Do (singer)

Do
Do in June 2007
Background information
Birth name	Dominique Rijpma van Hulst
Born	(1981-09-07) 7 September 1981 Valkenswaard, Netherlands
Genres	Dance-pop, adult contemporary
Occupations	Singer, songwriter, Musicalactress
Years active	2000–present
Labels	Sony BMG
Website	www.domusic.nl

Dominique Rijpma van Hulst (born 7 September 1981) is a Dutch singer known by her stage name Do /ˈdoʊ/. She is best known for singing the vocals of DJ Sammy's worldwide top 10 hit in 2002-2003, "Heaven", a cover of the 1980s hit by Bryan Adams. She has released two albums, Do and Follow Me.

Early life

Do was born Dominique Rijpma in 1981 in Valkenswaard, the Netherlands. Although she had been singing throughout most of her childhood, Dominique Rijpma never considered a music career. Her father is a popular tennis coach by the name of Willem-Jan van Hulst. She was a gifted tennis player and at the age of 15 started preparations to compete in Wimbledon, but was forced to end her tennis career early because of an injury.

Her first musical performance in café Old Dutch in Valkenswaard led to a record label deal with Sony Music BMG.

Music career

Before she even released a single, she was a supporting act for the tour of 5ive and Montell Jordan in the Netherlands. The first single Do released was the song Real Good. Although the music video was played a lot on the Dutch music channel TMF, it was not a hit song in the Netherlands. Later in interview she says that "It wasn't my sound, and I hated the video. Thankfully it wasn't a hit, 'cause I don't want people to remember me from that song". After that Do collaborated with DJ Sammy and Yanou, who is also her producer. The song was a cover of Bryan Adams song Heaven. It became an international hit. It reached the number 1 spot in several countries, including the United Kingdom. A candlelight remix version was made with a slower, piano instrumental. During this time, she had some problems with the credits of the song. Everywhere she went, she was asked if she was DJ Sammy because the song (in accordance with most dance songs) was credited to DJ Sammy, and she was the main focus in the video.^{[citation needed]} Her candlelight version of "Heaven" is also used for the ending sequence of the TV series 'Cold Case', 1st season episode 8 'Fly Away'.

Do

Do's self-titled debut, Do, was released in 2004, and reached No. 3 in the Netherlands. The first single from the album, "Voorbij", a duet with Marco Borsato, reached number 1. She also had top 10 hits in the Netherlands with her next two singles, "Love Is Killing Me" (which reached the No. 6) and "Angel By My Side" (which reached No. 10). A specially recorded version of "Angel By My Side" was used as the title song for the 2004 Dutch film "Ellis in Glamourland".

The fourth single was planned to be a cover of the Cyndi Lauper song "I Don't Want Be Your Friend". The plan fell through - Do's management did not get the rights to release it as a single.

The album received the golden status (40,000 copies) in the Netherlands just before Christmas. Although Do's former international success with "Heaven", her album was not released in other countries, the reasons are unknown. To end the year, she recorded a Christmas song with Trijntje Oosterhuis on the order of Sky Radio. It was called "Everyday Is Christmas". Due to the airplay it reached No. 7 in the Dutch Top 40.

After the tsunami disaster in Indonesia, Do joined several Dutch artists to record a song for the victims of the Tsunami. The song "Als Je Iets Kunt Doen" (If You Can Do Something) reached No. 1 in the Netherlands, and stayed there for several weeks. All of the profits from the song went to the victims of the tsunami disaster.

She has also made a few film appearances, including doing the voice of "Cappy" in the Dutch-spoken version of the multi-million dollar film, Robots. Other accomplishments include being the only female artist to have two different versions of the same song, "Heaven", on Billboard charts at the same time, peaking at No. 8.

Follow Me

Do's second album, Follow Me was released in the Netherlands on June 19, 2006. The first single was also called "Follow Me". The song was written by Bryan Adams and had already been recorded by Melanie C in 1999. The single peaked at No. 39 in the Dutch Top 40 but did better in the Megacharts Top 50, peaking at No. 17. The album debuted in the Dutch Megacharts Album Top 100 at No. 8 and peaked there for two weeks. The album contains 12 songs. The album meant a lot to Do, whose friend worked on the album with her before passing away.

The second single from Follow Me was "Beautiful Thing". This song did better in the charts than "Follow Me" and it peaked at No. 23. It stayed in the Top 40 for 9 weeks. The video for "Beautiful Thing" was shot in Bonaire just like the third single of the album "Sending Me Roses" which was only released as a digital track. The two videos form a story.

In 2006, Do did a tour called Follow Me theatertour.

The fourth single from the album was "I Will". It was released in February 2007. The song was re-recorded in Sweden. However, no video was made and the song failed to chart.

Do has also had a Dutch EP, entitled "Zingen in het Donker". (Singing in the Darkness.) The self-titled song was recorded in 4 different languages. (Dutch, English, German and French.) The proceeds were sent to charity for Domestic Violence victims.

On 20 December 2009, Do premiered a new song, called "Nobody But Me", which was said to be off her upcoming album. Do stated the album was going to be released round March 2010; however, it has yet to be released.

In 2010 Do released an LP version of "Zingen in het Donker". (Singing in the Darkness) It had a very limited release in Europe, and only available on the European iTunes Store. The album contains 10 tracks from DO, and unlike her previous albums, "Zingen in her Donker" is completely in Dutch. The first single is titled after the name of the album.

Assepoester

In 2008 she starred in the musical Assepoester.

Personal life

On 7 July 2007, Do married Marc Verschoor in Barcelona, Spain. Do posed nude in and was featured on the cover of January 2009 issue of Dutch edition Playboy.^[1]

Discography

Albums

Singles

• All Official Dutch Top 40 Chart Positions can be found at Do's official site.

Awards and nominations

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Do (singer) (category)

• Official website
• Dominique Van Hulst at the Internet Movie Database
• Website of Do in X Factor