Simultaneously in Amsterdam and Los Angeles, Natalie La Rose was announced as the eigth winner of the 2017 European Border Breakers Awards (EBBA), the European music awards for emerging artists. La Rose was surprised by DJ Fernando at Dutch radio station FunX over a Skype transmission.
Amsterdam-born Natalie La Rose graduated as a singer and dancer in 2008, landing the role of Taylor McKessie in the Dutch version of High School Musical. With a keen interest in deep urban grooves, La Rose signed to US imprint Republic, a label distributed by Universal Music Group. Her debut single ‘Somebody’ featured a guest role by Jeremih, who provided the Whitney Houston-referencing hook. The track was released in January 2015 and immediately shot to fame, landing in the Top Ten in the US singles chart and charting in the UK, The Netherlands, Ireland, Denmark, Germany, Sweden and France.
Earlier, Alan Walker (no), Jaakko Eino Kalevi (fi), Namika (de), Walking On Cars (ie), Hinds (es), Jain (fr) and Filous (at) were also announced as winners of an EBBA. A total of ten EBBA winners will be announced in the upcoming weeks. The Awards Ceremony will take place on 11 January 2017 in Groningen, as part of the Eurosonic Noorderslag festival.
The EBBA
The EBBA celebrate new and border-breaking artists who create today and tomorrow’s music. From Adele (United Kingdom) to Christine & the Queens (France), the EBBA winners represent some of the standout European sounds of recent years. Other previous winners include Stromae, Gabriel Rios, Hozier, Of Monsters and Men, Mumford & Sons, Aurora, Disclosure, John Newman, C2C, Tokio Hotel, The Script, Years and Years, Robin Schulz, Carnival Youth, MØ and Selah Sue.
From the group of enthusiastic gig-goers out on the weekend to the industry dedicated to making the music you love, Music Moves Europe. The EBBA are one of the EU’s ways of celebrating European popular and contemporary music, by bringing the artists, the industry and the fans together to celebrate European music.
Every year, 10 European artists receive an EBBA to recognise their success in countries other than their own. This success is measured by:
- airplay
- sales
- live performances in Europe
- position in the European Border Breakers Charts
The European Border Breakers Charts, launched earlier this year and compiled by Radiomonitor, rank tracks from around Europe based on airplay abroad.
To be eligible for the 2017 awards, the artists must have achieved border-breaking success with their first international release in Europe between 1 August 2015 and 31 July 2016 and come from a country participating in the EU’s Creative Europe programme.
The EBBA, now in their 14th year, are an EU Prize, organised by Eurosonic Noorderslag in partnership with the European Commission (Creative Europe) and the European Broadcasting Union, with support from Buma Cultuur, the Dutch Ministry of Education, Culture and Science, Province of Groningen, the City of Groningen and Music Week.
Public choice
One of the winners will receive a Public Choice Award based on votes cast on the EBBA website from 5 up to 23 December 2016. Up to ten voters, chosen at random from different countries, will be invited to the award ceremony. Each will be able to bring a friend and the flight and hotel costs will be taken care of.
EBBA ceremony
The winners will receive their award in a ceremony hosted by TV personality and musician Jools Holland at the Eurosonic Noorderslag festival in Groningen, Netherlands, on 11 January 2017. The ceremony will feature performances by the winning acts.
Contact
Nikki McNeill | Global Publicity
nikki@globalpublicity.co.uk