Mandinga | |
---|---|
Background information | |
Origin | Bucharest, Romania |
Genres | Latin pop, salsa |
Years active | 2002–present |
Labels | Cat Music |
Members | Barbara Isasi Alex Chupi Zach (Valle) El Niño Omar Tony |
Past members | Elena Gheorghe Elena Ionescu |
Website | mandinga |
Mandinga is a Romanian pop group band from Bucharest. The original soloist of the band was Elena Gheorghe who left in 2005. From 2006 until 2016, the lead vocalist was Elena Ionescu. Ionescu left the band in March 2016 to pursue a solo career and was replaced by Spanish singer Barbara Isasi. [1]
After winning the Romanian national final, the group represented Romania in the Eurovision Song Contest 2012 and placed 12th with the song "Zaleilah". [2]
Year | Title | Peak chart positions | Certifications | Album | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
ROM [3] | NED [4] | SWE [5] | ||||
2012 | "Europarty" | — | — | — | Club de Mandinga | |
"Zaleilah" | 2 | 78 | 48 | |||
"Papichulo" | — | — | — | |||
2013 | "The Mac Mac Song" | — | — | — | ||
"La Vita E Bella" | — | — | — | |||
"Cinéma" | — | — | — | |||
Teach-In was a Dutch band active from 1967 until 1980. After scoring several top 20 hits in their home country by the early 1970s, the band came to international attention by winning the 1975 Eurovision Song Contest with the song "Ding-a-dong”. Throughout the band's career, there were several changes in line-up.
Antique is a Swedish-Greek singing duo consisting of Helena Paparizou and Nikos Panagiotidis, originating from Sweden and combining Greek popular music and lyrics with a Nordic dance-pop beat. Both Paparizou and Panagiotidis were born and raised in Sweden by Greek parents. They were the first ever to be nominated for a Swedish Grammis in the category modern dance with a Greek song. In 2001, Antique were selected to represent Greece at the Eurovision Song Contest in Copenhagen with the song "Die for You", sung in a blend of English and Greek, ending with a third place – only behind Estonia and hosts Denmark. This group is famous in Scandinavian countries, Cyprus, Greece, Germany and Italy. After 19 years of hiatus the group reunited in March 2022 in Greece releasing a cover hit song from 90's meant to be their comeback in music industry.
Alcazar is a Swedish nu-disco group formed in Stockholm. The group is one of Sweden's most successful music acts, both nationally and internationally, achieving a series of hits since their debut single in 1999. Globally, Alcazar sold over 12 million records between 2001 and 2004. The group gained international recognition in 2000 with their song "Crying at the Discoteque," which charted in the USA, Brazil, Australia, Japan, and most European countries.
Helena Paparizou (Swedish:[hɛˈlêːnapapaˈrɪ̌tːsʊ,-ˈrǐːsʊ]; Greek: Έλενα Παπαρίζου, romanized: Élena Paparízou, pronounced[ˈelenapapaˈrizu], born 31 January 1982, is a Greek singer, songwriter and television personality. Born and raised in Sweden to Greek parents, she launched her singing career in Sweden in 1999 as a member of the laïko and Eurodance duo Antique with friend Nikos Panagiotidis. The group released five studio albums between 1999 and 2003, and represented Greece in the Eurovision Song Contest 2001.
Romania has participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 23 times since its debut in 1994, and has placed in the top ten six times. Its best results were achieved with "Let Me Try" by Luminița Anghel and Sistem in 2005, and "Playing with Fire" by Paula Seling and Ovi in 2010, who both finished in third place. The Romanian participant broadcaster in the contest is Televiziunea Română (TVR), which select its entrant with Selecția Națională, a song contest organised every year since 1993, except for 2021.
Romania participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 2007 in Helsinki, Finland. They selected their entry, "Liubi, Liubi, I Love You" by Romanian group Todomondo through the national selection competition Selecția Națională 2007 in February 2007. Controversy surrounded the event, as Romanian Television (TVR) disqualified several entries over the course of the competition. Prior to the 2007 contest, Romania had participated in the Eurovision Song Contest nine times since its first entry in 1994. Its highest placing in the contest had been third place, which the nation achieved in 2005. In 2006, Romania finished in fourth place. Prior to Eurovision, "Liubi, Liubi, I Love You" was promoted by a music video and a promotional tour in Belarus. Todomondo ultimately achieved 13th place in the contest's Grand Final on 12 May 2007, scoring 84 points. Their performance saw the use of pyrotechnics.
Serebro is a Russian girl group formed by their manager and producer Maxim Fadeev. Serebro was formed in 2007, consisting of Marina Lizorkina, Olga Seryabkina, and Elena Temnikova as a submitted proposal for consideration by Channel One Russia for the Eurovision Song Contest 2007. Serebro was selected to represent Russia at the 2007 Contest with the song titled "Song #1". They subsequently placed third at the contest, scoring a total of 207 points. Serebro was then officially signed to Fadeev's record label Monolit Records, and in 2012, the group had additional releases produced by Sony Music Entertainment and Ego Music. In 2009, Lizorkina announced her departure from the group; she was subsequently replaced by Anastasia Karpova. Karpova left the group in 2013 and was replaced by Dasha Shashina, who left in 2016. Temnikova left the group in 2014 for health reasons, and Polina Favorskaya, who replaced Temnikova, left the group in 2017. Favorskaya was later replaced by Morgunova. In 2019, the line-up Olga Seryabkina, Katya Kischuk, and Tatiana Morgunova, the last one to include the last original member, has been replaced by Elizaveta Kornilova, Marianna Kochurova and Irina Titova.
