Hello and welcome to a brand new spin-off from the commercially ignored and critically underrated DiS Does Pop. In the innovatively-titled DiS Does International Pop column we’ll be cocking our ear for a Top 40 smash abroad and shining a light on the biggest hits from foreign lands.

Want a sarcastic view of the Eurovision Song Contest that isn’t written by a Guardian staff writer? Fancy dipping your toes into the hyperactive world of J-Pop? Got a burning desire to discover Azerbaijan's answer to Jedward? We’ll be answering most, if not all, of these questions in the months ahead.

We begin the column with a list of the biggest singles you’ve never heard of. Some are good. Some are excruciatingly bad. One of them is by Shakira.

1) B’z - Taiyo no Komachi Angel

2) Fun - We Are Young

3) Shakira - La Tortura

4) Marlon Roudette - New Age

5) Celine Dion - Pour que tu m'aimes encore

6) Tino Rossi - Petit Papa Noël

While K-pop is a relatively new phenomenon, its popularity is booming in both South Korea and Europe. At last year’s MTV European Music Awards, it was Big Bang not Britney Spears who scooped 58 million votes to win the Best Worldwide Act award. ‘Lollipop’ is the boyband’s collaboration with girl group 2NE1 and was originally dreamt up as a scheme to sell the LG Cyon mobile. Mark Ronson and Katy B’s Olympics collaboration for Coca Cola has a lot to live up to.

8) Jedward - Bad Behaviour

9) Kent - Max 500

10) Chris Rene - Young Homie

DrownedinSound.com or DiS is a UK based music webzine. In 2006, The Observer Music Monthly ranked DrownedinSound.com 9th on its list of top 25 internet websites. In 2010 Drowned in Sound won Best Publication at the Record of the Day awards.