Florin Salam
Introduction '''Florin Stoian''' (born 1 October 1979), better known by his stage name '''Florin  Salam''', is a Roma manele singer, and a musician from Bucharest. He is best known for his song Zâna Zanelor and Saint Tropez.
Beginnings On the 1st of October, 1979, he was born. Salam was born into a family of lăutari. During his adolescence, he sang together with his father and uncle's ensembles.After his father got too old to sing, Salam took his place, singing with his uncle under the name of Florin Fermecătoru'. Thus, he became a singer highly appreciated by fans of the genre. In the meantime, Salam befriended bandleader Dan Bursuc. He helped Salam to record his first single, called "Ce gagică șmecherită" (English: ''Such a picky chick''), in 2002.He played an important part when the smash hit "Of, viața mea" (English: ''Oh, my life'') was released in 2000, sung by Adrian Minune and Costi Ioniță. At the end of 2002, Salam changed his stage name from "Fermecătorul" (English: ''charming'') to the Arabic "''Salam''" (English: ''peace'', cf. Hebrew ''shalom''). His first song was a great success, and for this reason he continued to record songs and market them with the help of Dan Bursuc. In this way he released his first album of manele which was surprisingly well received by fans of the genre; the album sold more than 40,000 copies. Likewise, Costi Ioniță recorded one of his albums which enjoyed a high success, the album entitled "Doar cu tine" (English: ''Only with you''). The album was recorded in Constanța where Costi Ioniță has his own recording studio.His friendship with Dan Bursuc brought only advantages, so he met artists of this genre, artists like Vali Vijelie, Nicolae Guță and Daniela Gyorfi.In 2008 he performed a song together with pop singer Paula Seling and the Bucharest Symphonic Orchestra. The show host described their performance as a reconciliation between manele and mainstream pop music; in the same respect, the song's lyrics raised the problem of ethnic intolerance.In October 2011, Salam collaborated with the Bosnian musician Goran Bregović, along with whom he recorded "Hopa Cupa" and "Omule", songs which were included in the album ''Champagne for Gypsies''. The album is "in reaction to the extreme pressure that Gypsies (Roma) have been experiencing lately across Europe".Salam is the vice-president of Asociația Artiștilor, Muzicanților și Lăutarilor Romi din România (English: ''The Association of Romani Artists, Musicians and Lăutari from Romania''). In December 2005, he was announced as the best manele performer of the year. According to the daily paper ''Libertatea'', politician Mădălin Voicu and footballer Marius Niculae count among his fans.
''Saint Tropez'' and subsequent success In February 2013, Salam recorded "Saint Tropez". The song had an unexpected success, with the official video gathering more than 70 million views on YouTube, inasmuch as he was accused that he copied the song from Bulgarian singer Azis. His video became popular and was ranked in most-viewed videos on Romanian YouTube in 2013, after Andra's song, "Inevitabil va fi bine". Since then, Stoian has several concerts in the country and abroad, where large communities of Gypsies live.Among the most resounding collaborations have included those with Claudia Păun and Nicolae Șușanu, enjoying great success in the country. His smash hit "Ești bombă" (English: ''You're a bomb''), released in July 2013 in collaboration with Șușanu, was viewed by more than 27 million people on YouTube. The songs launched with Claudia ("Ce bine ne stă împreună" – ''How well we stand together'', "Ce frumoasă e dragostea" – ''How beautiful is love'', and "Mergem mai departe" – ''We go further'') feature themes like unfeasible love or desire to be near a loved one, as themes with great appeal to the public.Today, as Florin Salam, he collaborates with record labels Nek Music and Big Man.=== Discography (2012–present) === Song  English translation  Date released  Label "Sunt cel mai norocos din lume"  I'm the luckiest in the world  22 March 2012  Amma Record "Jumătate pentru mine"  Half for me  12 April 2012  Nek Music "Mai frumoasă ca o floare"  More beautiful than a flower  28 May 2012  Big Man "Fac ce vrea inima ta"  I do what your heart wants  1 June 2012  Big Man "Lume rea"  Bad world  2 June 2012  Big Man "Nici o sută, nici o mie"  Not a hundred or a thousand  11 July 2012  Big Man "Ce frumoasă e dragostea"  How beautiful is love  17 August 2012  Nek Music "Brazilianca"  Brazilian woman  13 December 2012  Nek Music "Tu ai să plângi"  You'll cry  18 December 2012  Zoom Studio "Îți cumpăr