Every year EQ picks one brilliant electro/pop artist that has defined the spirit and uniqueness of this blog so that they may reign supreme on our pages for a full year. All of our nominees have participated in EQ interview features and have released some great music this year. Sure it’s not like winning a grammy, but it’s loads of fun really.
In the past, EQ has chosen Darren Hayes as the 2006-07 receipient and Antigone as the 2007-08 winner. And this year, the nominees for EQ Of The Year 2008-09 are…drum roll please..
James Leon: He’s got tons of drive and each tune he puts out just gets better and better. It’s nice to have seen James grow artistically this past year and with brilliant potential being shown in the way of "Never Been Cool", "Club With No Name" and "Purple Heart" under his belt, James is on his way to being a pop force to be reckoned with.
Doe Deere: Yeah, EQ obsessed over her for quite awhile and rightly so. Her EP "Supernatural" was pop perfection and Doe Deere quickly won these pages over as a brilliant electro pop artist who I take great joy in covering. No matter how many times I hear "One Touch" it just never ever gets old.
Juvelen: I am totally suprised that Juvelen hasn’t taken over the world by now. He’s got brillant songs and his album "1" is seriously underrated. Providing us with one of the best songs of the year with "Don’t Mess" and "Hanna", Juvelen still is one to watch out for.
Sergey: He’s already a superstar in Russia and has released some of the best pop gems this year in the way of "Everytime" and "Girlfriend". Whenever he came to the UK, EQ was there giving you full coverage as Sergey is one of the worlds brightest talents. Expect "Flyer (Under Fire)" to chart well in our end of year EQ Chart – could possibly be our favourite song of the year…
Temposhark: This was Temposhark’s year. Everytime I saw them live, it was a total treat. Critics went crazy for their debut album "The Invisible Line" and rightly so – it’s one of the best pop/electronica records to be released this year, yet still criminally underrated. The world still hasn’t seen Temposhark’s full potential yet and EQ looks forward to covering them for many more years to come.
Lady Gaga: Love her or hate her (and it seems she has an equal amount of lovers/haters), Lady Gaga has proven that she is a fantastic songwriter and has a unique vision for pop. As quirky as they come backed by some crazy electronica meshed with pop superhit potential, Lady Gaga is quite easily on the path to superstardom. "Just Dance" is hands-down one of the best pop songs to be released this year and people are already saying it could go Number One in the UK very soon…