Xonia (born Loredana Sachelaru; 25 June 1989) is an Australian-born Romanian singer, songwriter, actress and dancer.

Biography

1989–2007: Early life and education

Xonia was born 25 June 1989 in Melbourne, Australia to

Romanian Romanian may refer to: *anything of, from, or related to the country and nation of Romania **Romanians, an ethnic group **Romanian language, a Romance language ***Romanian dialects, variants of the Romanian language **Romanian cuisine, traditional ...

parents. Her birth name is Loredana Sachelaru but she was known as "Xonia" since her teen years. In 1997, Xonia began showing interest in music and was subsequently signed to a recording contract with a local label in early 2003. Throughout her adolescence she worked with several music producers such as Rob Davis,

Doug Brady Stephen Douglas Brady (born November 23, 1969) is a retired Major League Baseball second baseman. He played during one season at the major league level for the Chicago White Sox, and one season in the Korea Baseball Organization for the Lotte Gia ...

and

Kevin Colbert Kevin Colbert (; born January 1957) is a former American football executive. He served as the general manager of Pittsburgh Steelers from 2000 to 2021. Colbert is widely credited with putting together the Super Bowl XL and the Super Bowl XLIII ...

in order to record her debut album. Simultaneously, Xonia graduated the Australian Ballet School (Certificate III in Dance) and was taken under the mentorship of Robert Sturrock, a well-known choreographer and dance coach. In early 2000s Xonia put aside her musical career and focused on acting; shortly after she had a number of

cameo appearances A cameo role, also called a cameo appearance and often shortened to just cameo (), is a brief appearance of a well-known person in a work of the performing arts. These roles are generally small, many of them non-speaking ones, and are commonly ei ...

in high-profile

TV series A television show – or simply TV show – is any content produced for viewing on a television set which can be broadcast via over-the-air, satellite, or cable, excluding breaking news, advertisements, or trailers that are typically placed betw ...

such as

Noah's Arc ''Noah's Arc'' is an American cable television comedy-drama series that aired for two seasons on the Logo network from October 19, 2005 to October 4, 2006. The show centered on the lives of four Black gay friends who share personal and professio ...

SeaChange ''SeaChange'' is an Australian television program that ran from 1998 to 2000 on the ABC and in 2019 on the Nine Network. It was created by Andrew Knight and Deborah Cox and starred Sigrid Thornton, David Wenham, William McInnes, John Howard, ...

Holly's Heroes ''Holly's Heroes'' is a children's drama series produced as a collaboration between the Nine Network in Australia and TVNZ in New Zealand. It was produced as a series of 26 episodes and first screened in 2005. Plot summary Holly McKenzie is a 1 ...

and

Neighbours ''Neighbours'' is an Australian television soap opera, which has aired since 18 March 1985. It was created by television executive Reg Watson. The Seven Network commissioned the show following the success of Watson's earlier soap '' Sons an ...

. In 2006, Xonia was selected to represent Australia at the international Beauty Contest " Miss Diaspora", where she had the opportunity to perform in front of 20,000 live spectators. Same year later she performed in the Melbourne

Commonwealth Games The Commonwealth Games, often referred to as the Friendly Games or simply the Comm Games, are a quadrennial international multi-sport event among athletes from the Commonwealth of Nations. The event was first held in 1930, and, with the exce ...

opening and closing ceremonies and was selected to dance with a guest star, the football player Nathan Brown from

Richmond Richmond most often refers to: * Richmond, Virginia, the capital of Virginia, United States * Richmond, London, a part of London * Richmond, North Yorkshire, a town in England * Richmond, British Columbia, a city in Canada * Richmond, California, ...

team. Throughout 2007, Xonia showcased her

choreography Choreography is the art or practice of designing sequences of movements of physical bodies (or their depictions) in which Motion (physics), motion or Visual appearance, form or both are specified. ''Choreography'' may also refer to the design ...

abilities while working with pop singer Georgina Ward for her live shows; eventually she was featured as a

backup dancer A backup dancer also known as background dancer is a performer who dances with or behind the lead performers in a live musical act or in a music video. Their movements (especially where there are many moving together) improve the visual aesthetic ...

in some of the music videos produced by

Ian Smith Ian Douglas Smith (8 April 1919 – 20 November 2007) was a Rhodesian politician, farmer, and fighter pilot who served as Prime Minister of Rhodesia (known as Southern Rhodesia until October 1964 and now known as Zimbabwe) from 1964 to ...

and

Laura Gissara Laura Simone Gissara (born 1984) is an Australian pop singer-songwriter. She was a final 10 contestant on the 2005 season of TV talent show, ''Australian Idol'', and was eliminated on 26 September. In June 2006 she issued her debut singl ...

. At the age of 19, Xonia enrolled in at the Hollywood Pop Academy in California, where she studied

dance theory Dance theory is the philosophy underpinning contemporary dance, including formal ideologies, aesthetic concepts, and technical attributes. It is a fairly new field of study, developing largely in the 20th century. It can be considered a branch of e ...

for a short time.

