Alen J. Matković (born 20 July 1970), known professionally as Alan Michael, is a Yugoslav-born Polish-Dutch singer, songwriter and record producer. He is known for his participation in the 1987 Sopot International Song Festival and for being one of the songwriters of the Dutch Eurovision Song Contest entries "One Good Reason" () and "One More Night" ().
Biography Matković was born on 20 July 1970 in Rijeka, SR Croatia, SFR Yugoslavia to a Polish mother and a Yugoslav father. He moved to the Netherlands in his early childhood and grew up in Zandvoort, North Holland. Matković began playing piano at the age of six, and recorded his first single when he was twelve years old. His second single, "Is That You", was released by the record label WEA in 1987.
In the same year, he represented the Netherlands in the Sopot International Song Festival with the song "Romeo and Juliet", alongside Maywood with the song "Stay with Me". For his performance, he was awarded the "FIDOF Award". Due to his participation in the Sopot Festival, Matković gained popularity in Poland, and "Romeo and Juliet" was released on single by the Polish record label . One year later, he released his self-titled debut album with the Polish record label Pronit. The songs "Sandy" and "Dreams of Love" from this album also appeared on his second album The Winning Edge, and were released on single by CBS Records International in 1989.
Following the release of The Winning Edge, Matković was signed to the Hilversum-based record label . In 1992, a third studio album, titled One for a While, was released. Despite successes in Eastern Europe, such as a gold record in Poland, Matković never broke through as a singer in the Netherlands. In April 1993, he featured in the television documentary ("Hooray, a hit") by the Dutch broadcaster VARA, which documented his efforts to produce a hit in his home country.
A few days before the documentary was broadcast, Matković had competed in the Nationaal Songfestival – the Dutch national selection for the Eurovision Song Contest – as one of the songwriters of the entry "", which finished in fourth place. He subsequently began pursuing a career as a songwriter and founded his own recording studio, AM Studios, in Zandvoort. Between 1997 and 2005, he competed in the Nationaal Songfestival six times, winning it twice as a songwriter of the entries "One Good Reason" (1999) and "One More Night" (2003). The songs finished in 8th and 13th place in the Eurovision Song Contest, and "One More Night" received a Marcel Bezençon Award for the best entry according to previous winners of the contest.
Discography Studio albums Title Details Alan Michael Released: 1988 Label: Pronit Format: LP, cassette The Winning Edge Released: 1989 Label: CBS Format: CD, LP, cassette One for a While Released: 1992 Label: Red Bullet Format: CD
Singles TitleYearAlbum"Is That You" / "Love Hit Me"1987 rowspan="2" "Romeo and Juliet" / "Now Is the Time""Say You Love Me" / ""1988Alan Michael"Sandy" / "Dreams of Love"1989The Winning Edge"Tenderness" (with Sophie Proix)"Don't Dream It's Over"1992One for a While"The One You Love""" 1993
Songwriting discography Charting singles TitleYearArtistPeak chart positionsCo-written withNLD (100)NLD (40)""1998Noomen92—Belinda Anholt"One Good Reason"1999Marlayne3024Tjeerd van Zanen""Cristina74—Cristina Power"So Much Love"2001Ebonique54—Tjeerd van Zanen"If I Had You"Boy Band40——"One More Night"2003Esther Hart26— Tjeerd van Zanen"Dance Dance Dance" & Alessandra da Silva45—Alessandra da Silva"She'll Take Your Breath Away"2004Charly Luske40—Charly Luske
Eurovision Song Contest entries YearCountrySongArtistResultMarcel Bezençon AwardsPlacePoints"One Good Reason"Marlayne871—"One More Night"Esther Hart1345Artistic Award
entries YearSongArtistCo-written withResultPlacePoints""Ruth JacottGerrit den Braber463""Mrs. EinsteinTjeerd van Zanen557"One Good Reason"MarlayneTjeerd van Zanen1248"So Much Love"EboniqueTjeerd van Zanen254"One More Night"Esther HartTjeerd van Zanen1170"She'll Take Your Breath Away"Charly LuskeCharly Luske459"When Forever Ends"Johnny RosenbergJohnny Rosenberg347
References