Elena Gheorghe
| Elena | |
|---|---|
.jpg) | |
| Background information | |
| Birth name | Elena Gheorghe |
| Also known as | Elena |
| Born | July 30, 1985 |
| Origin | Bucharest, Romania |
| Genres | Pop, Dance, House, Latino |
| Occupations | Singer |
| Instruments | vocal |
| Years active | 2005–present |
| Labels | Cat Music, Major |
| Associated acts | Mandinga, Laurentiu Duta, Dony |
| Website | http://elenagheorghe.ro/ |
| Notable instruments | |
| Vocals | |
Elena Gheorghe (born July 30, 1985; Romanian pronunciation: [eˈle.na ˈɡe̯orɡe]) is a Romanian singer of Aromanian descent. She was born to a Priest and his wife in the village of Clinceni next to Bucharest. She started her musical career as part of a duo along with Adela Popescu. In the first half of the 2000s, she joined Latin group Mandinga with whom she released a couple of albums and a few hit singles. In 2006 she separated from the group and pursued her solo career. She released two albums and scored a top ten in the Romanian Top 100 with the debut single "Vocea ta" (Your Voice). After an internal selection, Gheorghe was elected to represent Romania in the Eurovision Song Contest 2009 with the song "The Balkan Girls" written by Laurentiu Duta. She came second in the voting result, but as the jury voted for her, she won the National Final. At Eurovision, in Moscow she qualified for the Grand Final where she came the nineteenth after accumulating a total of 40 points (12 points from Moldova). After Eurovision she became more famous Europe-wide and released her signature song "Disco Romancing" which was a smash hit in Romania as well as a top-ten in Hungary and a mild success in Czech Republic, Netherlands, Poland and Slovakia. The following single "Midnight Sun" was a top-ten success in the Dutch Top 40 and in the Romanian Top 100. In 2011 she collaborated with Dony and released the single "Hot Girls" which once again charted throughout Europe. The same year she had her first European tour, getting to Germany, Spain and Greece. In the summer she got engaged to her producer and before Christmas she gave birth to a boy named Nicolas.[citation needed] Her latest single is called "Hypnotic".
Early life and career beginnings
Elena Gheorghe was born on July 30, 1985 in the village of Clinceni next to Bucharest, the capital city of Bucharest in the family of priest Gheorghe Gheorghe. Many of her ancestors were Orthodox priests. Elena has a sister, Ana, who is a journalist and her brother, Costin, plays football for Sportul Studenţesc. Her mother, Mărioara Gheorghe is a folk artist. Elena debuted on the folk music scene with her when just three years of age with the song Sus în Deal în Poieniţă.
At age 11 she joined the Children's National Palace where she took singing lessons. In 2000 she won the gold trophy Little Bear (in Baia Mare) with One Moment In Time by Whitney Houston. In 2001 she participated in the Mamaia Festival. Elena Gheorghe is of both Romanian and Macedonian Aromanian background.[1][2]
Career
2002–05: Career as part of Mandinga
Elena started singing with Mandinga, a very successful band in the 'Latino'genre in early 2003. In June that year, Mandinga released their first album – ...De Corazón. Mandinga was placed 4th in the Romanian National Eurovision Selection in March 2005 with the song My Sun which was awarded a golden disc one year later. In January 2006, she opened her own dance school called Passitos and a month later ended the collaboration with Mandinga, starting her solo career with the help of musical producer Laurenţiu Duţă.
2006–08: Solo career beginnings
In June 2006 Elena released her first solo album, entitled Your Voice. In March 2007 Elena won the prize Radio România Actualitaţi for best performing act in 2006 and was nominated for the Best Song of 2006 section with the song Your Voice. In August 2007 at the Romanian Top Hit Music Awards, Elena won the award for Best Song of 2007, with the song Your Brown Eyes. Some of her songs are sung in aromanian language as Ma ţi s-adar, Lilicea Vreariei, and others.
