Ibolya Oláh (born 31 January 1978) is a

Hungarian pop Hungarian pop is the pop music scene of Hungary. It is often associated with Rezső Seress's song "Gloomy Sunday" which was covered by numerous artists. The most notable artists include Zsuzsa Koncz, Kati Kovács, János Bródy, Zorán Sztevanovit ...

singer. She was the runner-up of the first series of Hungarian television singing competition series ''

Megasztár ''Megasztár – Voice of the Year'' is a Hungarian music talent show that started in 2003 on TV2. While it is widely considered an unlicensed clone of the British television show ''Pop Idol'' (and sometimes even referred to as ''Hungarian Idol ...

''.

Early life and career

Ibolya is of

Romani Romani may refer to: Ethnic groups * Romani people, or Roma, an ethnic group of Indo-Aryan origin ** Romani language, an Indo-Aryan macrolanguage of the Romani communities ** Romanichal, Romani subgroup in the United Kingdom * Romanians (Romanian ...

ancestry. She was born in Nyíregyháza and grew up in an orphanage in Tiszadob, where she studied vegetable gardening. She briefly attended a music school in Budapest but did not finish it. She learned to sing and to play the guitar mostly by herself. After a few unsuccessful entries at talent contests, she entered the talent show ''

'' (in its first season during 2003/04) and came second after Vera Tóth. Her debut album, released in 2004, reached No. 1 on the Hungarian album chart and stayed on the chart for 41 weeks. Her second album, released in the following year, was No.2 and her third album No. 4. Her main influences are

Linda Perry Linda Perry (born April 15, 1965) is an American singer-songwriter, musician, and record producer. She is the lead singer and primary songwriter of 4 Non Blondes, including their 1993 hit " What's Up?". She has since founded two record label ...

Alanis Morissette Alanis Nadine Morissette ( ; born June 1, 1974) is a Canadian and American singer, songwriter, musician, and actress. Known for her emotive mezzo-soprano voice and confessional songwriting, she became a cultural phenomenon during the mid 199 ...

Pink Pink is a pale tint of red, the color of the Dianthus plumarius, pink flower. It was first used as a color name in the late 17th century. According to surveys in Europe and the United States, pink is the color most often associated with charm, p ...

, Ildikó Keresztes,

Guns N' Roses Guns N' Roses is an American hard rock band formed in Los Angeles, California in 1985 as a merger of local bands L.A. Guns and Hollywood Rose. When they signed to Geffen Records in 1986, the band's "classic" line-up consisted of vocalist Axl R ...

Rolling Stones The Rolling Stones are an English Rock music, rock band formed in London in 1962. Active for over six decades, they are one of the most popular, influential, and enduring bands of the Album era, rock era. In the early 1960s, the band pione ...

Aerosmith Aerosmith is an American Rock music, rock band formed in Boston in 1970. The group consists of lead vocalist Steven Tyler, bassist Tom Hamilton (musician), Tom Hamilton, drummer Joey Kramer, and guitarists Joe Perry (musician), Joe Perry and B ...

, and

Queen Queen most commonly refers to: * Queen regnant, a female monarch of a kingdom * Queen consort, the wife of a reigning king * Queen (band), a British rock band Queen or QUEEN may also refer to: Monarchy * Queen dowager, the widow of a king * Q ...

. In 2014, she competed in the Hungarian national final of the

Eurovision Song Contest The Eurovision Song Contest (), often known simply as Eurovision, is an international Music competition, song competition organised annually by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) among its members since 1956. Each participating broadcaster ...

, in A Dal 2014, with her entry ''"1 percig sztár"'' ''(Star for 1 minute)'' where she advanced through the first heat but was eliminated in the semi-finals. In October 2018, Ibolya released her new album in collaboration with

Gábor Presser Gábor Presser (born 27 May 1948) is a Kossuth Prize winning Hungarian musician, composer, singer. He was a band member in Locomotiv GT and Omega, and has been a prominent personality in Hungarian pop and rock music. Biography Childhood Bor ...

. The album has 28 songs, which include originals as well as poetry made into songs. These poems were written by Virág Erdős, Péter Kántor, Lajos Parti Nagy,

Zorán Sztevanovity Zorán Sztevanovity ( sr-cyr, Зоран Стевановић) (born 4 March 1942) is a Serbian-Hungarian guitarist, singer and composer living in Hungary. Life and career Zoran Stevanović ( sr-cyr, Зоран Стевановић) was born in ...

, Dániel Varró, Péter Závada, Szilárd Borbély, Ernő Szép and Endre Fejes. The material of the album will be used in a theatre performance.

Personal life

In November 2011 she was outed as a lesbian by the tabloid ''Blikk''.

Discography

Albums

Singles

* 2004 "Nem kell" (#20 on MAHASZ Radio Top 40; No. 21 on MAHASZ Editor's Choice) * 2005 "Magyarország" (#2, No. 5, No. 124 on Euro 200) * 2005 "Édes méreg" (#12 on Top 40) * 2006 "Nézz vissza" (#24 on Top 40) * 2006 "Valamit valamiért" feat. Roy & Ádám (#27 on Top 40) * 2008 "Egy elfelejtett dal" feat. Zsuzsa Cserháti &

Caramel Caramel ( or ) is a range of food ingredients made by heating sugars to high temperatures. It is used as a flavoring in puddings and desserts, as a filling in bonbons or candy bars, as a topping for ice cream and custard, and as a colorant ...

(#13 on Top 40) * 2010 "Ritmus" (#4 on Top 40) * 2010 "Baby" (#8 on Top 40) * 2013 "Mással csináljuk" (Egy Másik Zenekar feat. Oláh Ibolya) * 2018 "Voltam Ibojka"

Sources

External links

*
Ibolya Oláh MuseumIbolya Oláh Fan Site
Hungarian pop singers Hungarian women pop singers 1978 births Living people People from Nyíregyháza Hungarian Romani people 21st-century Hungarian women singers Romani musicians Romani LGBTQ people Lesbian singers Hungarian LGBTQ singers Idols (franchise) participants Hungarian lesbian musicians 20th-century Hungarian LGBTQ people 21st-century Hungarian LGBTQ people {{Romani-stub