Tag: kathleen aerts

Party like it’s 2009!

It’s already New Year’s Day in Belgium and the Netherlands. Three years ago K3, the Flemish Europop queens, recorded this New Year’s message.

[flv:http://s3.amazonaws.com/dogratcom/Video/2011/Dec/K3_2012.flv 640 360]

“United As One”? Well, no, because a few months later in 2009 Kathleen Aerts quit. She was replaced by “Josje” Huisman, who seems to have been the perfect choice for the girl group.

For you K3 fans here’s a recent picture of Karen, looking sort of like Lindsay Lohan did before she discovered meth, or whatever it was that wrecked her.

This was Karen about twenty years ago.

They must be Belgians

As has been my habit for the past 2+ years, when I’m in a foul political mood, I indulge some light-hearted K3 songs. Somebody was nice enough to put good quality K3 videos on YouTube, saving my site from the storage and bandwidth burdens. These are two of my favorites, with the original line-up, Kristel Verbeke (black), Kathleen Aerts (yellow), and Karen Damen (red) — the colors of the Belgian national flag.

In Love

Is There Somebody on Mars?

Aww, what the heck, here’s Tele-romeo…

These are two of the most versatile, talented, hardest-working and, yes, sexiest women in show biz. I am certain the only reason Karen and Kristel aren’t internationally famous is because they aren’t from England or America.

Baby for Karen, Wedding for Kathleen


K3 — Kristel Verbeke, Kathleen Aerts, Karen Damen

Having just posted an ABBA video, I can’t resist saying something about K3. Karen Damen gave birth to a son, named Sky, on February 17, and she’s already returned to work. Former K3 member Kathleen Aerts is getting married in June, and her replacement, Josje, seems to be working out well.

It’s been almost two years since I first caught onto K3, and it’s been over a year since Kathleen quit. If anyone doubts these women have given everything to their craft, and if you think Kathleen’s departure from the group didn’t matter to them personally, take a look at these pictures of Kristel and Karen from Kathleen’s farewell performance last year — two uncommonly beautiful women, only 33 and 34 years old, respectively, at the time. Obviously, losing Kathleen meant everything to them.


Here’s the K3 original lineup, with one of the finest Pop songs I have ever heard, Hart Verloren (Lost Heart).

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While I was away…

I should take more time off from the blog. October has been the third busiest month this year for hits!

While I was away, to my utter amazement, lo and behold, those kooky ladies from Belgium, K3, finally went to #1 on the blog hit list! I suppose that must be due to the interest in the new girl, who was introduced at a live show in Holland a few weeks ago. Her name is Josje, which begs the question, how can they still call the group K3?

http://youtu.be/Rr96GO8ncvg

(BTW… Karen Damen is pregnant.)

The Essential K3

I am happy to report that I am no longer the best place on the Net to see the Belgian girl group K3. This is.

K3 1024x768 wallpaper

At last, Studio 100 has given K3 a proper virtual venue. When Karen Damen’s channel on YouTube disappeared I figured that would be it for online videos, but how good it is to be wrong.

Over six months ago, I wrote sort of an open letter to Studio 100…

I’m the lone voice in America pushing K3. To increase interest in your own posted videos, get high quality versions of “Kusjesdag”, “Hart Verloren”, “Tele Romeo” and “Verliefd” in stereo on YouTube. I’d love to link to those. “I Love You, Baby” too, because it has some English. Think about it. Please. The songs are wonderful, but it’s not just the format that makes it all work, it’s Karen, Kristel and Kathleen, one of the best pop music trios I have ever enjoyed.

Later I added “A Trip to Mars” to that list. Here are direct links to all of those videos, available at last in high quality transfers that hold up to being displayed full screen, and they’re in stereo.

Great job, Studio 100. I don’t even mind that you’ve prevented embedding and downloading. Kudos and thanks.

[flv:http://s3.amazonaws.com/dogratcom/Video/K3/NewK3Girl.flv 480 270]

K3 Kaput

And so it’s farewell. Sunday in Rotterdam, Holland, Kathleen Aerts appeared with Karen Damen and Kristel Verbeke for the last time. K3 — in my opinion one of the very best Pop music girl groups ever assembled — is no more.

Watching the video, to me it appears the farewell performance had little energy and excitement. A replacement for Kathleen will soon be selected, but K3 won’t be the same. I had the same feeling when David Duchovney left “The X-Files.”

More videos from last weekend’s Summer Festival have appeared.