Early life and career (1986–2007)

Elena Alexandra Apostoleanu was born on October 16, 1986, in Mangalia, Constanţa,România.^[1] The singer recalls that the love for music was brought to her by her family, fully supporting her. In her childhood, her grandfather called her Inna, and she eventually decided that her stage name would be Inna.^[2] 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 or Beyoncé's music. She also recalls how it was so easy for her to sing every song that she liked. She studied at Liceul Economic Mangalia (a high school in Mangalia, 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. At the end of 2007, Inna signed a contract with Romanian producers Play & Win and she started recording her first tracks. In early 2008, Inna entered a couple of songs for the Eurovision Song Contest 2008, but none of them ("Goodbye" and "Sorry") managed to pass the pre-selection.

[]"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. The single performed strong on the Romanian Top 100 as it peaked at number five in December 2008. ^[1]It also became an airplay success in The Netherlands, Portugal, Brazil, Moldova, Bulgaria, Lebanon, Malta, Morocco, Libya, Poland,Serbia, Gibraltar, Spain, Syria, Turkey, Russia, Hungary, France, Slovakia, Greece, Pakistan and Ukraine. A second single, entitled "Love", was released on March 12, 2009 and peaked at number four on the Romanian Hot 100 in April 2009, surpassing the achievements of "Hot". 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". In the spring of 2009, Inna collaborated with Romanian DJ and producer Bob Taylor and they sent their common song "Déjà Vu" to Romanian mainstream radio on June 2, 2009. It became yet another top ten hit on the Romanian Top 100, peaking at number seven in July 2009. It also was a major hit in Moldova, Bulgaria, Russia, France, The Netherlands and Hungary. On August 6, 2009, Inna released her fourth single "Amazing". The song became the most successful song of her career in her home country to date, reaching number one on the Romanian Top 100 in October 2009. It also entered the charts of several European countries such asFrance, U.K. and Germany. At the MTV Europe Music Awards 2009 on November 5, 2009 in Berlin, Germany, Inna won the award for Best Romanian Act.

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 later returned the favor to the former. 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. Without a music video, it failed to reach the top ten of the Romanian Top 100 and only peaked at number eighteen. For its international release a video was shot in London, England.

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". She also presented a brand new song entitled "Sun Is Up". The track was sent to Romanian radio stations in June 2010 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, only being behind "Amazing".

For a 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. 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 andMarco Mengoni from Italy but lost to the Italian representative.

Inna won the Eurodanceweb Award 2010, with her single "Sun Is Up". The song was named the best dance track of Europe.^[3]

Tour and new album (2011)

Inna's single "10 Minutes" was released in France, where it peaked at number eight, becoming Inna's fourth consecutive top ten debut and it is about to be released in Spain, Switzerland and the United Kingdom.^[4] The singer was nomitated 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.^[5]

Inna is to release her second studio album, in July 2011. It will contain the hit "Sun is Up", and some other tracks, such as "Un Momento", "Señorita" or "Moon Girl".There is a rumour leaked on the internet which brings that the album will be entitled "Powerless". Inna posted on herFacebook account a few messages that include news about the record. In early 2011 she will embark in her first world tour.

[]Discography

[]Albums

• Hot (2009)
• Powerless (2011)

[]Singles

• "Hot" (2008)
• "Love" (2009)
• "Déjà Vu" (feat. Bob Taylor) (2009)
• "Amazing" (2009)
• "10 Minutes" (2010)
• "Sun Is Up" (2010)

[]Other singles

• "I Need You For Christmas" (2009)
• "Un Momento" (feat. Magan) (2010)