Saturday 31 October 2009

Absolutely nobody remembers this lady...

For the past two weeks, Vanessa Amorosi has been sitting on top of the Australian ARIA charts with the new single, This Is Who I Am. Having discussed her with a few people, it seems that few people even remember who she is, making this incredible comeback story (this is her first #1 in Australia, 10 years after her debut single was released!) quite remarkable, Robyn-like if you will. I can't think of any other examples where a near enough one hit wonder has returned after a huge gap to score a #1 single, and this is of course what happened with Robyn who went to #8 in 1998 in the UK with the Max Martin, Britney/Backstreet Boys-esque, Show Me Love, only to return in 2007 with the haunting dance anthem, With Every Heartbeat, which topped the charts here.

Vanessa is of course not a complete unknown here. Her debut single Absolutely Everybody was a top ten hit in 2000, a feel good pop song which appeared on Now 47, so it's not like it wasn't popular. However, follow up single Shine wasn't released here and she was left a one hit wonder. Her career was slightly longer in Australia where she had hits with Shine, Have A Look and The Power before returning in 2007 with the underwhelming Kiss Ya Mama, and the ballad Perfect, which reached the top five there. But it's this No.1 success for the brilliant This Is Who I Am, that marks the true comeback for one of music's most underrated voices, she really is a powerhouse when she's belting it out, as she does at the end of this Pink/Kelly Clarkson like song. With Radio 1 support, this could be a UK hit, and another remarkable comeback story next year, but they probably didn't even support Absolutely Everybody back in the day, I don't ever recall hearing it on the radio, the only time I heard it was when I played the CD single, or was watching The Box! Either way, it's a great song she deserves the success in her home country which has seen her beat both Britney Spears and Robbie Williams to No.1!!!

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