Introducing Hadise - The Belgian/Turkish Beyoncé

How have I lived without Hadise? The Belgian born Turkish diva has been ruling my iPod ever since a friend recommended her new album "Aşk Kaç Beden Giyer?" as the next best thing to Beyoncé. High praise indeed! Apparently, her new Bey-tastic image is a talking point in Belgium and her latest video clip is also drawing comparisons to the world-running pop icon. But before we delve into the inevitable comparisons, let me give you some background on this promising diva. It seems she came to fame on Pop Idol but wasn't selected as a finalist. As is often the case, it worked in her favour and she was offered a record deal without the stigma of actually winning. Since then she has steadily built her profile by releasing hit albums in English and Turkish as well as hosting TV shows and representing Turkey in Eurovision.

Even more impressively, the always reliable Wikipedia claims that Hadise is friends with my new Twitter BFF Kate Ryan. That's good enough for me! So back to the Beyoncé comparisons. The cover of "Aşk Kaç Beden Giyer?" has a touch of the House of Dereon about it but I wholeheartedly approve of this kind of elegance and glamour. As for her new top 5 smash "Süperman" - it is reminiscent of "Naughty Girl" but I think that's because they sample the same song. The track is brilliant. I love the hot beats and blend of styles. It takes a couple of listens but I guarantee you will be humming along in no time. The video (below) also has a touch of Bey about it but who cares? This woman has immaculate taste in divas and the rest of her album is equally amazing. Hadise might not run the world yet but she firm control of Belgium and Turkey!

Kate Ryan, let's call a truce!

Don't fuck with Kate Ryan! I learned that lesson the hard way when I referenced Belgium's gift to pop music in my Adya post and was consequently flooded with irate emails telling me to sit down and shut the hell up. Are you bitches really gonna do me like that? Who else in the Southern Hemisphere devoted an entire ten minutes to reviewing the diva's iconic collection of French covers and then spent a small fortune importing it from Europe? My hard earned cash helped pay for Kate's new 'soccer mum' hairstyle! To prove, once and for all, that I have the Belgian Madonna's back, I thought I'd write a post about her new smash. Despite the damage the cover is doing to my eyesight.

Kate deserves a lot of credit for reviving her career with 2008's excellent "Free", which performed well across Europe and established the 30-year-old (*cough*) as one of the continent's leading dance divas. Hell, she even had the honour of recording not one but two duets with Spain's legendary Soraya! Expectations are understandably sky high then for her 5th studio album. So, it's unfortunate that "LoveLife" is an underwhelming experience. Before you pull out your poison pens, let me explain. Kate's last few singles ("Voyage Voyage", "Ella, elle l'a" and "Évidemment" etc) were of such a high standard, that anything less than amazing was going to be a letdown. Don't get me wrong, "LoveLife" is far from awful - in fact, I rather like the cheerfully inane lyrics and Eurotrash production - but it sounds like a reject from 2006's "Alive" and that's not good enough for a global star of this calibre.

On the bright side, I'm sure there's better material on the album and "LoveLife" will, no doubt, be another smash in her key markets of Belgium and Poland. Maybe Kate could collaborate with Kat DeLuna on her next single? She also hangs out in Brussels and has plenty of time on her hands. But I digress. The best thing about the return of Ms Ryan is the classy, big-budget video extravaganza (below), which finds the evergreen beauty walking the catwalk as a supermodel. Prepare to get hard!

Fuck off Kate Ryan, Belgium has a new superstar!

Don't worry, you're not hallucinating. This shit is actually happening. And you know what? You love it as much I do! It's not every day that I stumble across pop trash this exquisite, so forgive me for ranting. I just want to jump on a plane right now and bow down at this angel's feet. With a minimum of fuss, Adya has singlehandedly saved pop music with her stunning Mozart cover. Yes, readers - the Belgian beauty has set "Cherubino's Aria" (from the great composer's 1786 opera "The Marriage Of Figaro") to dance beats and the result will blow your mind. Not in the least because the track is genuinely catchy and disturbingly hypnotic but it's the video that really slays me. Adya's demented grin and dance moves that she learned from her mother in 1982 are the stuff of pop trash gold. I want to know what drugs this hot bitch is taking. The scene where she's howling like a banshee against the worst green screen ring of fire in history is so defining I can barely speak. Surely, it's only a matter of time before Adya's smash spreads across Europe and worms its way to Australia. Lady Gaga is bawling in a hotel room somewhere screaming "it coulda been me!" I wonder if this has actually been successful in Belgium... chart nerds please report. The rest of you brace yourself for the ultimate viewing experience of 2011.