Early life and career (1986–2007)
Elena Alexandra Apostoleanu was born on October 16, 1986, in Mangalia, Romania.[2] The singer recalls that her love of music was first encouraged and supported by her family. In her childhood, her grandfather called her Inna, and she eventually decided that her stage name would be Inna.[13] When she was a teenager, Inna listened to a large variety of musical genres. Although her favourite style was electro-dance, she also listened to Christina Aguilera's and Beyoncé's music.[14][15] She also recalls how it was so easy for her to sing every song that she liked.[14] She studied at Liceul Economic Mangalia (a high school inMangalia, now called Colegiul Economic Mangalia). After graduating from high school with good marks, she attempted a degree in Political Sciences at the University of Constanţa.[16] At the end of 2007, Inna signed a contract with Romanian producers Play & Win and she started recording her first tracks.[17] In early 2008, Inna entered a couple of songs for the Eurovision Song Contest 2008, but neither of them ("Goodbye" and "Sorry") managed to pass the pre-selection.
[edit]Hot era (2008–2010)
On November 12, 2008, Inna released her debut single "Hot", which was produced by Play & Win, a Romanian dance music trio and one of the leading music producers in Romania.[1] The single performed strongly on the Romanian Top 100, peaking at number five in December 2008.[2] It also became an airplay success in the Balkan countries, before reaching success across Europe and the Middle East.[3][4]
In November 2008, Inna was seeking back-up dancers for her promo tour.[18] As demos such as "Left Ride" and "O, ce veste minunată!" began to leak on the internet,[19][20] Inna was announcing shows in some of the hottest Romanian clubs, such as Club Turabo.[21] In early 2009, the single "Hot" entered the Spanish Singles Chart and the Hungarian Dance Chart. In both countries, the song managed to climb toward the top spot. Furthermore, it garnered huge airplay success in countries such as Poland, Ukraine and Turkey.[22] Meanwhile, the promo songs "Fever" and "On and On" officially premiered on Inna's website, being free for download for a limited period of two weeks.[23][24] Finally, the song "Hot" was released and charted within the top ten in Belgium and the Netherlands.
The second single, entitled "Love", was released on March 12, 2009[25][26] and peaked at number four on the Romanian Hot 100 in April 2009, surpassing the achievements of "Hot".[27] Inna received the first award nominations of her career at the Polish Eska Music Awards in 2009, being nominated for Best Singer and Best Single. She also performed "Hot". On April 15, 2009, Inna signed a contract with a prestigiousAmerican record label, Ultra Records.[28][29] On May 12, Inna was nominated four times at the MTV Romania Music Awards, for "Best Dance", "Best Debut", "Best Show" and the special award for "Borderbreaker".[30] The Awards were held on June 6, at Craiova. That night, Inna won all the awards she was nominated for, her show being named the best of the evening.[31] Not long after, Inna became famous inIceland.[32]
At the end of May 2009, on Antena 1's main news program, the singer unveiled information about her upcoming album, entitled "Hot", after the lead single.[33][34]
In the spring of 2009, Inna collaborated with Romanian DJ and producer Bob Taylor, and they released their song "Déjà Vu" to Romanian mainstream radio on June 2, 2009.[35] At first, the two of them decided to promote the single under pseudonyms, Inna becoming Anni. After reaching the Romanian top ten, they confirmed that they were the performers of the hit.[35] It became yet another top ten hit on the Romanian Top 100, peaking at number seven in July 2009.[5] It also was a major hit in Moldova, Bulgaria, Russia and Hungary.[6] At the end of June, Inna won a Romanian Top Hits Award, the special one given by the Jury, for her top five hit "Love".[7] Later that summer, the song "Hot" hit the first position of the Spanish Singles Chart, being certified Platinum by PROMUSICAE.[8] The song sold over 40,000 copies during that summer.[9]
On August 6, 2009, Inna released her fourth single "Amazing", a song originally recorded by Anca Badiu.[36][37] The song became the most successful song of her career in her home country to date,[38] reaching number one on the Romanian Top 100 in October 2009.[39] It also entered the charts of several European countries, peaking at number one in Bulgaria and at number three in Russia. At the MTV Europe Music Awards 2009 on November 5, 2009 in Berlin, Germany, Inna won the award for Best Romanian Act.[40][41] However, she did not make the shortlist for the Best European Act.
In November 2009 "Deja Vu" entered the first half of the Single Top 100 in Netherlands and the top ten in Belgium.[42][43] In December, Inna premiered a new single, a Christmas song, called "I Need You For Christmas", which entered the Romanian Top 100 and the Russian Charts at lower positions. Later, it was listed in the 2010 compilation "I Need You For Christmas".[44][45] In the end of 2009, Inna was named the "Woman of The Year" during the "Young Talents Awards".[46] She won over other big Romanian names, such as Paula Seling, Elena Gheorghe, Claudia Pavel, Andra, Anda Adam, Amadeus and the girl band Blaxy Girls.[47]
At the beginning of 2010, Inna reached an overwhelming chart success, as her single "Hot" peaked at number one on the U.S. Billboard's Hot Dance Airplay chart. Both Inna and U.S. singer Ke$ha became the first artists on this chart to swap each others' number-one chart positions with debut singles, with Inna's "Hot" succeeding Ke$ha's "Tik Tok" and then having the latter return the favor.[48][49] To support the Romanian release of her debut album Hot in March 2010, Inna promoted a fifth single entitled "10 Minutes" and released it to Romanian radio on January 23, 2010.[50][51] Without a music video, it failed to reach the top ten of the Romanian Top 100 and only peaked at number eighteen.[52][53] For its international release a video was shot in London, England.[54] The video was directed by Paul Boyd, a British director who has worked withShania Twain andMariah Carey.[55] With the video out, the song re-entered the Romanian Top 100, but missed the top forty. It has also charted in Bulgaria and Russia, but out of the top ten.
