Hadise

Hadise

Hadise Açıkgöz (born 21 October 1985 in Mol, Belgium), simply known as Slampa, is a Belgian-Turkish Rhythm and blues singer and songwriter. Hadise's career began in 2004 with the release of her debut single "Sweat", which peaked at 19 on the Flanders chart. Hadise continued to release more successful singles, most notably the single "Milk Chocolate Girl". Hadise's debut album, which was released in 2005 earned Hadise her first TMF award in Belgium and a "Altin Kelebek" Award (En. "Golden Butterfly" Award) in Turkey.

Hadise's follow up album "Hadise", was released and promoted in both the artist's native country and Turkey. The album produced two successful singles, "A Good Kiss" and "My Body", this earned Hadise her second TMF Award in the "Best Urban Act" category. It was during this time that Hadise became the presenter of the Belgium version of The X Factor.

In 2009, Hadise represented Turkey to the Eurovision Song Contest, which took place in the Russian Capital, Moscow, with the song "Düm Tek Tek". The song gained a total of 177 points, which placed Turkey fourth in the final. "Düm Tek Tek" was the first single from Hadise's third album "Fast Life", released in May 2009. Hadise's first Turkish studio album, "Kahraman" (En. Hero), was released in late June year 2009 in Turkey.

Musical Career

Early Life

Hadise was born in the city of Mol, Located near the town Antwerp, in Belgium, On October 21, 1985. Her parents emigrated to Belgium from Sivas, Turkey. Açıkgöz grew up with two sisters, "Derya" and "Hülya", and a brother named "Murat", her name was chosen by one of her grandparents, having originally being intended for her older sister.

Pop Idool

See also: Idool 2003

Açıkgöz's passion for music began since her childhood. She grew up studying economics and modern languages, where she is fluent in five languages, Turkish, Dutch, French, German and English At the age of 17, Hadise entered for the show Pop Idool in 2003, the Flemish version of Pop Idol, which aired in 2003, although she didn't qualify for the finals, her appearance was acknowledged by her soon to be manager Johan Hendrickx, when she received a call from Hendrickx, who explained how impressed he was with her performance on the show and offered her an album contract.

2005-2006: Sweat

See also: Sweat (Hadise album)

Hadise in a 2006 concert in Antwerpen, Belgium

After signing to 2Brain records, Hadise recorded her debut single "Sweat", which was released in November 2004. Although a music video wasn't shot for the single, the song managed to peak at #19 on the Ultratop 50 singles chart. She later released the single Stir Me Up which gained popularity in both Belgium and Turkey, where the song became a huge hit in the summber of 2006. Hadise then released her single Milk Chocolate Girl, the biggest hit from her debut album, which peaked at #13 on the Ultratop 50. A year after releasing her debut single, in November 2005, Hadise released her debut album Sweat, where Açıkgöz co-wrote 7 tracks on the album, and has since co-written most of her material. She worked with Yves Gaillard to record the album and has since continued to work with him.

It was during this time when Hadise took on her first presenting role on the Turkish singing contest "Popstars", which was a huge success for her as the programme attracted an average audience of twenty million viewers every week.

2008:"Hadise"

See also: Hadise (album)

Hadise's second album, "Hadise", was released in June 2008. The self-titled, was originally intended to be named "On High Heels", referring to the fact that she has grown enormously in her professional career and knowledge. Hadise began to work on her second studio album in December 2007. The album was recorded in several countries, including Belgium, France, Turkey and Italy. The lead single, "A Good Kiss", was released in October 2007. This became her sixth consecutive single to chart on the Belgian "Ultratop 50". The song was also successful in Turkey, where it became her first single to chart on the "Turkish Billboard Chart". The song was later translated into Turkish by singer Sezen Aksu, it become one of the most played songs in clubs in the summer of 2008., subsequently the single managed to peak at 3 on the Turkish Charts. She released two more singles in Belgium "My Body", which is her best-selling single in Belgium, until the release of "Düm Tek Tek", and "My Man and the Devil on His Shoulder", her first single not to chart on the Ultratop 50 chart. Also the song "My Body" became popular in the Balkan countries and started airing at the Balkanika TV's playlist.

