I always find it difficult to decide who to include in my yearly predictions list, as there are some acts who will obviously be huge, some very unlikely to be, but many more who could just as easily be megastars or total flops. Therefore I have decided to make a list of every act I can think of who either I think has a good chance of success, or others have been tipping for it, and give my verdict on every one of them. The list got rather long, so I’m going to give you 4 a day for the next week or so. Enjoy discovering some great new pop, and let’s hope that only the ones who deserve it will be the success stories of 2009!
Alexandra Burke
The new… Leona Lewis
It’s undoubtable that Alex will see success in 2009, but the real question is how much. She has the potential to be as big as Leona, and it would be brilliant to see two talented British girls ruling the charts worldwide, but it will only happen if she gets at least one song as good as Bleeding Love. Unfortunately, those are not very common at all, but Simon Cowell and pals can afford to buy whatever is the best r’n’b song written in 2009, and they MUST buy it. It is also important that she has a mixture of upbeat songs and ballads, to show how she is different to Leona. Fingers crossed for a song with RedOne!
Poptasticness: Depends what she does next! Hit potential: 96%
Alex Roots
The new… Ashlee Simpson
Another Alex, but I’ll be incredibly shocked if this one does better than the Burke variety in 2009. Unfortunately it seems that she’s not the sharpest tool in the box either, as she thinks that being the New Artist of the Day for The Guardian means she was actually in the paper. If she bothered to look up her own media coverage she’d know it’s an online feature! Some of her songs are quite fun and catchy, but just not good enough in my opinion. The world doesn’t need a British answer to Ashlee Simpson.
Poptasticness: 73% Hit potential: 34%
Boy Crisis
The new… Chromeo
I’ve known about this group for a while, and I must say they’ve grown on me since I watched their videos and got a better idea of what they’re all about. They’re friends of MGMT but mix their indie-electro sound with r’n’b rather than rock, although the two acts share a colourful and quirky style of dressing. I think Boy Crisis will be one of the big names on the hipster blogging scene this year, but I don’t think they’ll be topping the charts, although taking part in this year’s Wonky Pop national tour might help them along, as well as a London show with Passion Pit and Black Kids in February. Personally I’m looking forward to seeing what their stage show is like when they come to my local indie-pop venue in March.
Poptasticness: 78% Hit potential: 46%
Dan Black
The new… Calvin Harris (but good!)
Joining Boy Crisis and Master Shortie on the Wonky Pop tour is Dan Black, another urban electro (this genre needs a name asap!) act who is getting lots of mentions on the trend-setting music blogs. I was already well-acquainted with him after years of being a fan of his band The Servant, who were British but for some reason only popular in France and Italy. Before he’d even released a single as a solo act, he was getting more attention than he ever had with the band, and as I know he has potential for writing great songs I believe he has a pretty good chance of success in the coming year. His super-ace videos should help him along as well, and he’s not afraid of wearing leopard print and white jeans, so I’m thinking he’s plenty extraverted enough to be a star.
Poptasticness: 87% Hit potential: 72%