Nathalie Makoma
Background information
Birth name	Nathalie Makoma
Born	(1982-02-24) February 24, 1982 (age 42)
Origin	Libreville, formerly Gabon
Genres	Pop music,R&B,(Christian music)
Occupation(s)	Singer
Instrument(s)	Vocals
Years active	1993–present
Labels	Sony BMG (2007 - 2011)
Website	Official Site

Nathalie Makoma born in Libreville, formerly Gabon on 24 February 1982, is a Dutch singer singer of Congolese origin. Her parents are from DRC (Democratic Republic of Congo). She was the lead singer for the group Makoma and she took part in the Dutch Idols singing competition in its fourth season reaching the final and finishing as runner-up to Nikki Kerkhof.

Career

Nathalie Makoma started singing with her family group in 1993 when the band was known as "Nouveau Testament". Then Nouveau Testament" was renamed Makoma. The group was made up of 7 siblings (3 brothers Tutala, Duma and Martin Makoma, 3 sisters Nathalie, Pengani and Tutala Makoma and one non-family member, Patrick Badine, a boy friend of Annie, one of the sisters). They were very successful singing in (Lingala language) and in English as well.

When Nathalie was fourteen, she moved back to the Netherlands and started studying Onstage Performance at the Rockacademie in Tilburg. At the same time the Makoma band kept on performing becoming more successful and travelling around the whole world. Due to the success of the band, Nathalie had to quit her education.

In 2002 the group won the Best African Music Group, at Kora South African Music Awards.^[1] and they had success Worldwide in Gospel Music.

Initial solo career

Being main vocalist, Nathalie also tried to develop a solo music career starting 2003. In 2004, she left the band briefly to get established in England and later in Ireland.

In this period, she released her own solo album On Faith (2002) which she re-released as GoGospel Edition (2003). She released a second album called I Saw the Light in 2005.

Reality television

Idols

In 2007-2008, she returned at Netherlands to tale part in season 4 of Dutch Idols and finished second overall. The jury called her the "new Tina Turner" and "a real dancing queen". During the competition, her family group Makoma made a guest appearance on the the competition final with Nathalie singing "Ola Olé" in English with her. After Idols, Nathalie signed a record deal with Sony BMG and toured the Netherlands, performing in more than 150 shows in one year.

Dancing With the Stars

In 2009, Nathalie took part in the Dutch version of the Dancing With the Stars with her dance partner Peter. She reached the final, and finished second to Jamai Loman and his partner Gwyneth van Rijn.

De Mattheus Masterclass

In 2010 took part in the second season of the program De Mattheus Masterclass of non-classically trained artists, to perform music by Bach at the church St. Vituskerk in Hilversum.

The X Factor (UK)

In July 2011, Nathalie auditioned for the British version of The X Factor. She progressed to Bootcamp and eventually the Judges Houses in the "Overs" category, but was not chosen for the Finals.

Solo career

In December 2008, she participated in the RTL 4 program Alles is kerst. In the show she sang with rapper Brace the song "All I Want for Christmas Is You from Mariah Carey.

Nathalie's first single "I Won't Forget", a song that was also remixed by DJ Paul van Dyk. The song was included in Nathalie's debut solo album Dance4Life. A second single "I Just Wanna Dance", an R&B, pop an dance track followed.

In 2011 She left the Sony BMG, and is currently unsigned singer.

Discography

Albums

Singles

• ¹: "I Won't Forget" reached number 2 on the Dutch Tipparade, which is equivalent to the position number 42 in the Dutch Top 40.
• ²: "I Just Wanna Dance" reached number 17 on the Dutch Tipparade, which is equivalent to the position number 57 in the Dutch Top 40.

Other appearances