DaYeene - And It Hurts

I don't know too much about this next act, but DaYeene are a Swedish due consisting of 2 sisters, Diane and Jeanette Söderholm. The girls, of Jamaican origin released a few albums in Sweden in the 90s, with their biggest hits being "Alright" in February 1991 and "Revelation" in November 1993.

Jeanette is also known for working with the Chieron team in the late 90s and early 00s, where she sang backing vocals on many of the production team's tracks including songs of Britney Spears and Jessica Folcker, as well as helping Ace Of Base out on most of their albums.

"And It Hurts" was released as a single in the summer of 1999, and also got a release in the UK. Whilst not being a hit, the track was a success on the dancefloor, and continues to be a classic to this date...

Helena Paparizou - If You Believe Me

Swedish born Helena Paparizou is of Greek origin and is best known for winning the 2005 Eurovision song contest with her song "My Number One", but for some years previous to this, Helena was known as a member of the Sewedish/Greek duo "Antique" with Nikos Panagiotidis, and they had various hits in Sweden and Greece in the early part of this decade, including hits such as "Opa Opa" and "Die For You" - which was the Greek Entry in the Eurovision in 2001 wheere it came a respectable third, at the time Greece's best ever placing.

Antique split in 2003 and Helena (or Elena as she is known to the Greeks) recorded her first solo album "Protereotita", completely in Greek which became a massive success in Greece with the hits "Anapantites Klisis" and "Antithesis". In 2005, Helena was chosen as the Greek representative in Eurovision for a second time, and travelled to Kiev as the favourite with her uptempo track "My Number One". After a slow start in the voting, Helena soon pulled away from the others and went on to win the whole contest, the first time for Greece. "My Number One" then duly became a hit all over Europe, including her native Sweden where it reached the top spot. New album "My Number One" was released which featured some new English language compositions, some of her older tracks trabslated into English, and some Greek language tracks too. She continued the success with the hits "The Light In Our Soul" and "A Brighter Day", both of which became hits in Sweden. Her latest release, "Mambo" was the Christmas number 1 in Greece, and is set to be her new single in Sweden.

"If You Believe Me" originally started life as "Anamniseis" on the Greek version of her album, and the track is very typical of Helena's style. If you like this track then I'd suggest checking out some of her other material as I think you will be pleasantly surprised. I'm sure 2006 will have lots in store for Helena, but it will take a lot to beet her amazing year of 2005. Good luck to her though in trying...

Kim Wilde - Can't Get Enough (Of Your Love)

Kim Wilde was born on 18th November 1960 in London, and she has to be regarded as one of the most successful UK female solo acts in chart history, having many hits throughout the 80s and early 90s. With her first single "Kids In America" rocketing to #1 in 1981, Kim continued to have hits throughout the decade, including "Cambodia", "You Keep Me Hanging On" (A US #1 no doubt), "You Came" and "Never Trust A Stranger". Kim's style varied from the New Wave of the early 80s, to a more SAW sound in the late 80s. Kim continued to release music until 1995, when she stopped with her 9th and final album "Now And Forever", and went off to have a family, and she now has 2 children, Harry and Rose.

These days Kim is better known for being a gardener and has appeared on various TV shows, releasing her first book "Gardening With Children" in 2005, as well as being the face of health store Holland & Barrett (they have a better than half price sale you know!) Kim has released a song or two since 1995 though, most notably "Loved" a new composition which appeared on a re-release of her Greatest Hits in 2002, and "Anyplace, Anywhere, Anytime", a duet with German singer Nena which went all the way to the top spot in Germany, and she has also toured round the UK as part of the Here And Now tour along with other 80s pop icons including Five Star and Belinda Carlisle.

Kim has recently signed a brand spanking new recording contract with EMI, so expect some new material from her this year. In order to celebrate this fantastic news, I have chosen to share with you one of my favourite Kim songs.

"Can't Get Enough (Of Your Love)" is taken from Kim's 1990 album "Love Moves", which although wasn't a commercial success, still contained a few gems. "Can't Get Enough" was released as a single in Europe, though not in the UK, and features some excellent synths as well as my favourite guitar solo in a song ever! Enjoy!...

The Pussycat Dolls - Flirt

Nicole, Melody, Carmit, Kimberley, Jessica and Ashley make up The Pussycat Dolls - one of the biggest girl groups around at the moment with 2 UK #1's under their belt so far. Not bad for a group who were originally a burlesque act who became a bona fide music group as a second thought. Fronted by Nicole Scherzinger, formerly of the US TV Popstars band Eden's Crush, the girls have attained success not only in the UK and US but also around Europe too, with their debut album PCD attaining respectable sales, and massive hits with "Don't Cha", and "Stickwitu" - though the girls could do with an English lesson or two! Their next single "Beep" featuring will.i.am. of The Black Eyed Peas, is due out later this year. Time will tell if it can reach the top spot like the previous 2 singles.

The track I have chosen, "Flirt" is a bonus track on the re-release of their album, but is probably one of the best things the girls have recorded. With lead sung mostly by Melody, the black girl in the group, it makes a change from having Nicole sing all the vocals. The track is a blistering uptempo number which would be worthy of a single release, but in the day and age where R&B dominate the US airwaves, this seems rather unlikely, though would be a fantastic surprise...