lalele"  I'll buy you tulips  21 December 2012  Nek Music "Nimeni"  Nobody  22 December 2012  Big Man "Saint Tropez"   1 February 2013  Nek Music "Ia-mă, ia-mă"  Take me, take me  11 February 2013  Kompact Sound "De-ar trece viața mai ușor"  If life would pass easier  17 February 2013  Nek Music "Frumusețe de femeie"  Beauty woman  26 February 2013  Amma Record "Doar dragostea"  Only love  16 March 2013  Nek Music "Cine te-a trimis pe tine"  Who sent you  5 April 2013  Nek Music "Viața e plină de culori"  Life is full of colors  10 April 2013  Nek Music "Bruneta"  The brunette  19 May 2013  Amma Record "Să nu te cerți cu frații"  Don't brawl with brothers  4 July 2013  Nek Music "Ești bombă"  You're a bomb  9 July 2013  Big Man "De tine m-am îndrăgostit"  I'm in love with you  29 July 2013  Nek Music "La vârsta mea îmi permit orice"  At my age I can afford anything  28 August 2013  Nek Music "Dacă tu nu ești"  If you're not  31 August 2013  Amma Record "Nebunia anului"  The madness of the year  17 October 2013  Big Man "Ce ai cu viața mea"  What you have with my life  21 October 2013  Nek Music "Orice om are o poveste"  Everyone has a story  11 November 2013  Nek Music "Besame mi amor"  Kiss me my love  21 November 2013  Amma Record "Mia mia mi amor"  My my my love  29 November 2013  Nek Music "Cât aș vrea să mai fiu cum eram"  How I like to be as I was  10 December 2013  Amma Record "O noapte cu mine"  A night with me  19 February 2014  Nek Music "Alege-mă în viața ta"  Choose me in your life  20 February 2014  Nek Music "Hai iubito"  Come on baby  11 March 2014  Nek Music "Cum să nu o iubesc"  How can I not love her  11 April 2014  Nek Music "De-aș mai avea o mică șansă"  If I'd have a small chance  18 April 2014  Nek Music "Îmi stă bine în brațe la tine"  I look good in your arms  18 April 2014  Nek Music "O mie de nopți"  A thousand nights  19 April 2014  Nek Music "Fiți pe fază"  Stay tuned  22 May 2014  Nek Music "Vino lângă mine"  Come next to me  20 August 2014  Nek Music "Mișcă-te ca o felină"  Move like a feline  10 October 2014  Nek Music "N-aș putea să iubesc banii"  I couldn't love the money  13 October 2014  Nek Music "Hei mami"  Hey mommy  28 October 2014  Big Man "99 de probleme"  99 problems  31 October 2014  Zoom Studio "Saka laka"   1 November 2014  Nek Music "Mergem mai departe"  We go further  12 November 2014  Nek Music "Cu tine mi-e bine"  With you I'm fine  14 November 2014  Zoom Studio "Viața mea e și bună și rea"  My life is good and bad  25 November 2014  Big Man "Gura lumii e rea"  The word of mouth is bad  28 November 2014  Zoom Studio "Bailando"  Dancing  4 December 2014  Nek Music "Indianca mea"  My Indian woman  6 December 2014  Amma Record "Un nebun așa ca mine"  A fool like me  10 December 2014  Nek Music "Sanki, sanki"   21 December 2014  Zoom Studio "Nu vreau nimic"  I want nothing  23 December 2014  Nek Music "Cine altcineva ca mine"  Who else like me  25 December 2014  Zoom Studio "Din câte stele sunt pe cer"  From how many stars are in the sky  29 December 2014  Big Man "A ieșit soarele din nori"  The sun came out from the clouds  30 December 2014  Nek Music "7 zile"  7 days  17 January 2015  Nek Music "Am să scriu într-o carte"  I'll write in a book  30 January 2015  Nek Music "Cuba, Cuba"   10 February 2015  Nek Music "Poza ta nu mă sărută"  Your photo doesn't kiss me  21 February 2015  Big Man
Personal life Salam was married to Ștefania in September 2007, in Antalya, Turkey; the best man was manele singer and close collaborator Adrian Minune. The wedding cost was not less than 500,000 euros. On 12 April 2009, Ștefania (aged 27) died from kidney failure, aggravated by a kidney infection. Moreover, she had long suffered from hepatic cirrhosis.After his wife's death, Salam had no partner, until 2013, when he met Oana, a young woman from Ploiești. But their relationship did not last more than a few months. As of 2014, he was in a relationship with Roxana Dobre, who had previously posed for ''Playboy'' magazine. They intended to marry, and Roxana was pregnant with a girl.=== Relations with moneylenders ===Early in his career, Salam was financially supported by brothers Sile and Nuțu Cămătaru, renowned moneylenders. After his wife's death, he succumbed to gambling, with accumulating debts, as a situation that pushed him to borrow money from moneylenders. In August 2013, Stoian was aggressed by three debt collectors in front of the Rin Grand Hotel in Bucharest, who were trying to recover by force money given to Florin with usury. Moreover, Salam was investigated by DIICOT for drug use.
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