O-Zone

O-zone was Dan Balan, Arsenie Todiras, and Radu Sirbu until 2005. A band originally from the Republic of Moldova, adopted by Romania, once the three members moved there, and made famous in the world by their hit single “Dragostea din Tei”, aka “The Numa Numa song”.



A LITTLE HISTORY ON O-ZONE



Why O-zone? In an interview, Dan Balan answered: “Ozone … like the air after the rain. Clean and fresh.”



O-zone was a band originally from Moldova, which is situated between Ukraine and Romania. The history of this group started in 1999, when it made its debut with “Despre tine” (About You). At that time, the members were Dan Balan, the initiator of the group, and Petru Jelihovski. The song was an instant hit on the Moldavian charts; and it was the first. LP in the history of the Moldavian showbiz which produced 8 hit songs from the 11 on the disc.



However, the project didn’t last, as Dan remembers “for Petru, music was just a hobby.” Shortly after the success of the duo, they separated. Dan was not ready to give up on the project though, so in May of 2001, he organized a pre-selection in hopes that he will find another partner to continue his dream. Even though hundreds showed up, not very many made an impression on him. Except for Arsenie Todiras. In a later interview, Dan stated “I was happy when I found Arsenie. I didn’t like him from the beginning, because of his Russian accent, but all my doubts vanished when I heard him singing “Love me tender”"



Two weeks later, Radu joined the group, and they were ready to start their new adventure, which will take them to the top of the European charts. It didn’t take long for their first disc together, entitled “Number One” to be recorded, from which the debut single “Numai Tu” (Only You) made it to the top chart in Moldova.



In 2002, the boys decide to move to Romania, in order to have access to a wider audience, and set on conquering the public with their fresh take on the dance beats. Having a professional demo (video clips, songs on CD, pictures, posters) they went to the biggest producers. The answer came very fast from Cat Music. The album was almost fully recorded, so the three boys were fast promoted. The single "Numai Tu" was ready to be promoted on the Romanian market also, so they set to film the video clip 'Numai Tu', which was recorded in Chisinau in 6 months. The success of “Numai tu” was followed by “Sarbatoarea noptilor de vara” and “Dar unde esti”.

In the re-edited version of the album “Number One”, the song "despre tine" was also included, and it was the most sold album in the beginning of year (2003), in Romania.



O-zone was the only group from the Moldavian Republic to participate in the MTV Music Awards Europe in 2003.



November 2004 brought with it the release of their second, and last album together, “DiscO-zone”, from which “Dragostea din tei” became the 2005 European anthem for radio stations, television, and dance clubs alike. The success of this song came with a story though. Haiducii, another Romanian group, did a version of “Dragostea din tei” and released it just before O-zone, but did not credit O-zone for the song. This forced O-zone to rush the release of their album in the rest of Europe. There was an initial confusion, because people didn’t know that O-zone was responsible for “Dragostea Din Tei”. Eventually that was cleared up, and O-zone began their European conquest and to top the charts in many countries. They performed in almost every major city of Western and Eastern Europe.



In January of 2005, O-zone officially split up. However, after the split, the song “Dragostea Din Tei” became a smash hit in Japan, so they came together for a tour of Europe and Japan, and a last show in Romania. The song was eventually covered by over 100 artists worldwide in 12 different languages.



Even today, the O-zone Mania still gains fans everyday.



Here is some info on what the ex-band members are up to now.



Dan Balan has released his first solo album "The Power of Shower" in 2007 under the name of Crazy Loop. He is currently living part time in the USA.

Dan's Official Fanclub Website is up and running.

You can also visit find his offical and Fanclub Facebook by doing a search on the respective website.



Arsenie Toderas has released a new album "the 33rd element" under the name "Arsenium", as well as the latest "Rumadai". To hear some of his songs go to Arsenie's official website or Arsenie's Official Myspace



Radu Sirbu Radu's 1st solo album "Alone" has been out for a while now. Radu's Official Website" .

Check out Radu's Official Myspace and listen to select songs from his new album, and also of his new pop/rock project with Ana Sirbu, entitled "Mr. and Ms".



O-ZONE - "DRAGOSTEA DIN TEI"- The English version



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