Do

Most artists have their big break in their home-country before trying overseas. And even if they do try, worldfame is rare and not for everyone. Dominique Rijpma van Hulst, better known as Do, is the exception to that rule. Her first big hit "Heaven" - a dance version of Bryan Adams' 80's worldfamous hit recording - was a huge top ten hit in Spain, Germany and Belgium. It was also a top three hit in the USA Billboard charts and reached the #1 spot in the UK, Australia, New Zealand and Canada.

All of this happened prior to the release of the unplugged version of "Heaven", which instantly became a classic in her own home-country; The Netherlands. This so-called unplugged version even helped her boost the track straight to the number one slot in the USA Billboard charts resulting in Do singing on various big events, standing next to celebrities such as Puff Daddy and Destiny's Child, in front of tenthousands of people. Even Bryan Adams impressed by Do. This showed when he asked her to sing "Heaven" with him during one of his European shows. In 2003, Do received a World Music Award for Best Dutch Artist, scored another number one hit duetting with Dutch collegue Marco Borsato on the track "Voorbij" and got nominated for an Edison Award. She was chosen Best National Female Artist during TMF's 2004 award show. On top of that, "Heaven" received the 2004 BMI - Pop Award, in Los Angeles.

Not bad. Not bad at all, for a girl from Valkenswaard who decided to trade in her tennis-racket for a microphone at age fourteen. She starts out singing as a backingvocalist and works on various commercials for big companies. Relatively quick she rolls into the music business and meets German producer Yanou, who for some reason saw the magic in her. Her first single "Real Good" becomes a modest succes and gets her some deals to be in pre-shows for artists such as Five and Montell Jordan. Then, Yanou and Dj Sammy ask her to do vocals for a dance version of "Heaven", which was released worldwide in 2002 under the name "Dj Sammy & Yanou featuring Do. The rest, as we all know, is history.

In july of 2004, Do puts out her long-awaited debut-album, simply entitled Do. Because of all the successes in the years before, it took quite some time for her to drop the album. Partly because the word average just isn't in Do's vocabulairy. "Being a perfectionist, I have spent ages looking for songs that would suit me. I have experimented a lot and changed a lot of the arrangements, resulting in an amazing record", says Do. "All songs reflect my personality; very natural, pure and real." It became a mixture of melodic, often melancholic ballads ("The Day You Went Away", "I Believe In Love"), cool mid-tempo R&B popsongs ("Close To You", "So Near So Far") and funky dancetracks ("Love Is Killing Me", "Selfish"). Obviously the hitsingle "Angel By My Side" is on there, as well as ballad versions of the smash hits "Heaven" and "On And On".

The album was partly produced by Do's production-team Yanou and Glenn Corneille, and partly by production-team GMW from the UK. Do co-wrote four of the songs. Something she hadn't found herself doing before. "These were my first few steps as a songwriter. It was nice to find out I'm capable of writing songs and coming up with melodies, all by myself. The ballad "I Don't Want To Be Your Friend" was written by one of the most prolific and successful contemporary songwriters of our time, who has also penned songs for artists such as Celine Dion, Tina Turner and Barbra Streisand; Diane Warren. In the Netherlands, Do worked with Tony Cornelissen and Allan Eshuijs.

In the end, all of the hard work resulted in a debut-album which is about just as classy as the singer herself. "Little stories, picked straight off of life's garden", performed with a typically Dutch down-to-earth twist, yet with international allure and potential. Do's amazing and heartwarming vocal sound is what ties it all together. She has definitely succeeded in creating her own unique style. Do: "The most important thing is that I now know my strength and how to use it in order to touch other people's hearts. Receiving an award or standing next to Mariah Carey at the World Music Awards is great, obviously, but what really matters is the music itsself. Knowing that I can bring enjoyment to people and touch their hearts with my music is what keeps me going."