Shirma Tamara Rouse (born 13 March 1980) is a Dutch singer. She is known for her participation in the fourth season of ''

The Voice of Holland ''The Voice of Holland'', also known by its acronym ''TVOH'', is a Dutch singing reality competition television series that became a global TV format franchise, created by media tycoon John de Mol Jr. and musician Roel van Velzen in the Net ...

'', and for providing backing vocals for Anouk at the

Eurovision Song Contest 2013 The Eurovision Song Contest 2013 was the 58th edition of the Eurovision Song Contest. It took place in Malmö, Sweden, following the country's victory at the with the song "Euphoria (Loreen song), Euphoria" by Loreen. Organised by the Europea ...

. In 2018, she was invited to the funeral of

Aretha Franklin Aretha Louise Franklin ( ; March 25, 1942 – August 16, 2018) was an American singer, songwriter and pianist. Honored as the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, Queen of Soul", she was twice named by ''Rolling Stone'' magazine as the Roll ...

, due to the popularity of her tribute album to the artist.

Biography

Shirma Rouse was born on 13 March 1980 on the island of

Curaçao Curaçao, officially the Country of Curaçao, is a constituent island country within the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located in the southern Caribbean Sea (specifically the Dutch Caribbean region), about north of Venezuela. Curaçao includ ...

Netherlands Antilles The Netherlands Antilles (, ; ), also known as the Dutch Antilles, was a constituent Caribbean country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands consisting of the islands of Saba (island), Saba, Sint Eustatius, and Sint Maarten in the Lesser Antilles, ...

. She grew up on

Sint Eustatius Sint Eustatius, known locally as Statia, is an island in the Caribbean. It is a Caribbean Netherlands, special municipality (officially "Public body (Netherlands), public body") of the Netherlands. The island is in the northern Leeward Islands ...

and returned to Curaçao in 1996 to complete her secondary education. In 1999, she began studying

chemistry Chemistry is the scientific study of the properties and behavior of matter. It is a physical science within the natural sciences that studies the chemical elements that make up matter and chemical compound, compounds made of atoms, molecules a ...

Leiden University Leiden University (abbreviated as ''LEI''; ) is a Public university, public research university in Leiden, Netherlands. Established in 1575 by William the Silent, William, Prince of Orange as a Protestantism, Protestant institution, it holds the d ...

in the Netherlands, but transferred to the Rotterdam Conservatory in 2005 to study

jazz music Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana, in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Its roots are in blues, ragtime, European harmony, African rhythmic rituals, spirituals, hymns, m ...

. In 2010, Rouse released her debut studio album, titled ''Chocolate Coated Dreams''. In 2012, a second album was released, titled ''Shirma Rouse sings Aretha'', with which she did a theatre tour. In 2013, she accompanied Anouk to the

Eurovision Song Contest The Eurovision Song Contest (), often known simply as Eurovision, is an international Music competition, song competition organised annually by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) among its members since 1956. Each participating broadcaster ...

Malmö Malmö is the List of urban areas in Sweden by population, third-largest city in Sweden, after Stockholm and Gothenburg, and the List of urban areas in the Nordic countries, sixth-largest city in Nordic countries, the Nordic region. Located on ...

, Sweden as a backing singer, where she was named best backing singer by ''The Eurovision Times.'' That same year, Rouse participated in the fourth season of ''

'', where she was eliminated in the semi-finals. In 2017, Rouse toured with The Soul of Spanish Harlem, and resumed her

tribute. After the death of Franklin in 2018, Rouse was invited to attend the funeral. In 2021, she published a cookery book in Dutch entitled ''Shirma's Soul Kitchen.'' In 2023, she presented an episode of the Omroep Zwart television programme about fat shaming.

Discography

Studio albums

* ''Chocolate Coated Dreams'' (2010) * ''Shirma Rouse sings Aretha'' (2012) * ''Dedicated to You'' (2012) * ''Shout It Out Loud'' (2014) * ''Soul Serenade'' (2017)

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Rouse, Shirma 1980 births Living people 21st-century Dutch women singers Codarts University for the Arts alumni Curaçao women Dutch gospel singers Dutch jazz singers Dutch women jazz singers Dutch soul singers Musicians from Rotterdam Sint Eustatius people The Voice (franchise) contestants