K3

K3
The Official K3 Logo
Background information
Origin	Belgium
Genres	Pop
Instruments	Vocals
Years active	1998 – present
Labels	Sony BMG (1999–present) Studio 100 (2002–present)
Website	Official website (Dutch)
Members
Karen Damen (1998–present) Kristel Verbeke (1998–present) Josje Huisman (2009–present)
Former members
Kathleen Aerts (1998–2009)

K3 is a Flemish/Dutch girl band with a Dutch repertoire, mainly aimed at pre-adolescent children. The name of the group is derived from the names of the three original members: Karen Damen, Kristel Verbeke and Kathleen Aerts. Their music is produced by production company Studio 100 and is written by Miguel Wiels, Alain Vande Putte and Peter Gillis. K3 was founded by Niels William.

The band became famous without any airplay from the regular music television channels like MTV, instead marketing directly to children via children- and cartoon-channels^[1].

The band is also known as one of Europe's biggest acts and longest running girl band and famous for their poppy-happy songs and K3 dances.

Career

K3 performance - Oostende - 2001

K3 performance - Hasselt - April 2006

Rise to fame (1998-2002)

The band K3 started by Niels William. Initially they had female twenty-somethings as their target audience, which is noticeable in their early song lyrics. Their first single, "Wat ik wil" (What I want), was not very successful.

In 1999 K3 participated with the song "Heyah Mama" in the live television shows to select the Belgian entry for the Eurovision Song Contest. The song was not well received by one of the judges, Marcel Vanthilt, who referred to the band members as assorted meat products. Notwithstanding, "Heyah Mama" was released as a single and became the first big hit for the band.

The song stayed at the number one spot of the Flemish Ultratop 50 chart for 16 weeks and would eventually be listed in the chart for 34 weeks. Their next two singles also reached the number one position, resulting in an uninterrupted period of 32 weeks in which a K3 song was at the top of that chart. About a year after becoming famous in Flanders K3 also became famous in the Netherlands.

The songs are written by Miguel Wiels, Alain Vande Putte and Peter Gillis. This trio previously collaborated as songwriters for Flemish singer Isabelle A.

K3 is noted for being the first pop act to break through to the top of the charts without receiving any airplay from the regular music television channels like MTV and TMF. Niels William's new marketing concept was based on promotion via children and cartoon channels like Fox Kids^[1].

Studio 100 era (2002-present)

Since 2002 the band is managed by Studio 100, a Flemish television production company for Dutch and Belgian children's programs.

Songs like "Heyah Mama", "I love you baby", "Alle Kleuren" (All colours), "Blub, ik ben een vis!" (Blub I'm a fish), "Tele-Romeo", "Toveren" (Doing magic), "Verliefd" (In love), "De 3 biggetjes" (The three piglets), "Oya lélé", "Hart verloren" (Heart lost), "Liefdeskapitein" (Captain of love), "Kuma He", "Ya Ya Yippee", "Dokter Dokter" (Doctor doctor) and "Kusjesdag" (Kissing Day) were hits for the band. K3 have released eight albums. Their eighth album Ya Ya Yippee sold more than 50,000 copies in pre-sales within the Benelux.

K3 present a children's television program called De wereld van K3 (K3's World). Originally there were Dutch and Flemish versions, but only the Dutch version remains.

The band has released several DVD's with video clips, with their musicals or films, and with specially recorded footage like K3 in de Ardennen (K3 in the Ardennes).

In 2007 a team from Madame Tussauds in London took measurements of the band members for wax statues ^[2]. K3 unveiled these wax statues at Madame Tussauds Amsterdam on 4 July 2007^[3].

Line-Up Change: Kathleen leaves K3 (2009-present)

On Monday March 23, 2009, Kathleen, the blonde singer, announced her departure at a press conference. "It was a tough decision, after all I gave the best years of my life to K3. People change and life is constantly in motion; I'm 30 now and after ten years it's time to move on". She made her last two appearances with K3 in June at a Studio 100 showcase at the Rotterdam Ahoy. Karen and Kristel would then search for a replacement on television.

Belgian shownews-programme De Rode Loper reported that two celebrities were auditioning for the vacant spot but this appeared to be an April Fool's joke. Meanwhile Kathleen has signed up for Unicef ambassadorship and is likely to quit singing altogether.