"Secret Combination" is a song by Greek-American singer Kalomira. Described as an American production of "perky pop" and R&B, the track was composed by Poseidonas Giannopoulos with lyrics by Konstantinos Pantzis. It was released on 26 February 2008 by Heaven Music and served as the first single released from Kalomira's fourth studio album, Secret Combination: The Album. The song was the Greek entry at the Eurovision Song Contest 2008, held in Belgrade, where it placed third behind Russia and Ukraine.
"The Balkan Girls" is a song by Romanian singer Elena Gheorghe for a special 2009 edition of her second studio album, Te Ador (2008), and third record, Disco Romancing (2012). It was written by Laurențiu Duță and Alexandru Pelin, while production was handled by Duță, Ovidiu Bistriceanu and Daris Mangal. The song was released on an enhanced CD on 6 January 2009 by Cat Music. "The Balkan Girls" is a folk-influenced dance-pop song whose refrain celebrates the party life of Balkan girls.
Elena Gheorghe is a Romanian singer. In the first half of the 2000s, she joined the Romanian pop group Mandinga, with whom she released two albums. In 2006, she separated from the group and pursued her solo career. She has released three studio albums and one compilation album. She scored a top ten in the Romanian Top 100 with the debut single "Vocea Ta".
Vocea ta is the debut solo studio album by Romanian singer-songwriter Elena Gheorghe. Released in summer 2006, it is her first studio album since leaving the Latino pop band Mandinga, where she was the lead vocalist until 2005. The album is of pop, Latino-pop and dance music genre, being very similar to her two previous albums with Mandinga.
What's Up! was a Swedish boy band formed in Sweden in 2007. The original line-up consisted of Eric Saade, Robin Stjernberg, Luwdig "Ludde" Keijser and Johan Yngvesson. After Saade left the band in 2009 to pursue his solo career, Johannes Magnusson joined the band.
Romania participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 2012 with the song "Zaleilah" written by Elena Ionescu, Costi Ioniță and Omar Secada. The song was performed by the band Mandinga. The Romanian broadcaster Televiziunea Română (TVR) organised the national final Selecția Națională 2012 in order to select the Romanian entry for the 2012 contest in Baku, Azerbaijan. Fifteen entries were selected to compete in the national final on 10 March 2012 where "Zaleilah" performed by Mandinga was selected as the winner after scoring top marks from a nine-member jury panel and a public televote.
Alexander "Alex P" Papaconstantinou is a Greek-Swedish songwriter and record producer. He has worked with a number of artists including Jennifer López, Paulina Rubio, Enrique Iglesias, Antique, Helena Paparizou, Arash, Anna Vissi, Cameron Cartio, Eleni Foureira, Sarbel and Tamta. In 2011, Papaconstantinou adopted the production pseudonym Alex P and started collaborating with record producer RedOne, joined RedOne's production and 2101 Songs writing team. His collaboration continued until 2014. Along with Adam Baptiste, Papaconstantinou has also been credited as a featured artist under the name "The WAV.s". Since 2017, he has been a member of the pop band VAX. Papaconstantinou has also written and co-written a number of notable songs for Eurovision Song Contest for Sarbel (Greece), Aysel and Arash (Azerbaijan), Ivi Adamou, Eleni Foureira, Tamta and Andromache (Cyprus).
"Zaleilah" is a song by Romanian band Mandinga for their fifth studio album, Club de Mandinga (2012). It was written by Costi Ioniță along with band lead singer Elena Ionescu and member Omar Secada. Produced by Ioniță and Dimitriu Silviu, it was released on 16 September 2011. Musically, "Zaleilah" has been described as Latin-influenced, with other inspirations including Balkan, Cuban, Gypsy and salsa music. A bilingual love song performed in English and Spanish language, its instrumentation consists of a bagpipe, marching drums, accordions and trumpets. Reviewers noticed similarities between "Zaleilah" and "Waka Waka " (2010) by Colombian singer Shakira and "Zou Bisou Bisou" (1964).
Pavel "Pasha" Parfeni is a Moldovan musician, singer and songwriter. He represented Moldova in the Eurovision Song Contest 2012 with his song "Lăutar", placing 11th. He was formerly known for being the lead singer of the Moldovan band SunStroke Project. He represented Moldova again in the Eurovision Song Contest 2023 with the song "Soarele și luna", placing 18th.
Elena Ionescu is a Romanian singer and the first winner of Survivor România.
Sebastiano Paù-Lessi, better known by his stage name, Sebalter is a Swiss singer, fiddler, and attorney who represented his country at the Eurovision Song Contest 2014 in Copenhagen, Denmark. He performed the song "Hunter of Stars" in the final on 10 May 2014, finishing 13th with 64 points. Sebalter was born in the Italian-speaking canton of Ticino. Prior to Eurovision he worked as a business lawyer, putting his law career on hold to focus on his music career.
"De la capăt" is a song recorded by Romanian group Voltaj for their tenth studio album X (2016). It was made available as a single for digital download on 31 October 2014 by Cat Music and Voltz Media. A Romanian song, two other versions were released eventually—"De la capăt " in Romanian and English, and "All Over Again" fully in English. "De la capăt " was written by band members Călin Goia, Gabriel Constantin and Adrian Cristescu with Silviu Marian Păduraru and Victor Răzvan Alstani, while music was composed by the aforementioned alongside Monica-Ana Stevens and Andrei-Mădalin Leonte. "De la capăt" has been described as an indie pop rock and soft rock song, and is a manifesto raising awareness for children whose parents have left them behind to work abroad.
The Mamas are a Swedish-American pop and soul group. They won Melodifestivalen 2020 with their single "Move", which reached number one in Sweden in March 2020.