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Edyta Górniak | |
|---|---|
 Edyta Górniak in 2023 | |
| Born | (1972-11-14)14 November 1972 (age 52) |
| Occupation | Singer |
| Spouse | |
| Children | 1 |
| Musical career | |
| Genres | |
| Years active | 1989–present |
| Labels | |
Musical artist | |
| Signature | |
 | |
Edyta Anna Górniak (Polish pronunciation:[ɛˈdɨtaˈɡurɲak]; born 14 November 1972) is a Polish pop singer. Górniak started as a musical theatre actress in 1990. She performed in the most popular musical in Polish history, theTony Award-nominatedMetro. Some of its shows took place onBroadway. Górniak wasPoland's first representative in theEurovision Song Contest in1994 with the song "To nie ja". She placed second which still remains the country's best result at the competition. This started her decades-long career as a pop singer in her native country and internationally. She is also known for her 1997 single"One and One". She is the recipient of the BronzeMedal for Merit to Culture – Gloria Artis for her contributions to the arts.
Born inZiębice, Górniak is ofRomani descent.[1] After taking singing lessons, in 1989, aged 16, she gave her first public appearance on a Polish television talent show where she won withSam Brown's hit song "Stop!". In 1990 she performed on theOpole Polish Song Festival in a contest for debuting singers with an honourable mention. During the next three years she performed in music theatres. She was the star of the musicalMetro ("Subway") – the most popular and longest running homegrown musical in Polish history, which brought her to Broadway. In New York she was also offered a job by the Elite model agency, but she rejected it preferring to continue her career as a singer. Later she sang in next three musicals in Poland:Do grającej szafy grosik wrzuć ("Put a Dime in the Jukebox") with classic Polish pop songs from the pre-rock'n'roll era,Blues Minus with songs of Polish author Jonasz Kofta andBrel with Polish versions of songs sung by the Belgian singer-songwriterJacques Brel. In 1993 Górniak took part in the Baltic Song Contest in Sweden and finished in third place.
In 1994, Górniak was the first Polish artist to participate in theEurovision Song Contest, in which she claimed a highly creditable second place, which still stands as Poland's best showing in the contest. Her song was "To nie ja" ("It's Not Me"), which was also released on a single in English as "Once in a Lifetime".
"To nie ja" proved to be her breakthrough in Poland, becoming there the biggest hit of 1994. Górniak was signed to Polish division ofEMI. Her first studio albumDotyk ("The Touch") was released a year later, in May 1995 and sold half-million copies in Poland. It brought new hits "Jestem kobietą" ("I'm a Woman") and the eponymous "Dotyk", which was the biggest Polish hit of 1995. Górniak with her powerful voice and original beauty quickly became an idol of young generation in Poland. In 1996 she signed a contract in London withEMI International for five albums. However, she continued recording for the Polish market, and had three more hits in Poland:Kolorowy wiatr ("Colourful Wind") – Polish version of "Colors of the Wind" from theDisney moviePocahontas, a club hitLove Is on the Line (which was written byKylie Minogue) and "To Atlanta!" ("It's Atlanta") – Polish hymn of the1996 Olympic Games.
Górniak released her first English-language albumEdyta Górniak a year later, in November 1997. Songs were written by writers of many legendary pop classics like: Billy Steinberg ("Like A Virgin" forMadonna), Simon Climie ("I Knew You Were Waiting (For Me)" forAretha Franklin andGeorge Michael), George Merrill and Shannon Rubican ("I Wanna Dance With Somebody" forWhitney Houston), Siedah Garrett ("Man in the Mirror" forMichael Jackson) or Rick Nowels ("Falling into You" forCeline Dion). However, the mediocre success of the singlesWhen You Come Back to Me (it was popular especially in Scandinavia and Portugal) andOne & One (minor hit in France and Germany and the first hit of Polish act charted in history of the Music & Media's European Radio Top 50 airplay chart) let the album's global impact with sales of 500,000 copies internationally, including 150,000 copies in Poland.[2] The journalist of legendaryBillboard magazineFred Bronson chose this album as one of the 20 best albums of the year 1998 all over the world.[3]
Two songs from that album were successfully covered by other artists:One & One byRobert Miles in 1996 (before Górniak's original version was released as a single) – it went to No. 1 on the European singles chart andPerfect Moment byMartine McCutcheon in 1999 – it went to No. 1 in the UK. During the promotion of her international album, Górniak gave concert in Poland with legendary tenorJosé Carreras and recorded with him a new hitHope For Us in 1997. She also had two more hits recorded for her Polish audience:Lustro ("Mirror") – Polish version ofReflection from theDisney movieMulan in 1998 andDumka na dwa serca ("Dumy on Two Hearts") – theme from the Polish movieWith Fire and Sword, which became the biggest Polish hit of 1999.
