Elena Gheorghe (born July 30, 1985; ) 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.
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' (In Pieces).