When entertainment is the focus, all our eyes are on talents from the U.S., Britain, and Latin America. It seems like a good chunk of our favorite stars and performers hail from one of those 3 regions.
As a result, we might be overlooking some pretty good performers in other places. Take, for instance, the Netherlands.
This is Mart Hoogkamer, a Dutch singer with one hell of a voice.
Hoogkamer is no rising star. He’s been in the game for at least 10 years already. He took his baby steps into the world of performing in 2008, when he was a contestant on Children Singing With The Stars.
He placed second on the competition, already a promising start to the singing prodigy. That was 16 years ago, and Mart has practiced and developed his voice even more.
In 2021, Mart uploaded a viral video of a little cover he did at the beach. He covered “Unchained Melody”.
A very old-timey song, that you’ve definitely heard in films or your grandparents’ radio.
No doubt, the most popular use of the song was in that iconic pottery scene in Ghost, with Patrick Swayze and Demi Moore.
It’s a very lovey-dovey song, and Mart’s voice for sure suits the song pretty well.
There’s nothing quite like an impromptu song cover. We like organized covers as much as anyone else, but being able to sing so well right on the spot is way more fun.
And the choice of venue for this cover is pretty sweet too, being this lovely beach. I wonder if any couples are nearby, and Mart’s cover of such a romantic song is doing them any favors.
It’s not everyday you get to overhear a cover by a professional singer with 3 albums to his name – at the beach, no less.
Unchained Melody’s legacy goes far beyond being used in films. It’s one of the most recorded and covered songs in history, and this comes straight from the song’s publishing administrator.
That’s quite the title to hold. It even grew more popular than the film it was written for in the first place, the 1955 film Unchained.
Unchained told the story of prisoner Steve Davitt and his dilemma.
In the film, Davitt had to decide between two difficult choice. The first choice was to play it safe and serve his full sentence, so he could return to his wife and kids without any trouble.
And of course, the other choice was to break out. Escape punishment prematurely, but live life on the run. Not exactly how you’d want to live when your family was your whole motivation for moving out, right?
No doubt an entertaining-enough premise, but the song far outlived the cultural memory of its film.
Mart nonetheless did a fantastic cover of the song, complete with his friends being supportive and hype all the way.
It’s thanks to his friends that we even get to watch this video of this amazing cover.
Speaking of which, watch and listen to the full cover here below. Kindly give this article a share too!
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