Florin Salam | pl

Florin Stoian (b. 1979, Bucharest, Romania), better known under the stage name of Florin Salam and (previously) Florin Fermecătoru, is a Roma singer of manele from Romania. He is one of the best known and appreciated manele performers.

Stoian sings since he was a child; his first contact with music took place at age of four. His father and uncle were well-known lăutari. He debuted in 2002 with help from bandleader Dan Bursuc. His first hit single was “Ce gagică şmecherită” (Romanian: “Such a picky chick”.) He played an important part when the smash hit “Of, viaţa mea” (Romanian: “Oh, my life”) came into existence in 2000, as sung by Adrian Minune and Costi Ioniţă. By the end of year 2002, Florin Stoian changed his stage name from Fermecătoru into Salam (Arabian: “peace”, cf. Hebrew “shalom”.)

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 pop music; in the same respect, the song’s lyrics raised the problem of social intolerance.

Florin Stoian is the vice-president of Asociaţia Artiştilor, Muzicanţilor şi Lăutarilor Romi din România (Romanian: “The association of Roma artists, musicians and lăutari from Romania”.) In December 2005, he was announced the the best manele performer of the year 2005. According to the daily paper “Libertatea,” politician Mădălin Voicu and football player Marius Niculae count among his fans.

Florin’s parents are called Maria and Robert Stoian. In September 2007, he married Ştefania Victoria, his first wife according to the Roma law; groomsman was manele singer Adrian Minune. The wedding took place in the Anatolia Resort (Turkey.) The couple gave birth to two children. On April 12th, 2009, Ştefania (aged 27) died from hepatic cirrhosis.

In 2009, Salam took part in the preselection for Eurovision to represent Romania in this years’ edition, which will take place in Oslo, Norway. The artist participated with two pop songs, in English, but failed to pass the jury’s vote. .