2008–present: Career breakthrough

In early 2008, Xonia started touring the United States, where she sang for the

diaspora A diaspora ( ) is a population that is scattered across regions which are separate from its geographic place of origin. Historically, the word was used first in reference to the dispersion of Greeks in the Hellenic world, and later Jews after ...

at some social events. Eventually she spent some time in

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

recording music and working on her original material. Whilst living in America, Xonia received an invitation to participate as a jury member at the annual Miss Diaspora Contest; she accepted the invitation and performed on the stage of the

Callatis Festival Callatis Festival is the largest music and culture festival held in Romania. Location The festival is held on a barge that is docked at Mangalia Marina. The barge consists of a huge stage and a very large backstage area, enough to hold over 200 p ...

same year later. Shortly after this representation, as a reward for her musical efforts, she was given a record deal with Star Management Romania in order to launch her career. Xonia's debut single, titled " Someone to Love You", was released in late 2009 and enjoyed moderate success. Same year later she was selected to represent Australia at the international music festival the

Golden Stag The Golden Stag Festival ( ro, Cerbul de Aur) is the most popular Romanian song contest and awards, held annually in the town of Braşov, Romania. History The Golden Stag was first held in 1968, but after 1971 it was banned by the Communist l ...

, where she performed two songs: "Dirty Dancer" and "Trandafir de la Moldova". Impressed by her vocal ability showcased during the contest, the

Universal Universal is the adjective for universe. Universal may also refer to: Companies * NBCUniversal, a media and entertainment company ** Universal Animation Studios, an American Animation studio, and a subsidiary of NBCUniversal ** Universal TV, a t ...

Romania representatives offered her a management contract. Eventually Xonia released a single in early 2010, entitled "

Take the Lead ''Take the Lead'' is a 2006 American drama dance film directed by Liz Friedlander and starring Antonio Banderas as dance instructor Pierre Dulaine, the founder of Dancing Classrooms. It also stars Alfre Woodard, John Ortiz, Rob Brown, Yaya DaCos ...

", which has received favorable reactions and created a significant buzz on the internet. In early 2010 Xonia collaborated with the Romanian pop band

Deepcentral Deepcentral is a Romanian pop duo with house music influences formed in 2009 by Romanian DJ George Călin (now known as Manuel Riva) and vocalist Doru Todoruț. Călin, the DJ of the duo had begun his musical career with the band Demmo, that als ...

on a single called " My Beautiful One". Xonia is currently working on her debut album with some well-known Romanian music producers including

Marius Moga Marius Moga () is a Romanian singer, songwriter, producer and television personality. He writes and produces music in various styles and genres, especially pop, R&B and club music. In 2011, he became the judge and mentor of the reality singing sho ...

, George Hora, Mihai Ogășanu and Deepcentral. In 2013 Xonia released her new single "Ping Pong" through Red Cover Media Label. Song was produced by F.Charm and written by Xonia herself. Video for song premiered on 8 July. Video consists of Xonia either dancing in empty warehouse with back-up dancers or alone, walking outside the warehouse with two little dancers. In an interview with Cosmopolitan Romania, Sachelaru revealed that "she wanted to change herself, so she started with music". Ping Pong is reggae influenced track with a little bit of urban sound, but it's still very friendly to radio sound. The song was performed on several TV shows and concerts, such as Razboieni, Romanian Top Hits, Show Pacatos and Access Direct.

Discography

- Take The Lead (digital EP - 2009) , Universal Music Romania.

Singles

* "Someone to Love You" (2009) * "Take the Lead” (2010) *"My Beautiful One" (2010) * "Hold On" (2011) *"Remember" (2012) *"Ping Pong" (2013) *"You and I" (2014) *"I Want Cha (ft

J Balvin José Álvaro Osorio Balvín (born 7 May 1985), known professionally as J Balvin, is a Colombian singer and songwriter. He has been referred to as the " Prince of Reggaeton" (from Spanish: "Príncipe del Reggaetón"), and is one of the best-sell ...

)" (2014) *"Vino Inapoi" (2014) *"Vino Inapoi, Again" (2015) *"Booty Down" (2016) *"Find You" (2016) *"Crave You" (2018) *"Discrete” (2018)

References

External links

Official website
{{authority control 1989 births Living people Australian people of Romanian descent Romanian people of Australian descent Actresses from Melbourne Singers from Melbourne Australian dance musicians Romanian women singers Australian film actresses

Xonia Xonia (born Loredana Sachelaru; 25 June 1989) is an Australian-born Romanian singer, songwriter, actress and dancer. Biography 1989–2007: Early life and education Xonia was born 25 June 1989 in Melbourne, Australia to Romanian parents. Her ...

21st-century Australian singers 21st-century Australian women singers 21st-century Romanian singers