Ester Peony

Ester Alexandra Crețu ([ˈester alekˈsandra ˈkret͡su], born 21 July 1993), known professionally as Ester Peony (formerly only Ester), is a Romanian singer and songwriter. She represented Romania in the Eurovision Song Contest 2019 with the song "On a Sunday" after winning the selection show Selecția Națională 2019. However, she failed to qualify for the Grand Final in Tel Aviv. Peony started to compose music for Romanian artists before gaining recognition for posting covers on YouTube in 2015. Later that year, she attained commercial success in Romania with her single "Sub aripa ta" featuring Vescan.

Ester Peony
Peony during an interview in 2019
Background information
Birth nameEster Alexandra Crețu
Born (1993-07-21) 21 July 1993
Câmpulung, Romania
Occupation(s)
  • Singer
  • songwriter
InstrumentsVocals
Years active2014–present
LabelsCat
Associated actsVescan

Early life

Ester Alexandra Crețu[1] was born in Câmpulung, Romania on 21 July 1993.[2][3] She and her parents emigrated to Montreal, Canada in 2001.[1] There, she showed a particular interest in music and started studying jazz singing at the age of eight.[1] Peony relocated to Romania four years later and graduated from the Dinu Lipatti High School of Art in Pitești, where she studied classic singing and classic guitar.[1] In 2013, she enrolled at the Music Interpretation Faculty in Bucharest to study jazz.[4]

Career

Peony released her debut single "Cuminte de Crăciun" under her mononym Ester in late 2014.[5] At the same time, she had been composing music for other Romanian artists.[4][6] In 2015, she started posting covers on YouTube. The cover videos gained her attention, and she was subsequently offered a record deal with a Romanian label.[6] Later that year, Peony released the song "Sub aripa ta", featuring Romanian rapper Vescan. The song was played on radio and television stations across the country. In 2016, she embarked on her first tour with Vescan.[4] The singer changed her stage name to Ester Peony and independently distributed her debut EP Dig It in May 2018,[7] for which she was also one of the main composers.[4][6]

Peony and her two male background dancers during a rehearsal for the Eurovision Song Contest 2019.[8]

In February 2019, Romanian Television (TVR) announced her as the Romanian representative for the Eurovision Song Contest 2019 in Tel Aviv, Israel, after she won the selection show Selecția Națională with her song "On a Sunday".[6] The announcement was met with mixed reactions from the public.[9][10] In 2019, TVR were able to spend significant amounts on their Eurovision entry for the first time; they spent about 100,000 euros on the visual and special effects in the performance.[11][12] Romania failed to qualify for the Eurovision Grand Final as their second consecutive—and second overall—non-qualification, placing 13th with 71 points.[13][14] During her Eurovision time, Peony had signed a record deal with Cat Music,[15] and is currently working on her debut studio album.[4] She performed at the 2019 Golden Stag Festival.[16]

Influences and personal life

Peony cites Delia, Celine Dion, Whitney Houston, Cher, Queen, Michael Jackson and Ariana Grande as some of her musical inspirations.[17][18] Her stage name refers to the peony flower. In Romanian, "peony" translates to "bujor", which refers to part of her mother's name.[19] The singer has been in a relationship with Alexandru Șerbu since about 2013; Șerbu acted as producer for "On a Sunday".[20][21] Peony is a Christian.[22]

Discography

Extended plays
Title Details
Dig It

As lead artist
Title Year Album
"Cuminte de Crăciun"[5]
(as Ester featuring Doddy, Vescan and Mahia Beldo)		 2014 Non-album
singles
"Sub aripa ta"[23]
(as Ester featuring Vescan)		 2015
"Iubire"[24]
(as Ester)
"1000 de motive"[25]
(as Ester featuring Phelipe)		 2016
"On a Sunday"[26] 2019
"7 Roses"[27]
"Me pone loca"[28] 2020
Title Year Peak chart positions Album
BEL
(WA)
Tip
[29]
"Oameni"[30]
(Vescan featuring Ester, Alan and Kepa)		 2015 — Non-album
single
"Dernière danse"[31]
(HIDDN and RudeLies featuring Ester Peony)		 2019 16
"—" denotes an item that did not chart or was not released in that territory.

