Loredana Groza
Loredana Groza (born 10 June 1970) is a Romanian pop singer-songwriter, actress, dancer, TV personality, media proprietor, and coach in the talent show "Vocea României", known as “Romanian Madonna” or “The Queen of Pop” Her debut album "Bună seara, iubito", which was released in 1988, and the title song remains her biggest hit to this day. In 2002, inspired by the huge success of her album "Agurida", Loredana decided to go further in rediscovering and reinterpreting some old Romanian songs after meticulous research on the period between the two world wars. The result was the live performance  Zaraza–vânzătoarea de plăceri on Pro TV which was released in December 2002 on MC, CD and VHS support. Her song "Vreau toată noaptea" was falsely rumoured to be taking part in the Romanian National Final for the Eurovision Song Contest 2006. This contradicted Loredana's comments that she would never take part in the national selection following her defeat in 2005 with the song "Lele". The rumour was, however, quashed following the publication of the participants in the 2006 National Final. She was a coach on the Romanian version of the televised competition "The Voice" for the first seven  seasons and she is the image of Avon in Romania. In 2011, Groza was chosen by Warner Bros Animation to provide the Romanian singing voice of Gloria in the animated movie Happy Feet 2 and Barbara Gordian in the animated movie . Life and career. 1970–1986: Early life and career beginnings. Loredana Groza was born in Onești, Romania, on 10 June 1970. She started singing at the age of three and she continued to sing throughout her school years. When she was 14, she was noticed by composers Dumitru Moroșanu and Zsolt Kerestely, who invited her to Bucharest for the talent  show "Steaua fără nume" ("The Star Without a Name"), although she was too young, as the minimum admission age was 17. She competed in the talent show in 1986, at 16 years old, and won the big prize. In the same year, she competed in the National Music Festival in Mamaia, where she got the best newcomer prize, which made her the youngest winner ever. 1987–2007: Second life. In 1987, at Costinești Music Festival, she met the famous pop music composer Adrian Enescu. He wrote the song "O inimă de 16 ani" for her, and after it became a hit , he decided to write a whole album for her. Thus Loredana's first album, "Bună seara, iubito" was released in 1988. Although the title song was not broadcast on Romanian television because of the Communist censorship, the album was a huge success, being sold in one million copies. In 1989, Adrian Enescu and Lucian Avramescu produced her second album, "Un buchet de trandafiri", that was also successful. Her career recorded a hiatus until 1994, when Loredana came back with the album "Atitudine" and a live show meant to revive her status as a pop star. In 1995 she toured the  country with the band Direcția 5. 1995 was also the year when she released the album "Născuta toamnă". In 1996 she released the album "Tomilio" and started the collaboration with ProTV and Media Pro Music. In 1997 she gave an unplugged concert at the National Theatre. She also featured on the hugely successful hit single "Lumea e a mea" by B.U.G. Mafia. In 1999 she released the successful EP "Aromaroma". In 2000, Loredana appeared on the cover of "Playboy" magazine, which sold out and confirmed her as a sex symbol, more than ten years after her career took off. In  2001, Loredana hired Adrian Enescu again for the album "Diva înamorată". Two albums inspired by popular music follow in 2002 "Agurida" and "Zaraza". In 2003, the album "Fata cu șosete de diamant" is released, followed by "Extravaganza" (2005) and "Jamparalele" (2006). In 2006, she was the host of the MTV Romania Awards. In 2007, she was the warm-up artist for George Michael’s concert in Bucharest. Loredana is married to the TV producer Andrei Boncea. They have a daughter, Elena. Extravaganza music video. The video for the title song of her latest album, "Extravaganza", was shot in Las Vegas . There were no directors, no make-up artists and no stylists for the video; she planned the majority of the production by herself. It was a huge success.