Maria Christensen

3rd Party
Genres	Dance-pop, Eurodance
Years active	1997
Labels	DV8/A&M/PolyGram Records
Members	Maria Christensen (vocals) Karmine Alers (background vocals) Elaine Borja (background vocals)

3rd Party was a three-member dance-pop group that released one album in 1997. They are best known for their dance hit "Can U Feel It".

Lead singer Maria Christensen was a songwriter before the band, singing since the age of 5 and writing songs since she was 10 years old. She made her performing debut in 1988 as one half of the Latin freestyle duo Sequal. She has written songs for Nana Mouskouri, Eternal,'N Sync and Celine Dion. Backup singers Karmine Alers and Elaine Borja filled out the racially diverse group. The group formed in the wake of the mid-90s dance-pop movement, following such acts as the Spice Girls. The group released its album Alive in 1997. The album was recorded on Long Island, New York, and produced by Rick Wake. Four of the album's songs were written by Christensen, and two singles were released from it. "Can U Feel It" (#43) was their highest-charting song. "Love is Alive" (#61) was a remake of the song by Gary Wright from his album The Dreamweaver. The album also contained the song "Waiting for Tonight", which was covered by Jennifer Lopez in 1999 for her debut album, On the 6. The remake charted at #8.

Maria Christensen independently released a solo album, Beautiful Now, in 2004. In contrast to 3rd Party's uptempo dance music, Christensen's solo music is more soulful and pensive, in the style of Norah Jones. She sang the song "Someone to Someone" on the show "Queer Eye for the Straight Guy". Song-writing proceeds from Lopez's remake of "Waiting for Tonight" allowed her the freedom to release her own album.

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