2009: Eurovision Song Contest
In late 2008, songwriter Laurentiu Duta offered Elena a song to submit in the Romanian pre-selection for the Eurovision Song Contest. Right after New Year's Eve 2009 it was announced that Gheorghe was one of 24 semi-finalists. She competed in the semi-final and then passed to the National Final on January 31, 2009. There she came second after televoting but the jury helped her win the selection thus representing Romania in the Eurovision Song Contest 2009 with the song "The Balkan Girls". She started a promo tour all over Europe from February to May. Meanwhile, the song was already setting records as it became the first Eurovision song to be a number one in the Romanian Top 100 and Elena's first number one there. The song was performed in the second half of the first semi-final on May 12 in Moscow, Russia where it was in the first top ten positions, at number nine with 67 points. She proceeded to the Grand Final on May 16. There she performed the twenty-second song of the evening and Gheorghe presented a concept show about wooden fairies called Iele in Romania. She came nineteenth that night gaining forty points including 12 points from Moldova, 7 points from Spain, five from Turkey and Macedonia, etc.[3]
2010–present: European recognition and motherhood
After Eurovision she became more famous Europe-wide and released her signature song "Disco Romancing" which was a smash hit in Romania as well as a top-ten in Hungary and a mild success in Czech Republic, Netherlands, Poland or Slovakia. The following single "Midnight Sun" was a top-ten success in the Dutch Top 40 and in the Romanian Top 100. In 2011 she collaborated with Dony and released the single "Hot Girls" which once again charted throughout Europe. The same year she had her first European tour, getting to Germany, Spain or Greece. In the summer she got engaged with her producer and before Christmas she gave birth to a boy named Nicolas.[citation needed] Her latest single is called "Ecou", with the rapper Glance. "Ecou" was number 1 in Romania.
Discography
Studio albums
- 2006 Vocea Ta
- 2008 Lilicea Vreariei
- 2008 Te Ador
- 2012 Disco Romancing
Singles
| Title | Year | Peak chart positions | Album | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| NLD [4] |
SVK [5] |
UK [6] | |||||||||||
| "Vocea ta" | 2006 | — | — | — | Vocea ta | ||||||||
| "Ochii tăi căprui" | 2007 | — | — | — | |||||||||
| "Te ador" | 2008 | — | — | — | Te ador | ||||||||
| "Până la stele" | — | — | — | ||||||||||
| "The Balkan Girls" | 2009 | — | — | 172 | |||||||||
| "Disco Romancing" | 2010 | 19 | 24 | 199 | Disco Romancing | ||||||||
| "Midnight Sun" | 9 | 61 | — | ||||||||||
| "Hot Girls" (with Dony) | 2011 | — | 35 [7] | — | |||||||||
| "Your Captain Tonight" | — | 38 | — | ||||||||||
| "Amar tu Vida" | 2012 | — | — | — | |||||||||
| "Hypnotic" | — | — | — | ||||||||||
| "Ecou" (with Glance) | 2013 | — | — | — | Non-album single | ||||||||
| "Până Dimineața" (with J.J.) | — | — | — | ||||||||||
| "—" denotes single that did not chart or was not released | |||||||||||||
References
- ↑ Biography of Elena Gheorghe on her official website.
- ↑ Report from Cotidianul newspaper
- ↑ "Eurovision Song Contest - Malmö 2013". Eurovision.tv. Retrieved 2012-09-18.
- ↑ "Dutch Top 40 > Elena" (in Dutch). Stichting Nederlandse Top 40. Retrieved 2011-09-05.
- ↑ Kvasnička, Matúš (2010-04-19). "Forget About Aurel: The Slovak IFPI Is Finishing". PRAVDA. PEREX. kultura.pravda.sk. Retrieved 2011-04-20. (Slovak)
- ↑ "UK Charts > Elena". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 2011-09-05.
- ↑ ds. "Sns Ifpi". Ifpicr.cz. Retrieved 2012-09-18.
External links
| Preceded by Nico & Vlad with "Pe-o margine de lume" |
Romania in the Eurovision Song Contest 2009 |
Succeeded by Paula Seling & Ovi with "Playing with Fire" |
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