Music Style Pop Dance

Musical Influences Tina Turner, Donna Summers

Artist History CORONA Corona is a project created by producer Francesco Bontempi (Lee Marrow). Francesco was born in Marina Di Carrara on July 23,1957. He writes and arranges the group's songs. Olga De Souza, the singer, was born in Rio de Janeiro on July 16, 1968. Her previous job was not at all artistic, seeing that she worked for a bank in Rio, the "Caixa Economica Federal". She came to Italy a few years ago, after her close friend, football legend Pele', told her about beautiful Italy .... She now lives in Rome. In fact, when olga came to Italy, she thought it would be the perfect opportunity for her to start a musical career. Then she met Francesco ("Checco" to his friends) , already well-known following big hits such as :"Bauhaus" AKA "Push The Beat" by cappella , "Shangai", "To Go Crazy", "Pain" and "Do You Want Me" by lee marrow. Shortly after their first meeting, Olga and Francesco started a new project called "corona". The first song entitled "the rhythm of the night" was released in December 1993 on the DWA label (Italy). The song was released in every major country in the world including the USA. A few weeks later the song reached no. 1 in Italy and kept the position for 13 consecutive weeks. At Midem 1994 it was the most successful project. The activity became frenetic. While corona started taking part in TV shows, photo- sessions, performances in discos and so on, Francesco began preparing new songs for the album. Then a fantastic remix of "the rhythm of the night" and a video clip, extensively aired by MTV, were released. The original version of "The Rhythm of The Night" was recorded at the "pink studio" in Reggio Emilia, and was mixed at the "kristal studio" in Massa by Francesco Alberti (who, according to Checco, is the number one among sound engineers). The song was released all over the world and climbed charts everywhere. In England it was released by the multinational warner music and reached no. 2 in the official sales charts (more than 400.000 copies sold, "gold record" status). Here, it was also remixed by "Rapino Brothers". Finally the song reached America where it became no. 11 in the official sales charts in the USA, and no. 1 in Canada. It was awarded more than 15 gold and platinum records throughout the world, and proved itself the most loved and danced song of 1994. In a short time, thanks to her world tour, Olga became a very well known star, loved by everyone for her beauty and personality. Some months passed before the release of the new single, because in countries such as Japan, the USA and Great Britain, "The Rhythm of The Night" was still in great demand. It wasn't until the beginning of March 1995 that "Baby Baby" had its full worldwide release. As in "The Rhythm of The Night", this new song had an easy chorus to memorize and a captivating European rhythm. April 1995 was blessed with the long awaited album released by corona with the title "the rhythm of the night" with melodic and happy songs (a reflection of the artist's personality). A collection of 16 songs, among which we can find two versions of "the rhythm of the night"(one by "Rapino Bros" and the other, with Ice MC's participation, remixed by lee marrow) and a version of "Baby Baby" remixed by the English "Dancing Divaz". The album was recorded in Italy, at Casablanca recordings. In the meantime, the video of "Baby Baby" was ready to be launched. It was shot by a well-known Italian film company: the "film master clip". In a short time, "Baby Baby" whizzed up the charts making it another number 1, as was to be expected. Once again corona entered the USA charts and went on tour to promote her album. America loved corona, her beautiful smile and friendly attitude couldn't be missed! Radio and TV program directors were extremely enthusiastic about having her on their shows. "Top of The Pops" couldn't get enough of her. The tours throughout the world continued, and summer 1995 arrived. Corona was one of the biggest stars at "Festivalbar", Italy's most important summer event! July 1995 gave us "try me out", new entry at no. 2 in Italy and no. 14 in the UK. This song reached the top 5 around most of the world. Many big names (MK, Alex Party, Lee Marrow) made remixes of it. The video, directed by "film master clip" once again, had major TV airplay, making this "Italian diva" a superstar! With November 1995 the latest single arrived. Olga has always loved the magic of the 70's and so she asked lee marrow to create a song in that vein..... "I Don't Wanna Be A Star" was born! The song was mixed in various styles and there was also a fantastic video to go with it. The video was filmed in the roman "dolce vita" atmosphere with plenty of the colours and flavours of the 70's. In summer 1996 corona was invited to present "Festivalbar" (the major Italian TV show in summer). Is this the beginning of a new career in Television?

Location Rome, Rome - Italy

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