Marlayne

Marlayne’s participation in the European Song Contest (29th of May 1999 in Jerusalem) was without a doubt the breakthrough for her as a solo singer. A breakthrough that had already taken shape a few months previously, when the 28-year-old from Baarn magnificently won the National Song Contest with the catchy "One Good Reason". And with this a ticket to "Jerusalem". Here she was tipped by many as a favourite to win and on the night she gave a great performance in front of hundreds of millions of television viewers. As a result of the televoting system, however, she eventually had to make do with a joint 8th place. But Marlayne is more than just "The girl from the Song Contest". She did not let her adventure in The Holy City put her off. Marlayne is a self-confident singer who knows perfectly well what she wants. And that is a long solo career. Not a "one-hit-wonder" everyone has forgotten six months later. Marlayne wants to show that she is a mature artist, with a mature pop repertoire. These ambitions are not so surprising considering her background. As the daughter of Rein van den Broek, trumpeter and bandleader from the extremely popular 70’s formation Ekseption, she was captivated by music from an early age. She had her first classical piano lesson at the age of eight and dreamed of a career as a concert pianist. As is so often the case with children, this dream changed quickly. Little Marlayne was completely besotted with the tough number "I love rock & roll" by Joan Jett & The Blackhearts (1982) and radically changed course: she wanted to become a pop singer. Aged sixteen, she began to write her own songs, stopped taking piano lessons and attended, after her general secondary education, the school of music and followed the song and light music course. She turned out to be a good student, learned a lot from tutors such as Greetje Kauffeld and Humphrey Campbell and completed her studies - with distinction - a year earlier than planned! Marlayne went on tour with her own band and her own repertoire, written together with Michel van Schie and Lou Guldemond, playing for the public in music cafes. The music was popular with the audience, but the recording industry did not really know which commercial niche to put this blond singer into. After the success of "One Good Reason" they must have scratched their heads… Marlayne gained experience in the studio, whilst studying, as a session singer for jingles, commercials and in backing groups. This lead to her joining the Frogettes, René Froger’s concert backing group. For the first time she was able to taste stardom. After ten concerts in Ahoy and twice in the legendary Kuip stadium with Froger, she moved onto another household name, Ruth Jacott. After two very informative seasons in the theatre, Marlayne thought the time was ripe to stretch her wings. "There is no such thing as coincidence. Everything is predestined, but you have to be open to it", is Marlayne’s philosophy. That was the case with the song "One Good Reason" that she heard at the composers Alan Michael and Tjeerd van Zanen. They were looking for a singer who wanted to compete in the National Song Contest with their number. "My gut feeling said yes, I fell in love with the number immediately", remembers Marlayne. She is happy she trusted her feeling now. Thanks to the Song Contest, everyone in the Netherlands - and beyond - knows Marlayne as a professional, driven singer, who clearly loves her profession. A multitalented singer as well, which she proved with the romantic Dutch duet "Ik kan ’t niet alleen" she sang with Gordon. A single that made it into the hit parade. Marlayne is presently busy fulfilling a new dream, with help from the recording company Columbia, her husband, stalwart Danny Sahupala and the whole team around them. Staying out of the limelight, and with great care, they are working on Marlayne’s first CD album "Meant To Be", which will be released on February 26. The third solosingle "I Quit" arrived on the market on February 12. Along with various compositions of her own, the album will also feature numbers by internationally praised names, amongst which is a number that she wrote together with Ali Thomson. Because Marlayne thinks a job well worth doing is worth doing well, the album will not be comprised of three scraped together singles and additional padding. "I want to deliver quality across the board with my team. Because only when I have shown and let people hear what I am capable of, will I really feel successful". It will be clear, Marlayne is MORE than "The girl from the Song Contest!" Source: Marlayne-nl Read more on Last.fm. User-contributed text is available under the Creative Commons By-SA License; additional terms may apply.