Official Chart Pop Gem #12: Jamelia – Superstar

Jamelia's big surprise hit from 2003 is our latest Pop Gem.

We love to shine a light on some of those pop classics from the archives that got us on the dance floor back in the day, but may have fallen out of popularity. The Official Chart Pop Gem celebrates those tunes you know you love – you’d maybe just forgotten.

Our latest entry in the Official Chart Pop Gem hall of fame is the song that changed everything for Jamelia.

Jamelia – Superstar

Before Superstar, Jamelia hadn’t done too badly in the Official Singles Chart. Her breakthrough hit was Money, which reached Number 5 in March 2000. On the brink of big success, she became pregnant and took time off to have her daughter, returning three years later with the Rah Digga collaboration Bout, which reached Number 37, but didn’t restore Jamelia to the Top 10 as you might expect from her comeback single.

Superstar was originally recorded by Danish songstress Christine Milton, reaching Number 1 in her home country in early 2003, but it was Jamelia who took it to international success, peaking at Number 3 in the UK later that year. The song’s popularity was something of a surprise – it entered the Official Singles Chart Top 10 at Number 8 and stealthily climbed to the Top 3, becoming a massive radio it, thanks to its insanely catchy refrain “Aaay-oh, ay-oh, ay-oh” and also the fact that Jamelia looked pretty fierce in the video. It would be the first of three consecutive Top 5 hits from the album Thank You, and Jamelia’s place in chart history was a done deal.

Superstar has sold 260,000 copies in the UK and was the 26th best-selling single of 2003. We know exactly what it is that makes us feel like this, Jamelia –  it’s your brilliant tune. Take it away:

Jamelia - Superstar on MUZU.TV.

Got a suggestion for the next Official Chart Pop Gem? Oh, go on, you must have! Drop us an email with your favourite and what you remember about it to popgem@officialcharts.com

Check out the full Official Chart Artist Archive for Jamelia.