What’s this? “Un gram de suflet”, the new single from Romania’s 2009 representative Elena Gheorghe.
When did it drop? The single and music video were published on Thursday evening, 6 September. Elena’s social media postings heralded the song’s arrival with the hashtag #elenaisback.
Tell us more: It translates to “A Gram of Soul”, but “Un gram de suflet” definitely has a whole lot more soul than that. But not the strait-laced sort. Think sensual, almost sexual. Although strictly speaking Elena isn’t referring to the genre of music, but rather the human spirit.
“And if I could give you / One gram of woman’s soul / You understand how I feel / When I light up a spark / And if you could give me / One gram of man’s soul / I would understand how you think”. She’s living and loving in sin, but you get the impression she doesn’t care “When you love in sin, in sin”.
Latin style instrumentation, including plenty of trumpet, only add to the song’s sweaty atmosphere.
What about the music video? Ms Gheorghe and her band perform in what appears to be an empty dive bar somewhere in South America. Two dancers dance passionately before them, and by the end Elena has taken the place of the female. The entire clip is hot and sultry. Elena even manages to make the simple task of peeling an orange appear seductive.
Elena “Un gram de suflet” (Official Music Video)
Elena Gheorghe at Eurovision: Elena won the Romanian national selection in January 2009 with the catchy “Balkan Girls”. The delegation made headlines for hiring a private jet, but the entry failed to soar in Moscow. It scraped out of its semi in ninth place and finished 19th during the Saturday night show.
What’s she been up to since? Elena’s relatively poor placing at Eurovision has long since become irrelevant. The flame-haired songstress is one of Romania’s biggest and most prolific popstars, releasing countless hits. They include “In bucati”, “Polul Nord (Brrrrrr…)” and last year’s “Hot Bhangra”.
In 2014 she was nominated for an award at the MTV VMAs. Back in the spring, she returned to the Eurovision fold when she performed as an interval act at Romania’s national final.
What do you think of “Un gram de suflet”? Did you prefer “Balkan Girls”? Let us know in the comments below.
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