DUTCH TREAT

Hind Laroussi... I like her.

Always have. Out of the first season of Dutch Idols, she was easily my favorite. This supernaturally beautiful girl with the rich honeyed voice caught my eyes and ears from the very start. Eliminated in third place behind the wildly popular Jim Bakkum and Jamai Loman, she was almost immediately signed and began work on her first album. Entitled Around the World, the album was a road trip through chilled-out slices of pop, R&B-lite, and even Portuguese fado (resulting in the GORGEOUS 'Fado Mae'), and tipped the charts at #9, not a bad placing for a first-season Idol contestant. In 2004, she won the Edison Award (Dutch Grammy, BRIT, what have you) for Best New Dutch Artist.

In 2005, Hind returned with her new album Halfway Home, moving her style away from Around the World's pop/r&b sound to what she herself refers to as 'Arabpop' due to the overwhelming Middle Eastern influences. Halfway Home didn't fare as well as its predecessor, though, topping out at a measly #31 on the Dutch charts and it looked for a while like it might be curtains for Hind.

However, in late 2007 she was announced as the Netherlands' entry into the upcoming 2008 Eurovision Song Contest. As the Dutch have an internal song selection policy, it might be a bit before I can get a clip up here, but once one is available I will, so watch this space.

For now, let's get retrospective and pull a little This Is Your Life on Hind, shall we?





From humble beginnings...


Taking on Robbie Williams on Idols


Her first post-Idol single, Summer All Over Again...


...and her next, Weak


Kickin' it coffeeshop style...


So, will Hind bring the ESC to Amsterdam next year? No, probably not. She's a classy, mature singer in a contest that rewards camp and excess. But that doesn't matter. She's a lovely girl with a beautiful voice, and that counts for more in the long run.

Good luck in Belgrade, Hind.