In 1999, Górniak went on tour through Poland and released internationally the concert albumLive '99 in September 1999. In 2000 in Spanish Television TVE her Eurovision song from 1994 was voted the best Eurovision song of the last decade. In 2002, she was dropped fromEMI International and signed to Virgin Germany. Her second international studio album was released in Poland in March 2002 under the titlePerła ("Pearl"), a year before its international premiere. It was written and produced mainly by the teamAbsolute, which earlier worked forTina Turner andThe Spice Girls on their latest albums. New songs also were written by Steve Kipner ("Genie in a Bottle" forChristina Aguilera) and John Reid ("When The Heartache Is Over" forTina Turner). The Polish edition was a double album, which contained additional Polish brand new songs, including hitsJak najdalej ("As Far As Possible") andNie proszę o więcej ("I'm Not Asking for More").
Górniak was also asked to sing thePolish national anthem at the2002 FIFA World Cup in Busan, South Korea, which she did. However, her performance had a decidedly mixed reception, being sung at a much slower tempo than usual.[4] In March 2003 international version ofPerła was released, under the titleInvisible. A brand new club tuneImpossible was the first international single from the album. Its mediocre success only in Germany, Austria and Switzerland madeInvisible a commercial flop with over ten times worse international sales than her previous studio album. The Polish version calledPerła went gold in her native country in a time of phonographic crisis, selling 40,000 units. A year later she was dropped from Virgin and after ten years of cooperation she also left her Polish label. In that time she had another hit in Poland,Nie było ("Never Been"), recorded with Polish metal band Sweet Noise.
That same year she gave birth to her son, Allan (b. March 27, 2004). The father of her child was Dariusz Krupa, who worked with her as a guitarist. Together with Krupa she founded their own independent label, EG.Production and Krupa became her manager. First she started a collaboration with the Polish production team Mathplanete to record her new Polish album in a brand new style, with chill-out club music. In 2005, she released the singleLunatique, which was performed in French. That year she married Dariusz Krupa.
To promote another club singleSexuality in 2006, Górniak appeared on the cover of Polish edition ofPlayboy magazine for the third time. Both singles recorded with Mathplanete flopped on charts, so she dumped the idea of recording club music. The same year she began working on her new international pop album, seeking a new major record label. She chose Sony BMG and the first results of this new direction were the songsCygańskie serce ("Gypsy Heart") andLoving You. In 2007, she sang another movie theme, this time for the Polish-language version of the animated Spanish movie "Dragon Hill".
From March 2007 to November 2009, Górniak appeared as a judge in six seasons of thePolish version of the TV show "Soapstar Superstar", in which stars of TV series competed for a record deal.
Her first studio album in five years,E.K.G., finally was recorded for her own label. It was released in October 2007 and promoted by the single and her first video in almost five years,List ("Letter"). It was a Polish version of Celine Dion's "I Surrender", which originally was given to her.E.K.G. has moved 40,000 copies in Poland.
In November 2008, she released a singleTo nie tak jak myślisz ("It's Not How You Think"), which was the movie theme from the Polish comedy "To nie tak jak myślisz, kotku". This song became another breakthrough in her career – her first after six years of absence from Polish radio and music television. She also recorded her Christmas albumZakochaj się na Święta w kolędach ("Fall in Love With Carols on Christmas"), released in December with the biggest newspaper in Poland, "Gazeta Wyborcza". In 2009, her marriage to Krupa had ended and she left their own independent label. In 2010, she took part inTaniec z gwiazdami, Polish edition of the TV showDancing with the Stars.
