MONICA NARANJO RETURNS WITH EUROPA!

I am speechless. If you thought Charlotte, Carola Linda and Therese were amazing pop diva's you'd be incredibly wrong. Monica Naranjo's is an epic like no other. A full six minutes long, Europa is a bit rocky, a bit James Bond (Shirley Bassey darlings!) and Mozart! Elements of opera are gloriously interwoven into Monica's soaring voice. You feel the pain. You feel it rush through your veins. Its been years since Monica released a new album and she know hows to return. She completely upstages her French, English and Scandinavian fellow divas. The first few minutes of Europa is pure polemic and it slowly evolves into a dance song. It is grand on the Louis XIV scale. It is an ode to the Sun King of France. It is absolute hyperbole. It requires its own red carpet as it descends from its private jet. Its rather rare that you'll hear electrotrash, electronica, club, dance, classical baroque, and opera in just one song. Its a brave step to make which only Monica could make. Is she securing her position as la casta diva of the pop world? La divina of the pop female icon? This certainly sounds like it.

Coming up: More great pop from where? Spain and perhaps something wonderful from Sweden!

LINNEA HANDBERG Made Up My Mind (Legal Download!)

A must pop album for any pop lover (this is the Japanese hit release of the cd)

Music Download (legal) : Made Up My Mind

Linnea Handberg. Linnea Handberg. Where tho art theeeee begin!?! Real name Linnéa Handberg Lund, Ms.Linnea is pop princess who hails from Denmark and most might know her stage name of Miss.Papaya under which she released her first album simply titled Pink back in 1998. However I want to focus on her second album released two years later and called This Is Who I Am. The album is the sort of CD that the likes of Solid Harmonie, Britney and Precious would have loved to have released. You know the songs I'll Be There For You and Hit Me Baby One More Time? Well imagine an entire CD full of songs of that pop notch quality. Today, Linnea herself has very kindly allowed readers of DontStopthePop to download one of those songs but this is not a case of me picking the best song and the rest of the album are all duds. On the contrary, the collection consists of one of the finest batch of pop songs of 2000. Despite major record company interest, including Maverick, things didnt appear to happen but I highly recommend you track down the album. Its not just a forgotten classic but each song has monumentally poptastic.

This is isnt me going over the top or anything. I declare such claims as I have the backing of other groups who evidently heard the brilliance of the album and grabbed tracks for their albums. Take the title track for example. It was covered and released by the French girlband L5 (who retitled it for their audiences as "Aime"). Following suit, the Swedish girlband, Excellence, covered the Danish act with their take on Linneas "I Believe It When I See It". Going to warmer climates Spains Chenoa covered Linnea's "Why You Doin' It Like That" and god knows about the rest but I highly suspect nearly all of her songs have gone to other acts. Indeed, recent material Jon of Denmark, Tik Tak of Finland and the Chipz albums all feature the song-writing credits of Linnea Handberg. Therefore, it would be only polite to raise a glass of cherry wine to one of Denmarks finest female song-writers (and as a thank you for allowing us to share one of her brilliant songs!).

Come 2007, she now spends her time appearing on one-off dance special releases but really dedicates her love & talent to song-writing. In 2004, she signed to EMI Music Publishing & from then on has seen her name on most album sleeves for pop acts around the world including the theme to Big Brother, working with DJ's and re-settling in London where she says most of the work is these days.

Thank you Linnea!

Critical Linkage

Myspace (Linnea)

Critical Purchase

This Is Who I Am (Gemm)
Pink (Amazon)

Coming up on DontStopthepop: The album from Soccx, something very special from Jonah & something very cool & unique from Robyn that you won't find anywhere else.

WIR-3 Heyah Mama-WARNING!-GLOBAL SUMMER HIT ALERT!!

Heyah Mama has the potential to be this years Las Ketchup so learn the lyrics now and you can be prepared! Wir3 are a girl-group from Germany and they've just released what could be the summer hit of 2007. Its actually already been hit (but for their big sister band-but more them later) and is expected to squeeze its way in Spain, France and German-speaking countries of Europe. A full blown tour has already been penciled in and its promising to be an exciting few months for Vera, Lina and Linda. Influences? B*Witched, Ace Of Base, Amy Winehouse and er K3!

With a brilliant pop video to go with the rather catchy song, you might be hearing Heyah Mama in your corner of the world eventually whether you like it or not. Why eventually? Well Wir3 are actually a sister band of K3 from Belgium and Holland. Who (I hear you cry!). K3 are a very successful girlgroup who are aimed at kids but have some of the catchiest music ever recorded in the history of pop. Think Amy Diamond with a bit of Banaroo and you've got the superband K3 summed-up. They'll feature tomorrow as "Girlband Legends" so I won't go on and on but I will discuss them with reference to Wir3. K3 was an idea spawned by T.V station Studio 100 a Dutch broadcasting company with rights in Beligum where the girls are also very successful.

The brilliantly poptastic video for Heyah Mama by Wir3 with dance routines and primary colours galore. Flowers check!; butterflies check!; ladybirds check! addictive pop song? CHECK!

They launched themselves in 1999 and have never looked back. There are T.V shows, T.V films, musicals, games, clothing ranges, remix albums, dolls, films, and so on all based around the phenomenon that is K3. Tomorrow DSTP will paying respect to the Dutch/Flemish supergroup so more will explained then. K3 are such legends that they've go their own franchise of spin-off girlbands planned for 2007.

What!? Yes, Wir3 is the first of these spin-off groups and they've launched themselves in the safe market of Germany with a cover of K3's 1999 hit single Heyah Mama. Personally I prefer the newer version only because they've made it a lot more catchier than its original. Compare the two for yourself by watchin' this Dutch sublime news report on Wir3-K3-



The people behind the band are wondering whether to take Wir3 in English-Spanish markets or to bring out domestic versions of the band in each respective country. BBC, the people behind the Teletubbies and S Club are currently in discussion as are Scandic broadcasting networks. What is sure, Heyah Mama is one of the catchiest songs released this summer. Wir3 have recorded Heyah Mama in English so it seems that we can expect much more from the song. As I type, my boyfriend has translated a Afrikaans website and there's a "K3" for South Africa launching this summer too.

Thus, Heyah Mama has world domination in its sights! And what a brilliant song it is! Last year DSTP predicted Lucky Twice and their single to be huge in the markets it came out in. The platinum discs handed to the Swedish girlband the other day attest the songs' success.

The success of Heyah Mama is a lot easier to take a gamble on only because its already a hit and theres broadcasting superstructure to back it all up. Still, if the gray clouds are blocking your sunshine today just play Heyah Mama and you'll be feel the white sands in between your feet in no time!

NB: Wir3 are touring Germany on the same tour of SummerPOP-07 so if your in Germany and nearby go and boogie!

Buy both BeFour and Wir 3 at Amazon.de

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Tomorrow K3 take their place as a legendary girlband so expect some of the campest/poppiest songs ever recorded. Also more Latoya and perhaps something Robyn!

ROBYN-KLEERUP WITH EVERY HEARTBEAT [live acoustic version] Robyn Exclusive!!

Being a fan of Robyn is hard. Why? When she records like this you look at your dictionary of superlatives and feel language is just insufficient.

What can I say. This is amazing. Better than amazing. Her voice is so soft. Like honey. Like tears. Like droplets of pure bliss.

I am quite speechless.

Info: Recorded today. On p3....

Credits: Robyn and KleerUp

Credits II: Shirley, RobynFan, Mandy and Lena!

Credits III: Robyn.com [for the photo]