Keri Hilson – WelcheMusic.com

Swedes Take Nicole Scherzinger to UK No.1 Spot

CHART SPOTLIGHT. The two Swedish producers Rami Yacoub and Carl Falk take ex-Pussycat Dolls singer Nicole Scherzinger to the top of the UK singles chart this week. “Don’t Hold Your Breath” is Scherzinger’s 16^th hit. According to Music Week, all of them were Top 20 hits.

A demo of the track was recorded by Keri Hilson and Timbaland, but it wasn’t officially released.

Pussycat Dolls managed to place two hits at No.1 – “Don’t Cha” and “StickWitU.” Yesterday saw the release of Scherzinger’s debut album Killer Love, which had already rendered two singles. The Enrique Iglesias collaboration “Heartbeat” peaked at No.8, while “Poison” reached No.3.

Back to the Swedes. Rami Yacoub is no stranger to chart success. In 1998, he co-wrote “…Baby One More Time” with Max Martin. Rami has produced artists such as Backstreet Boys, Céline Dion and Enrique Iglesias. Carl Falk has worked with artists such as The Wanted, Jennifer Rush, Nick Carter and Westlife.

Cheryl Cole’s “Promise This” Hits the Dancefloor with Remixes

CHART SPOTLIGHT. Spotify UK offers no less than nine remixes of Cheryl Cole’s latest hit single “Promise This.” Released on Oct.25, the track has already managed to top the UK singles chart. It sold 157,000 copies in its first week, which is the biggest selling record for a non-charity single.

Digital Dog, Almighty and Jorg Schmid are among the producers who remixed the “Promise This.” The Jorg Schmid remix is available on the Clubland 18 compilation album.

“Promise This” is written by the singer Priscilla Renea Hamilton who failed to garner any success with her own album Jukebox from December 2009.Producer Wayne Wilkins has previously worked on tracks with Keri Hilson, Leona Lewis, Beyoncé and Jordin Sparks.

“Parachute” was the final track to be issued off the 3 Words album. The song reached No.5 in the UK, peaking at No.2 in Poland and topped the Romanian chart tally this March. Cole also made the headlines the other week as she and X-Factor colleague Dannii Minogue snubbed Jamiroquai singer Jay K following a foul-mouthed rant before the group performed on the show. Let’s see if Cheryl Cole returns to Skavlan to promote her new album.

WelcheMusic update: “Promise This” never charted in Sweden as it was only released as a promo single back in October. It reached No.19 on the Belgium singles chart.

Listen to the complete set of remixes available of “Promise This” here (via Spotify UK).
Listen to Cheryl Cole – Messy Little Raindrops via Spotify Sweden or click here for the UK version.

Keri Hilson’s German No.1 to Break in the Rest of Europe

The American r’n’b singer Keri Hilson surely isn’t the first name that pops up when you think of artists secretly breaking it big in Germany. Born in Georgia back in 1982, Keri Hilson had already established herself as a credible songwriter before her breakthrough came as guest vocalist on Timbaland’s “The Way I Are” and “Scream” in 2007.

Her debut album came in 2009 when In a Perfect World… collected hit singles such as “Knock You Down” and “Energy.” So, how come that she topped the German singles chart last December? Strangely enough, the song “I Like” is the hit single off the soundtrack to Zweiohrküken (Chicken with Two Ears). It’s a German romantic comedy revolving around the a yellow press reporter and his girlfriend.

Keri Hilson’s hit single was written and produced by David Jost and Robin Grubert and will be featured on a re-issue of the In a Perfect World… album. The track has already been added to the German version of the set, and “I Like” was recently released in Sweden (it currently sits at No.46 on the singles chart). There are two versions available of the track, the Jost & Grubert mix as well as a Manhattan Clique remix.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fpoIxKkJ1G4&hl=sv_SE&fs=1&]

In a Perfect World… has so far produced five hit singles. “Energy,” “Return the Favor” and “Turnin’ Me On” were released back in 2008, while “Knock You Down” preceded the immediate release of the album in March 2009. A fifth single, “Slow Dance,” was released in July 2009. This January, Keri Hilson and Akon released the charity single “Oh Africa” to benefit underprivileged youth in Haiti. According to Wikipedia, “Tell Him the Truth” is also slated for single release in 2010.