Astrid Roelants (; born 18 April 1983), known professionally as Ameerah, is a Belgian singer and songwriter based in

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

, United States.

Early life

Roelants was raised by

adoptive parent Adoption is a process whereby a person assumes the parenting of another, usually a child, from that person's biological or legal parent or parents. Legal adoptions permanently transfer all rights and responsibilities, along with filiation, from ...

s in

Leuven Leuven (, ) or Louvain (, , ; german: link=no, Löwen ) is the capital and largest city of the province of Flemish Brabant in the Flemish Region of Belgium. It is located about east of Brussels. The municipality itself comprises the historic ...

Flemish Brabant Flemish Brabant ( nl, Vlaams-Brabant ; french: Brabant flamand ) is a province of Flanders, one of the three regions of Belgium. It borders on (clockwise from the North) the Belgian provinces of Antwerp, Limburg, Liège, Walloon Brabant, Haina ...

. She is of Tunisian and Algerian descent.

Career

In 2003, Roelants was a contestant in the first season of , the Belgian version of the ''Idol'' franchise. She was eliminated before the live shows. In 2004, she competed to represent Belgium in the

Eurovision Song Contest 2004 The Eurovision Song Contest 2004 was the 49th edition of the Eurovision Song Contest. It took place in Istanbul, Turkey, following the country's victory at the with the song "Everyway That I Can" by Sertab Erener. Organised by the European Broa ...

with the song "Don't Stop the Music", placing seventh in the national final. With the song she achieved chart success in Belgium. In 2009, her single "

The Sound of Missing You "The Sound of Missing You" is the debut single by Belgian-Tunisian singer Ameerah. It is considered to be her first international hit dance single. It was also her first song to be produced in the United States. The song reached number 3 on the ...

" became an international hit, reaching number three on the ''Billboard''

Hot Dance Airplay Dance/Mix Show Airplay (formerly Hot Dance Airplay) is a monitored electronic dance music radio chart that is published weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine. History The chart came about as a result of the small but influential impact of electronic d ...

chart in the United States. A

remix A remix (or reorchestration) is a piece of media which has been altered or contorted from its original state by adding, removing, or changing pieces of the item. A song, piece of artwork, book, video, poem, or photograph can all be remixes. The o ...

ed version by Wildboyz released in 2010 charted in Belgium, the Netherlands and Romania. In 2010, Roelants appeared as a

featured artist In show business, a guest appearance is the participation of an outsider performer (such as a musician or actor) in an event such as a music record or concert, Performance, show, etc., when the performer does not belong to the regular band, cast ...

on the single "

Freaky Like Me "Freaky Like Me" is a song by the Norwegian Urban music, urban duo Madcon, released on 20 September 2010 as the second single from their fourth album ''Contraband (Madcon album), Contraband''. The song features vocals from Belgian-Tunisian singe ...

" by the Norwegian duo

Madcon Madcon is a Norwegian musical duo formed in 1992 by Yosef Wolde-Mariam and Tshawe Baqwa. They have released eight albums as of 2022. They are best known for the 2007 cover of " Beggin'" by The Four Seasons and the 2015 single " Don't Worry" feat ...

. The song charted in Austria, Belgium, Germany, Poland, Romania and the United Kingdom, and reached number one on the Norwegian singles chart. Roelants has also featured in songs by Regi,

Turbo B Durron Maurice Butler (born April 30, 1967), known as Turbo B, is an American musician, rapper and beatboxer. He was once the frontman of the German electronic music group Snap! After completing a period of service with the United States Army i ...

and

Schiller Johann Christoph Friedrich von Schiller (, short: ; 10 November 17599 May 1805) was a German playwright, poet, and philosopher. During the last seventeen years of his life (1788–1805), Schiller developed a productive, if complicated, friendsh ...

. In November 2022, Roelants was announced as one of seven participants in ''Eurosong 2023'', the Belgian national selection for the

Eurovision Song Contest 2023 The Eurovision Song Contest 2023 is the upcoming 67th edition of the Eurovision Song Contest. It is set to take place in Liverpool, United Kingdom, after , winner of the with the song " Stefania" by Kalush Orchestra, was unable to meet the dem ...

. Her candidate entries "Armageddon" and "The Carnival" were both co-written with American singer-songwriter Zac Poor and produced by

Morgan Taylor Reid Morgan Taylor Reid is a Grammy Award nominated music producer, singer-songwriter and recording artist based in Los Angeles. As an artist, Reid's music has been licensed for television including his song "Brighter" that was featured in the Season ...

. She ultimately selected "The Carnival" as her entry for the final, to be held on 14 January 2023.

Discography

Singles

As lead artist

As featured artist

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ameerah 1983 births Living people Belgian expatriates in the United States Belgian people of Tunisian descent Belgian people of Algerian descent Belgian songwriters Belgian women pop singers Musicians from Leuven