During 2010, Inna's "Hot" debuted on the UK Singles Chart at #8, while also managing to reach the #1 spot on the UK Dance Chart. On the March 28 UK Singles Chart, "Hot" climbed 2 places to a current peak of #6.[56] On 1 April 2010, the single also debuted on the Irish Singles Chart at #48. The song has also entered, on a lower position, the Canadian Hot 100. The song charted in Germany and peaked at number six in the French Singles Chart. The single "Amazing" was a runner-up in the French Singles Chart, debuting at number two. The song was also Inna's first top forty in Germany, her first top ten in the Swiss Singles Chartand her first chart effort in Austria. In the UK, the song entered the Official Chart at number 14. It is her second top ten in the European Hot 100, after "Hot".[57] The single "Deja Vu" peaked within the top ten in French and out of the top forty in the UK. Meanwhile, her debut album entered the top ten of the French Albums Chart, peaking at number nine.[58] The album went gold in that country, with over 50,000 copies sold.[59] It was also listed in the year-end charts from Romania and France.[60][61] A deluxe version of the album was released in France and Spain (the French edition is entitled "Very Hot"). The promotional single "Un Momento", off the re-release, charted in Spain and Romania.[62][63]
At the 2010 Romanian Music Awards Inna won the awards for Best Female, Best Album, Best Show, Best Web Site and Best International Artist, and performed her Romanian number one single "Amazing".[64][65]She also presented a brand new song entitled "Sun Is Up".[66] The track was sent to Romanian radio stations in June 2010, premiering on Kiss FM.[67] and quickly became a hit in her home country. On November 28, 2010 "Sun Is Up" reached number two on the Romanian Top 100, becoming Inna's fifth top ten single and her second highest charting single of her career, behind only "Amazing".[68] The song has also reached the top spot in Bulgaria and the peak position of number 3 in Russia.[69] The music video for "Sun Is Up" was shot on August 24, 2010 in Marbella, Spain. It was directed by Alex Herron, who previously worked withTaio Cruz and Ke$ha ("Dirty Picture") and Basshunter ("Saturday"). A teaser of the video was released on September 27, 2010. It showed Inna posing on a bed for a photo shoot. The official music video finally premiered on September 30, 2010 on Inna's web site.[70] The video's length is 3:18 and it was filmed in HD.
For the second time in a row Inna won the regional voting in the run-up of the MTV Europe Music Awards 2010, receiving the award for Best Romanian Act.[71] But for the first time she became one of five regional winners having the chance to win the Best European Act award at the main show on November 7, 2010. She competed with Afromental from Poland, Dima Bilan from Russia, Enrique Iglesias from Spain and Marco Mengoni from Italy but lost to the Italian representative.[71] At the end of the year, Inna performed, for the first time in more than two years, in a Romanian club. She sang at the Club Kasho in Braşov.[72] In December, she was awarded for her rising career during the "Zece Pentru Romania" awards held by Realitatea TV, along with Paula Seling, Ovi, Edward Maya and Vika Jigulina.[73] In a short time, Inna became one of the most beloved singers in France, with hundreds of invitations and thousands of fans. She garnered over 2,000,000 fans on Facebook, and was named the best known Romanian act of all time.[74]
Inna won the Eurodanceweb Award 2010, with her single "Sun Is Up". The song was named the best dance track of Europe.[75]
Inna's single "10 Minutes" peaked at number eight in France, becoming Inna's fourth consecutive top ten debut.[76] The singer was nominated for the "International Revelation of the Year" award at the NRJ Music Awards along with Justin Bieber, Ke$ha and Taio Cruz, but lost to Bieber.[77]
[edit]I Am the Club Rocker and tour (2011)
Inna is set to release her second studio album I Am the Club Rocker, in the summer of 2011. It will contain the hits "Sun Is Up" and "Club Rocker", along with the previously released promo songs "Un Momento", "Señorita" and "Moon Girl".[78][79][80] In late January 2011, it was announced that Inna was nominated for the second time at the "Successful Women Awards". This time, she had to face Paula Seling, Luminiţa Anghel and Analia Selis.[81] She was also named the third "Best Female Voice" by the Romanian public, only after Paula Seling and Andra.[82]
In early 2011 she embarked on her first official tour, through France, Spain, Germany, Turkey and Romania. The concert tour hit nine French cities, two Spanish cities and, for the first time in a major venue,Bucharest. Inna bought a $250,000 penthouse near Paris.[83] She will go on tour in the United Kingdom for the first time in June 2011. From July 4 to July 14, Inna will return to France, in order to promote "Club Rocker". In 2011, Inna will be promoted in the United States more than in previous years. will.i.am of the The Black Eyed Peas wished Inna good luck in the American music business.[84] It was announced that "Club Rocker" will be premiered on May 17, during her Romanian gig.[85]
It was announced that Inna received a total of four nominations at the RRA Awards 2011, one of the most important Romanian music awards. She is nominated for the "Artist of the Year" award, along with Mădălina Manole, Paula Seling and Ovidiu Cernăuţeanu and for the "Dance Artist of the Year". She is also nominated for the "Album of the Year" (with "Hot") and "Best Pop/Dance Song" (with "Sun is Up").[86] Eventually, she won the "Dance Artist of the Year".[87] She is also nominated for the "Best Female Act" and "Best Romanian Song" (Sun Is Up) at the Balkan Music Awards.[88]
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