References
  1. "Ester Peony – Romania". European Broadcasting Union. Retrieved 19 May 2019.
  2. "Ester Peony a venit la matinalul Digi FM" [Ester Peony came to Digi FM] (in Romanian). Digi FM. Retrieved 16 March 2019.
  3. "Wish you all a great day". Ester Peony. 21 July 2017. Retrieved 8 May 2019 – via Instagram. Note: This is a celebratory post, hinting at Peony's birth date.
  4. "Ester Peony – Biography". TVR. Retrieved 5 March 2019.
  5. "Cuminte de Crăciun by Ester on iTunes". iTunes Store. Retrieved 5 March 2019.
  6. Groot, Evert (17 February 2019). "Romania goes for Ester Peony with 'On a Sunday'". European Broadcasting Union. Archived from the original on 18 February 2019. Retrieved 18 February 2019.
  7. "Dig It – EP by Ester Peony on iTunes". iTunes Store. Archived from the original on 18 February 2019. Retrieved 5 March 2019.
  8. Quinn, Angus (6 May 2019). "Romania: Ester Peony channels Marlene Dietrich meets Dracula at Eurovision 2019". Wiwibloggs. Retrieved 6 May 2019.
  9. "Reacții controversate după ce Ester Peony a câștigat finala națională Eurovision 2019" [Controversy after Ester Peony won the Romanian National Selection for Eurovision 2019]. Libertatea (in Romanian). 17 February 2019. Archived from the original on 18 February 2019. Retrieved 18 February 2019.
  10. "Peony für Rumänien: Voting gegen Homophobie?" [Peony for Romania: Voting against homophobia?] (in German). ARD. 20 February 2019. Retrieved 2 September 2019.
  11. "Romania: Significant Investments Made in Special Staging Effects". Eurovoix. 3 May 2019. Archived from the original on 4 May 2019. Retrieved 4 May 2019.
  12. "Bugetul pentru show-urile României la Eurovision este de 100.000 de euro" [The budget for Romania's shows at Eurovision amounts to 100,000 euro] (in Romanian). Romania24. 3 May 2019. Retrieved 4 May 2019.
  13. "Tel Aviv 2019 – Second Semi-Final – Scoreboard". European Broadcasting Union. Retrieved 19 May 2019.
  14. "Romania – Eurovision Song Contest". European Broadcasting Union (EBU). Archived from the original on 13 May 2017. Retrieved 15 April 2018.
  15. "Romania: Ester Peony Signs With Cat Music". Eurovoix. Archived from the original on 2 March 2019. Retrieved 5 March 2019.
  16. "Upcoming Romanian festival Cerbul de Aur has EUR 1.4 mln budget". Romania-Insider. 22 August 2019. Retrieved 23 August 2019.
  17. "Eurovision 2019, intervista ad Ester Peony: "Punto a divertirmi, ma ho un sogno…"" [Eurovision 2019, interview with Ester Peony: "I will have fun, but I have a dream..."] (in Italian). Eurofestival News. 18 April 2019. Retrieved 18 April 2019.
  18. Trașcă, Silvia (3 May 2019). "Ester Peony, înainte de plecarea la Tel Aviv: "Mi-am format personajul şi propriul stil"" [Ester Peony, prior to her trip to Tel Aviv: "I have formed my own character and style"] (in Romanian). Unsitedemuzică.ro. Retrieved 4 May 2019.
  19. "Care este povestea din spatele numelui de scenă al lui Ester Peony" [What is the story behind Ester Peony's stage name]. Libertatea (in Romanian). 7 March 2019. Retrieved 7 March 2019.
  20. "Ce nu se știa despre Ester Peony" [What you did not know about Ester Peony]. Libertatea (in Romanian). 3 April 2019. Retrieved 3 April 2019.
  21. "Ester Peony "On A Sunday" (Romania 2019) Interview @ Eurovision in Concert 2019". Wiwibloggs. 7 April 2019. Retrieved 18 April 2019 – via YouTube.
  22. Archip Romanciuc, Andreea (2 May 2019). "Ester Peony pleacă la Eurovision" [Ester Peony goes to Eurovision]. Libertatea (in Romanian). Retrieved 4 May 2019.
  23. "Sub aripa ta by Ester on iTunes". iTunes Store. Retrieved 5 March 2019.
  24. "Iubire by Ester on iTunes". iTunes Store. Retrieved 5 March 2019.
  25. "1000 de motive by Ester on iTunes". iTunes Store. Retrieved 5 March 2019.
  26. "On a Sunday by Ester Peony on iTunes". iTunes Store. Archived from the original on 19 February 2019. Retrieved 18 February 2019.
  27. Chirilă, Raluca (5 November 2019). "Videoclip: Ester Peony – 7 Roses" (in Romanian). InfoMusic. Retrieved 5 November 2019.
  28. Trocan, Sorin. "Ester Peony lanseaza piesa "Me pone loca"" [Ester peony releases the single "Me pone loca"] (in Romanian). Arad 24. Retrieved 18 April 2020.
  29. "Discographie Ester Peony". Ultratop. Retrieved 5 August 2019.
  30. "Oameni by Vescan on iTunes". iTunes Store. Retrieved 5 March 2019.
  31. "Dernière danse (feat. Ester Peony) by HIDDN & RudeLies on iTunes". iTunes Store. Retrieved 5 June 2019.
Preceded by
The Humans
with "Goodbye"		 Romania in the Eurovision Song Contest
2019		 Succeeded by
Roxen
with "Alcohol You"
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