You’ve read too many biographies in which too many mediocre singers are called “soulful” or are credited with having “soul”, in a pathetic attempt to cover up their inadequacies or lend them an air of authenticity.
In this case, however, we’re talking about the real thing: Natalia is a soul chick extraordinaire. For Natalia, singing is a vocation, not a career. Other girls want to be a singer. Natalia sings.
In sharp contrast with so many other female singers, Natalia is not precious, not fake, not a would be femme fatale, not packaged or groomed.
She’s simply a boisterous, jovial, gutsy, charismatic loudmouth. She’s that rarest of things: a natural. She’s flesh and blood in a music industry that thrives on plastic. On stage, she’s spirited and sexy, but never vulgar. She’s the anti-bimbo. There is no act. What you see is what you get.
Natalia has paid her dues. Like so many young girls, she debuted singing Madonna’s “Like a Virgin”. Unlike others, she followed it up by performing live at fourteen, singing a challenging repertoire that included Whitney Houston’s “The greatest love of all”. Lesser mortals choose less taxing songs. She honed her craft fronting a cover band for a couple of years. Then she almost didn’t enter the Belgian “Idol” contest, because “I didn’t feel like queueing at the entrance”. She came second (out of five thousand contestants), and to many people she was the moral victor. Only a couple of years ago, a wide-eyed adolescent Natalia attended a Ricky Martin gig at the Sports Palace in Antwerp. Early 2006, she completed not one but ten gigs of her own at the same venue, with special guests The Pointer Sisters (soul legends who don’t play second fiddle to just anyone). Together, they clocked up over 120.000 punters. By then, “Back for More” earned her double platinum. Says Ruth Pointer: “Natalia has got soul in spades. There’s nothing she can’t handle”.
Natalia and her team are ambitious, but think long term. Her success so far was achieved purely on the basis of a great voice and an irresistible stage presence, not through stunts, gimmicks, gossip or big media campaigns. In 2007, she released her third album “Everything & More” with an extensive summer tour. In January 2008, she did filled the Sports Palace again with En Vogue and Shaggy. In November 2008 she starts her “Glamorous Arena tour” .Beyond that, the sky is the limit.
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