Karine Hannah's Triumph @ Metropolitan Room

After the persistent joy of experiencing Karine Hannah in a studio setting for the past eight years, what a rush it was to at last see her in a full-on live setting, along with 100 other established and new fans. Her performance at New York's Metropolitan Room Monday night exceeded all expectations.

Karine's voice held an iron grip throughout the room as she commandeered a set that included songs from her current album "Karine," and such covers as "Color of the Night," "L'amour existe encore," "Into the Night" and "The Way We Were." I lost count of how many times the tears rolled down my face. An absolute triumph. A star was born years ago: Now the rest of the world knows, as well. With her producer, co-writer and musical director Ayhan Sahin.Karine has been reviewed in Billboard and appeared in my top 10 year-end Critic's Pick list numerous times over the years.In addition, the Turkish press was all over Karine's performance, thanks to her previous collaboration with superstar Sezen Aksu.