Roxen (singer)

Larisa Roxana Giurgiu[upper-alpha 1] (born 5 January 2000), known professionally as Roxen,[upper-alpha 2] is a Romanian singer signed by Global Records. She rose to prominence upon being featured on Romanian producer Sickotoy's "You Don't Love Me" (2019), which reached number three in Romania and received radio airplay in several other countries. Her debut single, "Ce-ți cântă dragostea", eventually peaked atop the national chart. She was scheduled to represent Romania in the Eurovision Song Contest 2020 with the song "Alcohol You" before the event's coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19)-related cancellation. Roxen was nonetheless internally selected as the country's representative for the 2021 contest. Her music style has been deemed as deep house by music critics, and her appearance compared to Billie Eilish and Dua Lipa.

Roxen
Birth nameLarisa Roxana Giurgiu
Born (2000-01-05) 5 January 2000
Cluj-Napoca, Romania
GenresDeep house
Occupation(s)Singer
Years active2019–present
LabelsGlobal

Early life and career

Born Larisa Roxana Giurgiu on 5 January 2000 in Cluj-Napoca, Roxen discovered her passion for music at the age of seven. She also took singing and piano lessons as a child.[1][2][3] Signed by Global Records,[4] she was featured on Romanian producer Sickotoy's "You Don't Love Me" in August 2019.[5] The single attained commercial success in Romania, reaching number three on the country's Airplay 100 chart,[6] and being playslisted by radio stations in several territories including France, United States, Russia and Spain.[1] Her debut single "Ce-ți cântă dragostea" released later that year in November peaked at number one in Romania.[6] Music critics have since regarded the singer's primary genre as being deep house,[1] and compared her music style and appearance to that of Dua Lipa and Billie Eilish.[7] In a București FM interview, Roxen cited Beyoncé as one of her major inspirations.[8]

In early February 2020, it was reported that Roxen was one of three artists shortlisted to represent Romania at the Eurovision Song Contest 2020; broadcaster Romanian Television (TVR) had collaborated with Global Records for the selection.[9][10] On 11 February, she was revealed by TVR as the Romanian representative.[11] Her five songs for Selecția Națională—"Alcohol You", "Beautiful Disaster", "Cherry Red", "Colors" and "Storm"—were released on 21 February.[12] "Alcohol You" emerged as the winner of the national final on 1 March.[13] However, on 18 March, the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) announced the cancellation of the Eurovision Song Contest 2020 due to the pandemic of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) in China and its spread to other countries.[14] Although TVR had considered retaining "Alcohol You" as a song for the Eurovision Song Contest 2021,[15] EBU soon after announced that intended 2020 entries were not eligible for the following year.[16] Roxen was nonetheless internally selected for the 2021 contest.[17] In June 2020, the singer was hired as the brand ambassador for Romanian box-dye hair color product Loncolor Expert HEMPstyle; she appeared on product packagings and in a commercial which prominently featured the Selecția Națională entry "Storm".[18] Starting with the release of "How to Break a Heart" in July, Roxen has been benefiting from a promotional campaign for which Global Records partnered with Warner Music.[19]

Personal life

As of June 2020, Roxen resides in Bucharest. At the beginning the same month, the singer was allegedly emotionally abused and blackmailed by her now ex-boyfriend and obtained a restraining order against him after she made a complaint to the local police.[20]

Discography

Singles

As lead artist
Title Year Peak chart positions Album
ROM
[6]
"Ce-ți cântă dragostea"[21] 2019 1 Non-album singles
"I Don't Care"[22] —
"Alcohol You"[12] 2020 —
"Spune-mi"[23] —
"How to Break a Heart"[24] —
"—" denotes a title that did not chart, or was not released in that territory.
Title Year Peak chart positions Album
ROM
[6]		 BUL
[25]
"You Don't Love Me"[5]
(Sickotoy featuring Roxen)		 2019 37 Non-album singles
"Over and Over"[26]
(PAX featuring Roxen)		 2020 ——
"—" denotes a title that did not chart, or was not released in that territory.

Promotional singles
Title Year Album
"Beautiful Disaster"[12] 2020 Non-album singles
"Cherry Red"[12]
"Colors"[12]
"Storm"[12]
"Escape"[27]

Music videos
Title[upper-alpha 3] Year Lead performer(s) Guest performer(s) Director(s)
"You Don't Love Me"[28] 2019 Sickotoy Roxen Raluca Netca
"Ce-ți cântă dragostea"[29] Roxen None
"I Don't Care"[30] Șerban Racovițeanu
"Over and Over"[31] 2020 PAX Roxen Alex Mureșan
"Escape"[32] Roxen None Unknown
"Spune-mi"[33] Anton San[23][24]
"How to Break a Heart"[34]

Notes
  1. Romanian pronunciation: [laˈrisa rokˈsana ˈd͡ʒʲurd͡ʒʲu].
  2. Romanian pronunciation: [rokˈsen].
  3. Solely lists official music videos.

