Our final entry in this series bring us the four last songs that I discovered I had missed out during the initial trawl through the UK charts.
“Désenchantée” (Disenchanted” or “Disappointed”) is a 1991 song recorded by French singer-songwriter Mylene Farmer. In 2002, Belgian singer Kate Ryan released her dance-pop style version of “Désenchantée” as the third single from her debut album Different, released in the same year. This version was successful in several European countries. In the Flanders region of Belgium, the single went directly into the top ten, then reached number one on the third week and stayed there for six weeks. It spent ten weeks in the top three and twenty weeks in the top ten. After 27 weeks on the chart, it fell off the top 50. The single also reached number one in the Belgian dance chart. The single was also very successful in other European countries, such as Austria, Germany, Hungary, and Norway, where it reached the top three of the singles chart and stayed for several weeks in the top ten. In the UK it was a very minor hit reaching No. 83 in the charts.
“Obsesión” is a song by Dominican-American bachata band Aventura with Judy Santos as the female vocalist. It was included on their second studio album, We Broke the Rules (2002), and an English-language version was made for the same album. The song achieved success in many countries, topping many international charts. In France, the song held the number-one slot for seven weeks. Later, in 2005, Mexican-American singer Frankie J made an English and more soul-styled version of the song, also featuring Baby Bash, called “Obsession (No Es Amor)”. Released as a single in January 2005, the cover peaked at number three on the US Billboard, number five in Australia and number four in New Zealand. The song was produced by Australian-born UK-based producer Stewart Magee. Model Vida Guerra made a cameo in the video as Frankie J’s love interest and object of his obsession. It reached No. 38 in the UK chart.
“La Camisa Negra” (“The Black Shirt”) is a Spanish rock song written by Juanes, inspired by Colombian singer-songwriter Octavio Mesa and recorded by Juanes for his third studio album Mi Sangre. In Latin America, the track was released in 2005 as the third single from Mi Sangre, and in Europe, it was released in 2006 as the album’s lead single. The song received mixed reviews from critics and generated controversy when it was used to support neo-fascism in Italy. Juanes strongly repudiated the misappropriation of his song for political purposes. The single was successful in Europe, topping several record charts. It was the summer hit of 2005 in Spain and peaked at No. 32 in the UK.
“Allez Ola Olé” (Come on! Ola! Ole!) is a French Language song performed by Jessy Matador that represented France at the Eurovision Song Contest 2010. The song was to be used by French broadcaster France Televisions as The Summerhit of 2010 and also for promoting the 2010 FIFA World Cup, and the title of the song refers to the album Music of the World Cup: Allez Ola! Ole!, released in 1998 to coincide with the 1998 World Cup, held in France. Matador was selected internally by France Télévisions to represent France at the contest, and announced as the selected artist in February 2010, In late February Matador’s song was announced, and was released online in May. As of June 2020, it has over 61 million views on YouTube, making it one of the most-viewed videos on the official Eurovision channel.
