Andreea Banica

Andreea Bănică is a Romanian singer born on 21 June 1978 in Eforie Sud, Constanța County. She began singing at age four and was quickly noticed: at six she won first prize at the Cantarea Romaniei competition, a success she repeated the following year.

At the same time she received formal training, with two years of piano and four years of singing lessons. Her professional career took off in 1998 when she performed at the Festival Mamaia.

She became a member of Romania’s first girl group, Exotic, alongside Claudia Patrascanu and Iulia Chelaru; the group achieved major success with their debut single Sexy and released four singles from two albums, Sexxy and Pasional, before disbanding after two years.

In 2000 she formed the duo Blondy with Cristina Rus. Over four years Blondy released three albums — Atat de aproape, O parte din tine and Dulce si amar — and six music videos; the group was awarded in 2003 the BEST DANCE GROUP prize at the Radio Romania Actualitati Awards.

After Cristina Rus left in 2004, Andreea Bănică launched a solo career. Her first single, Dansez, Dansez, co-written with Laurentiu Duta, was a great success. The eponymous album received a gold record from Cat Music; two other singles were released from that album: Indragostiti and Dulce si amar.