References
  1. Scutaru, Cristina (3 February 2020). "Roxen cucerește topurile muzicale!" [Roxen attains success on music charts!] (in Romanian). DC News. Retrieved 5 February 2020.
  2. Gondor, Andreea (20 October 2019). "O noua editie a Festivalului "Armonii muzicale"" [A new edition of the "Musical Harmonies" festival] (in Romanian). Zi de zi. Retrieved 11 February 2020.
  3. "Dua Lipa de România, reprezentanta noastră la Eurovision 2020" [The Romanian Dua Lipa is our Eurovision 2020 representative] (in Romanian). Antena 1. 12 February 2020. Retrieved 12 February 2020. Note: Play the video.
  4. Gallagher, Robyn (1 February 2020). "Romania: TVR confirms partnership with Global Records for internal selection of 2020 artist". Wiwibloggs. Retrieved 1 February 2020.
  5. "You Don't Love Me (feat. Roxen) - Single by Sickotoy on iTunes". iTunes Store. 12 August 2019. Retrieved 5 February 2020.
  6. For peak positions in Romania:
  7. "Roxen ne spune povestea vieții ei" [Roxen tells us the story of her life]. Unica (in Romanian). 7 January 2020. Retrieved 5 February 2020.
  8. "Roxen, reprezentantul Romaniei la Eurovision, in de 10X Romania alaturi de Razvan Petre" [Roxen, Romania's Eurovision representative, on 10X Romania with Razvan Petre] (in Romanian). YouTube. 6 March 2020. Retrieved 7 March 2020.
  9. Muntean, Marco (4 February 2020). "Romania will reveal the representative on 10th February". ESCBubble. Retrieved 4 February 2020.
  10. "TVR și Global Records, parteneri pentru Eurovision Song Contest 2020" [TVR and Global Records, partners for the 2020 Eurovision Song Contest] (in Romanian). Romanian Television. 31 January 2020. Retrieved 31 January 2020.
  11. "Roxen will represent Romania at the Eurovision Song Contest 2020". European Broadcasting Union. 11 February 2020. Retrieved 11 February 2020.
  12. Percy, Lucy (21 February 2020). "Romania's Roxen releases snippets of her five songs in contention for Eurovision 2020". Wiwibloggs. Retrieved 21 February 2020.
  13. Luukela, Sami (1 March 2020). "Roxen to sing "Alcohol You" in Rotterdam!". ESCXtra. Retrieved 1 March 2020.
  14. "Eurovision 2020 in Rotterdam is cancelled". European Broadcasting Union. 18 March 2020. Retrieved 18 March 2020.
  15. Luukela, Sami (18 March 2020). "Roxen and TVR release statements regarding Eurovision". ESCXtra. Retrieved 18 March 2020.
  16. "Intention to honour Eurovision 2020 songs and artists". European Broadcasting Union. 20 March 2020. Retrieved 20 March 2020.
  17. "TVR a decis: Roxen va reprezenta Romania la Eurovision Song Contest 2021" [TVR has decided: Roxen will represent Romania at the Eurovision Song Contest 2021] (in Romanian). Romanian Television. 31 March 2020. Retrieved 31 March 2020.
  18. Gallagher, Robyn (7 June 2020). "Romania: Pretty in purple! Roxen turns heads as brand ambassador for hair colour range". Wiwibloggs. Retrieved 23 June 2020.
  19. Stassen, Murray (4 August 2020). "Warner Music names Global Records as licensee in Romania". Music Business Worldwide. Retrieved 5 August 2020.
  20. "Roxen, ordin de restrictie pentru fostul iubit" [Roxen, restraining order against ex-boyfriend] (in Romanian). Pro FM. Retrieved 23 June 2020.
  21. "Ce-ți cântă dragostea - Single by Roxen on iTunes". iTunes Store. 12 November 2019. Retrieved 5 February 2020.
  22. "I Don't Care - Single by Roxen on iTunes". iTunes Store. 2 December 2019. Retrieved 5 February 2020.
  23. "Roxen lanseaza "Spune-mi"" [Roxen releases "Spune-mi"] (in Romanian). Pro FM. Retrieved 13 April 2020.
  24. Chirilă, Raluca (31 July 2020). "Videoclip oficial: Roxen - How to Break a Heart" (in Romanian). InfoMusic. Retrieved 31 July 2020.
  25. "PROPHON – Charts" (in Bulgarian). PROPHON. 15 November 2019. Retrieved 7 February 2020.
  26. "Over and Over (feat. Roxen) - Single by PAX Paradise Auxiliary on iTunes". iTunes Store. 17 March 2019. Retrieved 25 March 2020.
  27. Pelešević, Elvir (8 April 2020). "Roxen wants to Escape from today's troubles in a brand new single". EuroVisionary. Retrieved 8 April 2020.
  28. Chirilă, Raluca (4 September 2019). "Videoclip oficial: Sickotoy feat. Roxen - You Don't Love Me". InfoMusic. Retrieved 15 February 2020.
  29. "Roxen - Ce-ți cântă dragostea | Official Video". YouTube. 12 November 2019. Retrieved 15 February 2020. Note: Open the description for credits.
  30. "Roxen - I Don't Care (The Session - Official Video)". YouTube. 2 December 2019. Retrieved 15 February 2020. Note: Open the description for credits.
  31. "PAX (Paradise Auxiliary) feat. Roxen - Over and Over - Official Video". YouTube. 25 March 2020. Retrieved 25 March 2020. Note: Open the description for credits.
  32. "Roxen - Escape (Home Edition - Official Video)". YouTube. 8 April 2020. Retrieved 8 April 2020.
  33. "Roxen - Spune-mi | Official Video". YouTube. 13 May 2020. Retrieved 13 May 2020.
  34. "Roxen - How to Break a Heart | Official Video". YouTube. 31 July 2020. Retrieved 31 July 2020.
Awards and achievements
Preceded by
Ester Peony
with "On a Sunday"		 Romania in the Eurovision Song Contest
2020 (cancelled)
2021		 Succeeded by
Incumbent
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