Elena Alexandra Apostoleanu (born 16 October 1986), best known as Inna, is a Romanian dance singer. She was born in Moscow, Russia. 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. 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 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. In November 12, 2008, she 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. 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, Czech Republic, 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". The song "Deja Vu" 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 and Hungary. In the end of June, Inna won a Romanian Top Hits Award, the special one given by the Jury, for her top five hit "Love". Later that summer, the song "Hot" hit the first position of the Spanish Singles Chart, being certified Platinum by PROMUSICAE. The song sold over 40,000 copies during that summer. Her debut album "Hot" became a top ten in France, being certified Gold by the Syndicat National de l'Édition Phonographique. In France, she has four consecutive top tens: "Hot", "Deja Vu", "Amazing" and "10 Minutes". In the United Kingdom, she has three songs charted with the top seventy-five of the The Official Charts Company's UK Singles Chart. WIth a top ten ("Hot") and another top twenty "Amazing". Her latest single "Sun Is Up" became a number-one hit in Bulgaria and a top five in: France, Romania and Russia. For 2011, Inna is preparing a new record, "Powerless", that will be promoted by her French concert tour "INNA en Concert". Even though she is considered the "Best Romanian Act Worldwide", Inna didn't perform live many times before 2010. During 2008 and early 2009, Inna's outfits were very hardly critisized by the Romanian gossip magazines. She responded by stating that: "A man in his lifetime can do something better than anything else. I can sing way better than I dress myself up. I know how to sing, and from now on, I know what to wear, because I employed a stylist from Timişoara. My previous stylist wasn't good enough, so I fired her." Furthermore, the designer Alina Latan created a collection of eleven pieces, inspired by Inna. In February 2011, it was reported that Inna is dating her manager, Lucian Stefan.
