ELENA GHEORGHE - Maspalomas Carnival
21-02-2015
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, near Bucharest. She started her musical career as part of a duo along with Adela Popescu, which was called 'Viva'. 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 Nicholas.[citation needed] In 2013, she released Romanian songs 'Ecou', which means 'Echo', a collaboration with Glance and 'Pana Dimineata' (Until morning). In September, she won the 'Media Forest Award' for 'Echo', at the Media Music Awards 2013. In December, she released a special Christmas song, called 'O Simpla Melodie', which means 'A Simple Song', and she had a concert in Bucharest, where she invited a fan on the scene. In 2014, she released another Romanian song, called 'De neinlocuit' (Irreplaceable). In May she released her second collaboration with Glance, 'Mamma Mia (He's Italiano)'. This song was a success in Europe. In October, Glance and Elena collaborated for the third time together on the song 'In Bucati'
2009: Eurovision Song Contest
Elena attending a meeting in Moscow after the Eurovision Song Contest 2009 semi-final.
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 came ninth with 67 points. She proceeded to the Grand Final on May 16. There she performed the 22nd song of the evening and Gheorghe presented a concept show about wooden fairies called Iele in Romania. She came 19th that night gaining 40 points, including 12 points from Moldova, seven from Spain, and five from Turkey and Macedonia, etc.
2010–12: European recognition, Disco Romancing 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, going to Germany, Spain and Greece. In the summer she got engaged with her producer and before Christmas she gave birth to a boy named Nicholas.[citation needed] In 2012, she released two new songs 'Your Captain Tonight' and 'Amar Tu Vida', which means 'Love Your Life' in Spanish. In June 2012, she went with Dony in Germany to shoot a different music video for 'Hot Girls', for the ProSieben television, which last year (2011), were artists like Katy Perry and Lenny Kravitz. In November 2012, she had concerts in Tokyo and Osaka in Japan, and she also released two songs in English 'Hypnotic' and 'Incomplete'.