Elsa Lunghini, stage name Elsa (born 20 May 1973), is a French singer and actress. She was a teenage pop-star in the late-1980s. In 1986, she was the youngest singer to reach number one in the French charts, with the single T'en va pas, and she went on to sell millions of records during the decade. Elsa, her album of 1988, had achieved double-platinum status by 1993.

Biography

Daughter of George Lunghini (actor, photographer and song writer) and Christiane Jobert (painter and also sister of actress Marlène Jobert), she is of Italian origin on her father's side and Jewish origin on her mother's side. She is a cousin of actresses Eva Green and Joséphine Jobert.

Lunghini first performed in a movie at age seven, in 1981, in Claude Miller's Garde à vue (also starring Romy Schneider).

She was the youngest artist to be in the main program at the Olympia (Paris), at 17, in October 1990 as well as the youngest to have a number 1 hit in the Top 50 in France. At 13, in 1986, she remained number 1 for eight weeks with "T'en va pas" (soundtrack of the movie La Femme de ma vie). The song was composed by the Italian Romano Musumarra, who had worked and helped produced hits for 80s singer, Jeanne Mas. The song was a hit in France and sold elsewhere in Europe with an English recording.

With the help of her musician father, she recorded her LP "Elsa". It sold more than 600,000 copies sold) with hit singles such as "Quelque chose dans mon cœur" ("Something in my heart"), "Jour de neige" ("Snowing day"), "Jamais nous" (with backing vocals by French singer Laurent Voulzy) ("Never us"), "Un Roman d'amitié" (duet with Glenn Medeiros) ("Friend you gave me a reason"), "À la même heure dans deux ans" ("At the same time in two years"). All were top 10 hits. At that time, Lunghini was the only artist to have her first four singles at number one or two. She became popular in the teen press, often compared with Vanessa Paradis.

In 1990 she made her second album, "Rien que pour ça" ("Only for that"). The songs were produced by her father and Elsa wrote the music for the single of the same name. "Rien que pour ça" was a top 20 hit. Two other excerpts were released: "Pleure doucement" ("Cry softly") and "Qu'est-ce que ça peut lui faire" ("How does she matter"). The two last singles were less successful. She made her first tour, at the Olympia.

In 1992, Lunghini recorded "Bouscule-moi" ("Push me on"), A mid-rock single with more adult lyrics. "Bouscule-moi" was a hit single. Her third album was Douce violence ("Sweet violence"). Two more singles promoted it but they failed to become hits.

In 1996, aged 23, she wrote and composed her fourth album, "Chaque jour est un long chemin" (Everyday's a long day). It sold 20,000. From 20 to 24 September 2004, she gave shows in Paris at the Européen. A live DVD and a live CD went on sale in 2006.

Lunghini takes part annually in the Tour of the Resto du Coeur soup-kitchen charity and helps causes such as Sol En Si.

She has starred in two TV movies: 2002's La mort est rousse and 2004's Trois jours en juin and is now involved in a television advertising campaign for Danone yogourt.

She lives in Paris and, from 1999 to 2006, was the fiancée of former footballer Bixente Lizarazu. They met at a Restos du Coeur concert, in which they were taking part. She is also a spokesperson for the Bout de Vie association, which helps the handicapped.

Best films