"Hadise" has become the most successful album of Hadise's career so far, as it was the first album to enter the Belgium Album chart, at 19, it was the first album of Hadise's to be released onto iTunes.

In 2008, Açıkgöz appeared on Serdar Ortaç's album Nefes on a track called "Düşman". In July 2008, Hadise revealed that she met Kevin Federline during her trip to the USA and told the media that he had produced some music for her to use on a future album. A new video has surfaced of Hadise telling Belgian viewers that her future album will include urban beats and some of the producers and choreographers have worked with Britney Spears, Justin Timberlake, Alicia Keys and many more artists that are big in the game.

From October 2008, Hadise presented the Flemish version of X-factor.

Fast Life (2009)

See also: Fast Life (Hadise album)

Açıkgöz had revealed that she had begun work on her third studio album, titled Fast Life, on her official MySpace page, during her preparation for the Eurovision Song Contest. The album was released May 15, a day prior to the Eurovision final. The is the first album of Hadise's to contain all English tracks. The album features Hadise's Eurovision entry Düm Tek Tek along with the two other songs Hadise presented TRT to enter the Eurovision Song Contest with, "Double Life" and "Supernatural Love".

After the release of her number one single "Düm Tek Tek", Hadise released the follow up single "Fast Life", which is based on her lifestyle during her Eurovision experience. The single was released on 15 June 2009, along with a music video.

Kahraman (2009)

See also: Kahraman (album)

Just over a month after the release of "Fast Life", Hadise officially released her first Turkish-language album, called Kahraman, on June 19, 2009. She collaborated with producers Sinan Akçıl, the producer of her Eurovision entry song "Düm Tek Tek", who also produced most of the album. Volga Tamöz and Erdem Kınay also helped working on some tracks. Like her album "Fast Life", this album also features Hadise's Eurovision entry "Düm Tek Tek", along with the other two prossible songs, "Double Life" and "Supernatural Love", which were presented TRT. The tracks "Sirada" and "Kahraman" are the Turkish translation of Hadise's songs, from her album "Fast Life", "On Top" and "Hero" respectively.

"Evlenmeliyiz" (Turkish for "We Should Get Married") was released as the lead single and was released in July 2009, and has so far reached the top 40 in Turkey. This will be the second Turkish single from Hadise to have a music video. The album also contains her single "Düm Tek Tek" along with the other two songs Hadise presented TRT to enter the Eurovision Song Contest with, these were "Double Life" and "Supernatural Love".

Eurovision 2009

Although Hadise said in 2007 that she would never take part in the Eurovision Song Contest after her best friend Kate Ryan failed to qualify for the final, and because the Eurovison contestants in Belgium are chosen through pre-selections, Hadise announced in 2008 she would like to take part in the contest representing Turkey and on October 24, 2008 Hadise was confirmed as the Turkish representative at the Eurovision Song Contest in 2009. She had been the favourite to represent Turkey as she has won numerous online polls. In late October İbrahim Şahin, the general manager of Turkish broadcaster TRT announced that Hadise had won the poll held by TRT to determine the act to represent Turkey and they therefore had chosen Hadise. She won through a place in the final on May 16 where she finished in 4th place with 177 points.

Selection

Hadise had complete control over the production of the song for the Eurovision Song Contest. Açıkgöz decided the lyricist, composer, producer and the language of the song- English and as revealed by the Turkish newspaper "Sabah", Hadise eventually presented three songs to TRT, which then chose the entry internally.

Açıkgöz told Belgian newspapers she wanted to represent Turkey instead of Belgium because she has already won many Belgian awards and also because the Eurovision Song Contest isn't popular in Belgium anymore, whereas it is in Turkey. She also said that she preferred to represent Turkey as it was an internal selection rather than a public voting.

