "He Loves Me", was promoed but eventually canned, and the album "Alsou" never got a release outside of Russia and the Far East.

Since then, Alsou concentrated on releasing music in Russia with continued success, but has recorded another English language album, which is supposed to be out sometime later this year. A single "Always On My Mind", was promoed but not released, and she has worked with Nelly on the album. She is also starring in a Brit horror flick "The Spirit Trap" with Billie Piper, which is due for release in the UK on August 12th.

"Let It Be Me", is taken from her aforementioned English language debut, and was written by Jorgen Elofsson and Kara DioGuardi, who have both written many other tracks from such artists as Britney, Kylie (Spinning Around) and more recently, Ashlee Simpson. 2005 certainly looks to be a busy year for the young Russian...