HADISE
Hadise Açıkgöz (born 22 October 1985) is a Belgian-Turkish singer, songwriter, dancer and television personality. Born and raised in Belgium, her family is of Lezgin-Kumyk origin who settled in Sivas, Turkey. In 2003, she participated in the Belgian singing competition show Idool 2003, but rose to fame after releasing her debut album Sweat in 2005. The album spawned 5 singles and earned Hadise both a TMF Award (Belgium) and Golden Butterfly Award (Turkey). Hadise established and maintained a successful career in both Belgium and Turkey with the release of her self-titled album Hadise (2008). The album, which includes English and Turkish songs, features the single “Deli Oğlan” that became a number-one hit in Turkey.
In 2009, Hadise represented Turkey at the Eurovision Song Contest with the song “Düm Tek Tek”. The song gained a total of 177 points, placing Turkey fourth in the final round of the competition. “Düm Tek Tek” earned Hadise her first number one single in Belgium and was followed-up with the release of her studio albums Fast Life, (2009) and Kahraman (2009). The single “Evlenmeliyiz” from Kahraman was among the top-ten hits on Türkçe Top 20. She has since focused on her career in Turkey with the release of her albums Aşk Kaç Beden Giyer? (2011), Tavsiye (2014) and Şampiyon (2017).
Aside from her musical accomplishments Hadise also presented the Belgian version of The X Factor and has been a judge on O Ses Türkiye (Turkish version of The Voice) since 2011.
Hadise Açıkgöz was born in the town of Mol, located near the city of Antwerp, on 22 October 1985. Her name was chosen by one of her grandparents, having originally been intended for her older sister. Hadise’s parents emigrated to Belgium from Sivas, Turkey. Her mother, Gülnihal, is Kumyk and her father, Hasan Açıkgöz, is Lezgin. She grew up with her older sister, Hülya, a younger sister Derya and also a younger brother named Murat. Hadise was 11 years old when her parents divorced.
At the age of 18 and with the support of her family Hadise participated in the first season of the show Idool, the Flemish version of the Pop Idol series. She failed to qualify for the finals, however, her appearance was acknowledged by her soon-to-be manager Johan Hendrickx. Hendrickx contacted Hadise explaining how impressed he was with her performance on the show and offered her an album contract.
After signing to 2 Brain records, Hadise recorded her debut single “Sweat”, which was released in November 2004. Although a music video wasn’t shot for the single, the song managed to peak at No. 19 on the Ultratop 50 singles chart. She later released the single “Stir Me Up” which gained popularity in both Belgium and especially Turkey, where the song became a huge hit in the summer of 2006. Hadise then released her single “Milk Chocolate Girl”, the biggest hit from her debut album, which peaked at No. 13 on the Ultratop 50. A year after releasing her debut single, in November 2005, her first studio album Sweat was released with about half of the songs being written by Hadise herself. The album notably included the singles “Ain’t No Love Lost” and “Bad Boy”. “Bad Boy” peaked at No. 22 on the Ultratop.
The self-titled album, was originally intended to be named On High Heels, referring to the fact that she had grown enormously in her professional career and knowledge. Hadise began to work on her second studio album in December 2007. The album was recorded in several countries, including Belgium, France, Turkey and Italy. The lead single, “A Good Kiss”, was released in September 2007. This became her sixth consecutive single to chart on the Belgian “Ultratop 50”. The song was also successful in Turkey, where it became her first single to chart on the “Turkish Billboard Chart”. The song was later translated into Turkish by Sezen Aksu as “Deli Oğlan”, and it became one of the most played songs in clubs in the summer of 2008. In Turkish, subsequently the single managed to peak at 3 on the Turkish Charts. Due to leaked images of Hadise being affectionate with a male model, the music video “Deli Oğlan” generated controversy amongst those who considered the images to be ‘racy’ or ‘erotic’. Hadise later removed these scenes from the video.
Hadise released two more singles in Belgium “My Body”, which was her best-selling single in Belgium (until the release of “Düm Tek Tek”) and “My Man and the Devil on His Shoulder”, her first single to not chart on the Ultratop 50 chart. Also the song “My Body” became popular in the Balkan countries and started airing at the Bulgarian Balkanika TV’s playlist.
Hadise, which was released in June 2008, has become the most successful album of Hadise’s career so far, as it was the first album to enter the Belgium Album chart, at 19. It was the first album of Hadise to be released onto iTunes. She co-wrote ten of the album’s songs with Yves Gaillard.
In June 2008, Hadise appeared on Serdar Ortaç’s album Nefes on a track called “Düşman”. In July 2008, Hadise revealed that she had met Kevin Federline during her trip to the United States and told the media that he had produced some music for her to use on a future album. A new video had surfaced of Hadise telling Belgian viewers that her future album would include urban beats along with some of the producers and choreographers had worked with Britney Spears, Justin Timberlake, Alicia Keys, and many more artists that are big in the game. In August 2008, she was nominated as the Best Turkish Act on MTV Europe Music Awards but lost to Emre Aydın.