Elena Gheorghe 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. 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". 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. 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. 

July 30th, 1985 in Bucharest (Age 39)