Introduction
Larisa Roxana Giurgiu (born 5 January 2000), known professionally as Roxen, 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.
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. Signed by Global Records, she was featured on Romanian producer Sickotoy's "You Don't Love Me" in August 2019. The single attained commercial success in Romania, reaching number three on the country's Airplay 100 chart, and being playslisted by radio stations in several territories including France, United States, Russia and Spain. Her debut single "Ce-ți cântă dragostea" released later that year in November peaked at number one in Romania. Music critics have since regarded the singer's primary genre as being deep house, and compared her music style and appearance to that of Dua Lipa and Billie Eilish. In a București FM interview, Roxen cited Beyoncé as one of her major inspirations.
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. On 11 February, she was revealed by TVR as the Romanian representative. Her five songs for Selecția Națională—"Alcohol You", "Beautiful Disaster", "Cherry Red", "Colors" and "Storm"—were released on 21 February. "Alcohol You" emerged as the winner of the national final on 1 March. 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. Although TVR had considered retaining "Alcohol You" as a song for the Eurovision Song Contest 2021, EBU soon after announced that intended 2020 entries were not eligible for the following year. Roxen was nonetheless internally selected for the 2021 contest.
Discography
Singles
As lead artist
| Title | Year | Peak chart positions | Album |
|---|---|---|---|
| ROM | |||
| "Ce-ți cântă dragostea" | 2019 | 1 | Non-album singles |
| "I Don't Care" | — | ||
| "Alcohol You" | 2020 | — | |
| "Escape" | — | ||
| "—" denotes a title that did not chart, or was not released in that territory. | |||
As featured artist
| Title | Year | Peak chart positions | Album | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ROM |
BUL | ||||
| "You Don't Love Me" (Sickotoy featuring Roxen) |
2019 | 3 | 7 | Non-album singles | |
| "Over and Over" (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" | 2020 | Non-album singles |
| "Cherry Red" | ||
| "Colors" | ||
| "Storm" |
Music videos
| Title | Year | Lead performer(s) | Guest performer(s) | Director(s) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| "You Don't Love Me" | 2019 | Sickotoy | Roxen | Raluca Netca |
| "Ce-ți cântă dragostea" | Roxen | None | ||
| "I Don't Care" | Șerban Racoviteanu | |||
| "Over and Over" | 2020 | PAX | Roxen | Alex Mureșan |
| "Escape" | Roxen | None | Unknown |