Soulfully sweet Rhona Bennett

Celine Dion and Shania Twain are still enjoying the bliss of motherhood. Madonna is on tour and Mariah Carey, currently incapacitated by illness has deferred the market release of her latest album. When last heard of, Whitney was still at work on hers. Now, I have to admit that this situation has created a void in the charts. Because of this, many of us are now in search of a new alternative to those gum-popping, navel-baring teen-aged divas and there should be room for a new, attractive and powerful sounding female singer. And as of this moment the most likely candidate is Rhona Bennett, a beautiful, honey-skinned ex-Mousekateer whose debut album is packed with vastly appealing love songs.

Rhona Bennett started out as a child singer in church choirs, most notably the Soul Children in her native Chicago. This was followed by a stint as a background singer at the ETA Theater, where she got her first major break in the stage production of A Christmas Carol. This happened in a truly traditional manner. Rhona had gone from the chorus to understudy to the lead, who as fate would have it, got sick on opening night and gave Rhona the chance of a lifetime. She next auditioned for the Disney Channel’s Mickey Mouse Club and became a Mousekateer. She was in illustrious company. Among the other members of the famous club, some of whom she got to work with, were Britney Spears, Christina Aguilera and Justin Timberlake and JC Chasez of ‘N Sync who got their invaluable training for pop stardom on the Disney lot.

Encouraged by friends, who saw in her the makings of a star she decided to try her luck in California as an actress after four years in the Mickey Mouse Club. Television became her milieu and she was soon appearing in cutting edge shows like Martin with Martin Lawrence, Living Single, The Single Guy, Homeboys in Outer Space and The Jamie Foxx Show. She also made her big screen debut in the independent film No Vacancy with Christina Ricci and Lolita Davidovitch, which was released two years ago.

But while Rhona had all the qualifications that can make a big movie star, she is first of all, a singer and she got the chance of a lifetime when ace producer Rodney Jerkins heard her sing. The only twenty-something Jerkins is the hot producer of the moment. He has done Whitney Houston, Jennifer Lopez, Mary J. Blige, Destiny’s Child, Brian McKnight, Babyface and others. He is the guy behind the upcoming Brandy album and the biggest, most awaited production of these past years, the big one by Michael Jackson. With such big names in his book, Rhona must be exceptionally impressive for him to take the time to produce her first album.

Rhona is a delightful mix of pop, dance, R&B, gospel and even hip hop. This is the kind of album Pinoys will love to play again and again. Rhona soars like Celine but is soulfully sweet like Whitney. Never maudlin or overdone, everything comes with a well-defined beat. Jerkins also goes over the top with his choice of material. This enables Rhona to run the gamut between vulnerable innocence and urgent sensuality in a manner all her own.

The first single Satisfied puts the album in a funky dance mood. This continues down to The Best of Me and Take What Comes to You. The latter segues into two strong ballads which should be numbered among our top favorites, The First Time and Last Goodbye. Jerkins maintains this pattern throughout, two more upbeat love songs like Time Will Tell and Miss the Way before going back to two slow tracks, I Will and a gorgeous revival of the Foreigner classic I Want to Know What Love Is. The lilting inspirational Look to the Sky and the bouncy The Meaning of Love brings this enjoyable package to its end.

Will Rhona soon join the ranks of successful ex-Mousekateers? I sure hope so. With a voice like hers, a producer like Jerkins and a line-up of some of the most melodic songs ever heard in her first album, I see no reason why she shouldn’t succeed. Now there is really no reason for you to wait to find out how her album will fare saleswise or if Rhona has become the newest pop diva. Treat yourself to her music as soon as you can. This is one album you will surely enjoy.