The two remaining members of K3 kept searching for a new member. This time through a reality show called 'K2 zoekt K3'. In the final episode the Dutch Josje Huisman became the newest member of K3. ^[4]

Musicals

K3 performed in several musicals. In Doornroosje (Sleeping Beauty), during 2002, they played three good fairies and in De 3 biggetjes (The three piglets), during 2003. They played the eponymous three piglets, Knirrie (Verbeke), Knarrie (Damen) and Knorrie (Aerts) and reprised these roles in 2007 for a tour of both Belgium and the Netherlands.

K3 Museum

On 10 June 2006 a party was held at Plopsaland to celebrate the tenth anniversary of Studio 100. At this occasion the band members opened the K3 Museum which provides an overview of their career. There are interviews, clothes and props from the films to be seen, including the air scooters from the film K3 en het Magische Medaillon (K3 and the magic medallion). The countless gold and platinum discs can be seen too.

K3 Language

Through making music, the girls created their own Language. Called K3lish. Heyah Mama was their first song that featured K3lish, just a few words in the chorus. A lot of songs of the band have words liekt his in the songs. The self-made language is a mix between African and Simlish.

Projects in other languages

In 2002 K3 recorded English, French and German versions of their Tele-Romeo album.

After having sold K3 to Studio 100, the founder Niels William moved to South Africa in 2002 and started his own music studio there. In March 2007 he launched X4, a 4-girl group singing translations of K3-songs in Afrikaans and English. They released one album: Heyah Mama, which also featured the single of the same name. ^[5].

In May 2007 Studio 100 launched a German version of K3: Wir 3. They do not only sing translated versions of K3 songs (starting off with Heyah Mama) they're also modelled after the originals (consisting of a redhead, a brunette and a blonde). ^[6].

Band members in non-K3 activities

Aerts was the stand-in for the title role in the musical Sneeuwwitje (Snow White) and during the pregnancy of Verbeke, Aerts played the title role in De kleine zeemeermin (The Little Mermaid).

From February till May 2008 Verbeke appeared in the musical Pinokkio as Nina de Ballerina, the title character's conscience.

Damen plays a PE teacher in television series Het Huis Anubis (The Anubis House) for the Dutch Nickelodeon channel.

In September 2007 Damen was a panel judge voting the Belgian entry for Junior Eurovision Song Contest.

The band members have occasionally, separately or collectively, taken part in the television program De Notenclub, which allowed them to sing a more grown-up repertoire. Miguel Wiels, who is the co-author of most of the K3 songs, is one of the two regular piano players in the Flemish version of that program. Another song writer for K3, Alain Vande Putte, has also appeared as singer on that show.

Discography

Studio albums

• 1999: Parels
• 2000: Alle Kleuren
• 2001: Tele Romeo
• 2002: Verliefd
• 2003: Oya Lele
• 2004: De Wereld Rond
• 2005: Kuma He
• 2006: Ya Ya Yipee
• 2007: Kusjes
• 2009: MaMaSé

Filmography

The group made several television aparances, dvd's and three theatre-movies. And the girls have also their own talkshow.

The members of K3 have also made several films. In 2004 they released their first: K3 en het Magische Medaillon (K3 and the magic medallion). The film premiered on 29 September 2004 and received favourable reviews. In the film Dutch television celebrity Paul de Leeuw played the stark raving mad genie.

In 2006 the second film, K3 en het IJsprinsesje (K3 and the little ice princess), was released. In this fairy tale film Carry Tefsen played the witch at the pancake house, Peter Faber played the king and famous Belgian comedian Urbanus played the wizard. More than half a million people in Belgium and the Netherlands went to the cinemas to see the threesome melt the spoilt princess' frozen heart.

The third film, K3 en de Kattenprins (K3 and the Catprince) had its Dutch premiere on December 20, 2007 and reached gold status (attendance in excess of 150,000 people) in two weeks time^{[citation needed]}. Reviewers^[who?] described the movie as The Wizard of Oz meets Alice in Wonderland.

See also

• List of best-selling belgian artist

References

External links

• Official site K3 (Dutch)
• Website Karen Damen (Dutch)
• Kristel Verbeke at the Internet Movie Database
• Karen Damen at the Internet Movie Database
• Kathleen Aerts at the Internet Movie Database
• Alistair MacLean, "K3" - article in Flanders Today

This article incorporates information from this version of the equivalent article on the Dutch Wikipedia.