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Esmée Denters
Background information
Birth name	Esmée Denters
Born	28 September 1988 (1988-09-28) (age 21) Westervoort, Gelderland, The Netherlands
Genres	Pop, R&B
Occupations	Singer-songwriter
Instruments	keyboard
Years active	2008–present
Labels	Tennman, Interscope, Universal Music
Associated acts	Justin Timberlake, Ryan Tedder, Chipmunk
Website	www.esmeeworld.com

Esmée Denters (born 28 September 1988 in Westervoort, The Netherlands) is a Dutch singer-songwriter fluent in both English and Dutch. She was a regular cover-artist on video-sharing website YouTube on which she covered songs by contemporary musicians like Justin Timberlake and Natasha Bedingfield.

In 2008 she would go on to start her professional career after attracting the attention of Dutch media scouts and American pop singer Justin Timberlake. Timberlake would go on to sign Denters as the first artist to his label Tennman Records in association with Interscope Records.^[1]

In May 2009 she released her debut studio album, Outta Here which was executively produced by Timberlake and featured Denters co-writing all songs. The album reached number five in her home country of the Netherlands and only charted in Belgium, where it reached 55 on the Walliona Albums Chart^[2] and the UK where it reached 48.

Denters added the official music video to the debut single "Outta Here" from her debut of the same name, to her official YouTube page on 22 May 2009, and her second single "Admit It" on 3 September 2009. In autumn 2009 she was on tour with Honor Society. The album has so far spawned two singles including the title song which reached top 30 and the less successful "Admit It" which reached 28 and 56 in the Netherlands and UK respectively.

Early life

Denters was born in Westervoort, the daughter of Hank Denters, a lawyer, and Fanny Denters, a secretary. Her parents are divorced. She has one older sister, Daphne, who is an actress and dancer. Denters graduated high school in Arnhem in 2006 and subsequently attended the HAN University of Applied Sciences where she was working towards a Bachelor of Social Work until she dropped out in her freshman year in February 2007.^[3]

Career

2006–2007: Early career

Denters is a singer-songwriter who began singing cover versions of popular songs on YouTube back in August 2006. She caught the attention of Dutch artist manager Jonathan Berhane who in turn introduced her to Grammy-nominated songwriter and manager Billy Mann. Denters' manager arranged for her to meet Justin Timberlake at one of his concerts^[4] and from there they signed the deal. Tennman Records announced that she would be opening for Timberlake at 10 venues during his 2007 European tour.^[5] According to several magazines, Denters is the first unsigned singer in history to go directly from personal YouTube postings to commercially performing on a major stage.^{[citation needed]}

2007–present: Outta Here

After being signed to Tennman Records, Denters began working with Timberlake. He became the executive producer of her debut album Outta Here. In April 2009, Denters confirmed on Dutch radio station Radio 538 that her debut album, would be released in The Netherlands on 22 May 2009, also confirming that the album is a mix of Pop and R&B with both ballads, and uptempo tracks. Her debut single, also the title song of the album was released in the Netherlands on 14 April 2009 and in the UK on 15 August. So far it has reached the top 10 in several European countries. The album was released in the UK on January 11, 2010 and features the previous 2008 charity duet with Timberlake, "Follow My Lead" as an additional bonus song.^[6]

Discography

Albums

Singles

Awards

References

External links

• Official website
• Esmée Denters channel at YouTube
• Esmée Denters at MySpace
• Esmée Denters on Twitter
• Interactive timeline about Esmée Denters
• Esmee Denters interview by Pete Lewis, 'Blues & Soul' January 2010