There were rumors that Hadise chose to represent Turkey rather than Belgium, because of a secret financial deal. On December 31, 2008 the song was revealed to be Düm Tek Tek.

Television career

In 2006 Hadise presented Turkiye Popstar, a programme with twenty million viewers a week.

In 2008-2009 she got a job as a presenter for the first time in her birth country Belgium. She was the presenter of the second season of X Factor (Belgium) at Vtm. Although it was her first television job in Belgium, Hadise garnered much praise. She handled a critical moment when Maurice Engelen, one of the judges, left the contest during a live television cast. Hadise was also praised by the candidats of X Factor for guiding them.

Controversy

Several controversies have occurred because of Hadise's racy image, she was criticised for her music video "Deli Oğlan", as prior to its release images of Hadise with a male model being affectionate were leaked online, were some media condemned the video as too erotic. Hadise later removed these scenes from the video because of an disagreement with the male model.

Similarly the music video for Dum Tek Tek, the Eurovision entry for Turkey, was leaked on the internet, again the video was labelled as being too erotic, and was thought to be the reason why TRT didn't release the video, however Hadise's The manager Süheyl Atay denied these claims.

Musical influences

Hadise has said she admires artists such as Jennifer Lopez, Britney Spears, Christina Aguilera, Janet Jackson, Alicia Keys, Mariah Carey and Prince (musician). Hadise's songs have also clearly been influenced by Turkish music, making her songs rather unique, as it fuses R&B and Turkish pop. Examples of songs by her combining a strong Turkish slant with an Urban feel include Stir Me Up, Bad Boy, A Good Kiss and "Don't Ask".

Other ventures

Products and endorsements

It was announced that Hadise signed a deal with 'Yedigun', a Turkish Soda company, for a promotional deal, which includes her having to feature on TV commercials, on Billboards and taking part in a summer tour.In the Turkish city of Antalya there is a women's hair salon named after Hadise.

Philanthropy

Hadise, along with many other artists, performed for a Cancer research concert in Belgium. Hadise was the opening act for the event and the concert ended up raising 1.6 million Euros.

In September 2009, Hadise donated her time in support of the "Schools without Bullying" campaign in Belgium. During a press conference held by the organazation, Hadise explained how as a child she "was bullied for her cloths" and even "because of her origins". Hadise explained that she wanted to be part of the project because she loves children and having been a graduate herself, she understands how there is no place for bullying.

Personal life

Hadise is known for being in strict secrecy about her personal life, especially when it's about her romantic relationships. She has been named "a loyal girlfriend" by several magazines, as she has never spoken out about any of her relationships. There were rumors that Hadise is dating her producer Sinan Akçıl. The reports became true on 7 July 2009, when photos of them leaked on the internet hugging and holding hands together.

She also dated with former Recreativo Huelva striker Ersen Martin and former RSC Anderlecht forward Serhat Akin.

Discography

Main article: Hadise discography

• 2005: Sweat
• 2008: Hadise
• 2009: Fast Life
• 2009: Kahraman

• 2009: Düm Tek Tek

* Deluxe Edition was scheduled for a 2006 release.

Filmography

Hadise has rejected two offers to star in a film. One of the parts was the leading role in a Turkish movie. Not much is known about this film, apart from the fact that the film supposedly focused on 2 sisters, one of whom was to be played by Hadise. In July 2008 Hadise was again offered a role in a Turkish comedy film. Although Açıkgöz turned down the two previous offers, she is still considering the part and it has been suggested she may take the offer as she is interested in the part and is currently reading through the script.

Awards

Main article: List of awards and nominations received by Hadise

See also

• List of number-one hits (Belgium)

External links

• Official Site
• Interview with Belgian magazine, accessed on 2007/03/16, in Dutch
• Hadise Fan Club
• Hadise Fansite