Ultra Artists.
Ultra Artist.
Dannii Minogue
International pop star Dannii Minogue, whose debut U.S. album Neon Nights (on Ultra Records) has already gone Gold in the UK and Australia boasting four Top 10 singles, is about to descend upon U.S. shores. Minogue, performing since the age of seven, will give the U.S. a taste of her self-assured and sexy, pure dance-pop when she arrives in NYC in late September to begin promoting the October 7th release of Neon Nights. The first single is “I Begin To Wonder,” which has already gone #2 in the UK and Top 10 around Europe. Her first U.S. performance will jump off at this year’s Billboard Dance Summit on September 24.
Neon Nights pulsates with the rhythms of hot UK producers Ian Masterson and Terry Ronald, Neimo, JCA and Sweden’s Korpi & Blacksell (Murlyn). From the hypnotic, Top 10 UK hit “Put The Needle On It” to the lush and mesmerizing first single “I Begin To Wonder” (a #2 hit), Neon Nights is chock full of hot beats and Dannii’s sultry, inviting vocals. The fourth European hit single from the album, “Don’t Want To Lose This Feeling” (written by Dannii Minogue, Terry Ronald, Parisian pop act Neimo and James Kahri) spawned a much in-demand bootleg version dubbed “Don’t Want To Lose This Groove,” featuring samples of Madonna’s “Get Into The Groove,” a rare instance where Madonna agreed to another artist sampling her music. Snippets of Madonna’s vocals can also be heard on the track.”I Begin To Wonder” also spawned a Euro bootleg dubbed “I Begin To Spin You Round,” based on Dead Or Alive’s track “You Spin Me Round (Like A Record).”
Dannii also recently began hosting her own Capital FM radio show, “Dannii Minogue’s Neon Nights,” a dance show that came about as a result of the chemistry she had with listeners while making on-air appearances promoting her last single. The show had an 8-week run on Capital FM and has since been syndicated internationally. Dannii plans to do one-off specials throughout the coming year.
And lest you think Dannii just stepped into stardom, think again. She has paid her dues. Dannii Minogue is, as GQ magazine calls her, “pop’s prize-fighter,” a multi-talented artist who’s been in the game with all its ups and downs. Dannii first appeared as a child in Australian television. She debuted her first recording on a “Young Talent Time” (akin to the Mickey Mouse Club) album released in Australia, when Dannii was just 15 years old. In 1989 Dannii signed a record deal in Australia and began filming as Emma Jackson in the Australian soap “Home And Away.” This show was seen by over fifty million viewers a week and brought Dannii to the attention of European audiences for the first time.
Dannii released her debut album Love And Kisses in Australia in 1990 and sold over 60,000 units going Gold. The album reached #4 on the Aussie charts and went Top 10 in the UK. During 1991, Love And Kisses garnered four Top 15 UK singles. Her second album, Get Into You, spawned the 1993 Top 10 smash “This Is It.” In 1994, she went on to release two #1 hits in Japan, presented a Disney television special and appeared in Australian Playboy magazine, which sold out in just three days.
In 1995, Dannii ended the year releasing an 18-month calendar, which became the biggest selling calendar on record, selling over 50,000 copies in its first month of sales.
Dannii garnered another top 5 hit single, “All I Wanna Do,” in 1997. Minogue released her third studio album Girl. Dannii flew back to Australia to appear in “Grease: The Arena Spectacular,” where she played the character “Rizzo,” captivating audiences of over 450,000. She went on to land the lead in London’s West End production of “Notre-Dame De Paris” performing to over 2,000 people nightly and garnered the “Best Stage Performance” kudos at the Maxim Awards. As if that wasn’t enough, this was followed by critical acclaim for her role in the play “The Vagina Monologues.” Dutch trance masters Riva then approached Dannii to guest vocal on one of 2001’s biggest singles “Who Do You Love Now?,” which reached #3 on the UK charts.
After conquering Europe and Australia with her diverse talents, Dannii Minogue has set now her sites on the U.S. with Neon Nights. As she’s already shown, pop’s prize fighter can go the distance.
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