In 2011, she released the first single from her fifth studio album,Teraz – tu ("Now – Here") and directed its video. Another single,On The Run, also had the video co-directed by her. Later that year she released the singleOj... kotku ("Oh... Kitty"), which was the movie theme from the Polish comedy "Pokaż kotku, co masz w środku". Full albumMy ("We") was postponed several times until February 2012. It was released by her new own independent label Anaconda and brought brand new electro-pop sound. Next hits were singlesNie zapomnij ("Don't Forget") and the first dance tune sinceImpossible,Consequences (the latter also with the video co-directed by her).
Also in 2012 she took part in the Polish edition of the TV show "Clash of the Choirs". The same year she gave her second concert in Poland together withJosé Carreras. In 2013, she recordedFrank Sinatra's classicAll The Way, together withMatt Dusk and became a judge of thethird series ofThe Voice of Poland.
In 2014, Górniak signed a new record deal with Universal Music and began works on new electro-pop album. She only released four singles from these sessions:Your High with two different videos,Glow On (both in 2014),Oczyszczenie (2015) andGrateful (2016). The latter she submitted for the Polish national final ofEurovision Song Contest 2016, where she finished in third place. In the meantime she returned toThe Voice of Poland as a judge for seasons5 (in 2014) and6 (in 2015). In 2016, she became a judge of the new Polish TV music talent show for children and teenagersHit, Hit, Hurra! and in 2017 she was announced as a coach of thefirst season ofThe Voice Kids in Poland. She coachedRoksana Węgiel, who won the first season ofThe Voice Kids. LaterRoksana Węgiel won theJunior Eurovision Song Contest 2018 inMinsk,Belarus. Górniak also released new singles:Andromeda withDonatan (2017),Dom dobrych drzew ("House of good trees") (2018) and Tylko ty ("Only You") (2018), which is a Polish version ofThe Andrews Sisters' "Bei Mir Bistu Shein", released for a movie "Dywizjon 303. Historia prawdziwa".
In November 2018, she performed at a special concert "Sto lat" held at theRoyal Albert Hall inLondon to celebrate the one-hundredth anniversary ofPoland regaining independence.[5] In 2019, she was a contestant in thePolish edition of the TV show "The Mole". On August 10, 2020, it was announced that Górniak will appear in the eleventh season ofThe Voice of Poland show as a coach, for her fourth season.
Her career suffered considerably when she began spreading conspiracy theories aboutCOVID-19, among others.[6][7][8][9]
Górniak participated in the 12th season of PolishDancing with the Stars –Taniec z Gwiazdami. She was eliminated after the semifinal round.
| Week # | Dance/Song | Judges' score | Result | |||
| Pavlović | Wodecki | Tyszkiewicz | Galiński | |||
| 2 | Quickstep / "Sparkling Diamonds" | 7 | 10 | 10 | 7 | Safe |
| 3 | Tango / "El Tango de Roxanne" | 9 | 10 | 10 | 10 | Safe |
| 4 | Paso Doble / "Paso Royale" | 8 | 9 | 10 | 8 | Safe |
| 5 | Viennese Waltz / "Wspomnienie" | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | Safe |
| 6 | Salsa / "La Vida es un Carnaval" | 8 | 9 | 10 | 8 | Safe |
| 7 | Jive / "Chłopaki nie płaczą" | 9 | 10 | 10 | 10 | Safe |
| 8 | Waltz / "Angel" | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | Safe |
| 9 | Samba / "Tyle słońca w całym mieście" | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | Safe |
| 10 | Foxtrot / "Manhattan" Salsa / "La Luz del Ritmo" | 7 8 | 10 10 | 10 10 | 7 10 | Bottom two |
| 11 | Quickstep / "Jožin z bažin" Rumba / "Liberian Girl" | 7 10 | 9 10 | 10 10 | 8 10 | Safe |
| 12 Semi-finals | Cha-Cha-Cha / "Sway" Argentine Tango / "Tango De Los Asesinos" | 9 10 | 9 10 | 10 10 | 9 10 | Eliminated |
| Preceded by None | Poland in the Eurovision Song Contest 1994 | Succeeded by |
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| National | |
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| Other | |
