Edyta Górniak facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Edyta Górniak
Edyta Górniak in 2023
Born	(1972-11-14) 14 November 1972 (age 52) Ziębice, Polish People's Republic
Occupation	Singer
Spouse(s)	Dariusz Krupa ​ ​ (m. 2005, divorced)​
Children	1
Musical career
Genres	Pop R&B
Years active	1989–present
Labels	EMI Music Virgin Music Universal Music Poland
Signature

Edyta Anna Górniak (born 14 November 1972) is a famous Polish pop singer. She started her career in 1990 as an actress in musical theatre. She starred in Metro, one of the most popular musicals in Polish history. This show even played on Broadway in New York!

In 1994, Edyta became the first person to represent Poland at the Eurovision Song Contest. Her song was called "To nie ja". She finished in second place, which is still Poland's best result ever in the competition. This amazing start led to a long and successful career as a pop singer in Poland and around the world. She is also well-known for her 1997 song "One and One". Edyta has received a special award called the Bronze Medal for Merit to Culture – Gloria Artis for her important contributions to art.

Edyta Górniak's Journey in Music

Early Days as a Singer

Edyta Górniak began taking singing lessons when she was young. In 1989, at just 16 years old, she appeared on a Polish TV talent show. She won the show by singing "Stop!" by Sam Brown.

In 1990, she performed at the Opole Polish Song Festival. She received an honorable mention in a contest for new singers. For the next three years, she performed in musical theatre. She was the main star of the musical Metro ("Subway"). This musical was very popular and ran for a long time in Poland. It even took her to Broadway in New York! While in New York, she was offered a job by a modeling agency, but she chose to continue her singing career instead.

After Metro, she sang in three more musicals in Poland. These included Do grającej szafy grosik wrzuć (with classic Polish pop songs) and Brel (with Polish versions of songs by Jacques Brel). In 1993, Edyta also competed in the Baltic Song Contest in Sweden, where she finished in third place.

Edyta Górniak in 1992, early in her career.

Eurovision Success

In 1994, Edyta Górniak made history. She was the very first artist from Poland to take part in the Eurovision Song Contest. She achieved an amazing second place with her song "To nie ja" ("That's Not Me"). This is still Poland's best result in the contest! The song was also released in English as "Once in a Lifetime".

"To nie ja" became a huge hit in Poland in 1994. After this success, Edyta signed a contract with the Polish branch of EMI. Her first studio album, Dotyk ("The Touch"), came out in May 1995. It sold half a million copies in Poland! The album included popular songs like "Jestem kobietą" ("I'm a Woman") and the title track "Dotyk". "Dotyk" was the biggest Polish hit of 1995.

Edyta quickly became a role model for young people in Poland. This was thanks to her powerful voice and unique beauty. In 1996, she signed a contract with EMI International in London for five albums. She also continued to record music for her Polish fans. She had three more hits in Poland: Kolorowy wiatr ("Colourful Wind"), which was the Polish version of "Colors of the Wind" from the Disney movie Pocahontas. She also had a club hit called Love Is on the Line and "To Atlanta!" ("It's Atlanta"), which was the Polish song for the 1996 Olympic Games.

Edyta Górniak is one of Poland's best-selling artists.

Growing International Career

Edyta released her first English-language album, Edyta Górniak, in November 1997. Many famous songwriters who had worked with stars like Madonna and Whitney Houston wrote songs for this album. The songs When You Come Back to Me and One & One became popular in some countries. The album sold about 500,000 copies worldwide, including 150,000 in Poland. A journalist from the famous Billboard magazine even called it one of the top 20 albums of 1998 globally.

Two songs from this album were later covered by other artists. One & One was covered by Robert Miles in 1996 and became a number one hit in Europe. Perfect Moment was covered by Martine McCutcheon in 1999 and reached number one in the UK. While promoting her international album, Edyta performed a concert in Poland with the famous singer José Carreras. They also recorded a new song together called Hope For Us in 1997.

She also continued to release hits for her Polish audience. These included Lustro ("Mirror"), the Polish version of Reflection from the Disney movie Mulan in 1998. Another big hit was Dumka na dwa serca ("Dumy on Two Hearts"), which was the theme song from the Polish movie With Fire and Sword. This song became the biggest Polish hit of 1999.

In 1999, Edyta went on a tour across Poland. She released a live concert album called Live '99 in September 1999. In 2000, her Eurovision song from 1994 was voted the best Eurovision song of the past decade by Spanish Television TVE.

In 2002, she signed with Virgin Germany. Her second international album, Perła ("Pearl"), was released in Poland in March 2002. It came out internationally a year later. The album included new Polish songs like Jak najdalej ("As Far As Possible").

Edyta was also asked to sing the Polish national anthem at the 2002 FIFA World Cup in South Korea. Her performance was a bit different from how people usually sing it, which caused some discussion. In March 2003, the international version of Perła was released under the title Invisible. The song Impossible was the first international single from this album. It didn't become a huge hit worldwide. The Polish version, Perła, sold 40,000 copies in Poland and went gold. A year later, she left Virgin and her Polish record label. Around this time, she had another hit in Poland called Nie było ("Never Been"), with the Polish band Sweet Noise.

New Beginnings

In 2004, Edyta gave birth to her son, Allan. The father of her child was Dariusz Krupa, who was also her guitarist. Edyta and Dariusz started their own independent music label called EG.Production. Dariusz became her manager. She began working with the Polish production team Mathplanete to create a new Polish album with a chill-out club music style. In 2005, she released the song Lunatique, which was sung in French. That same year, she married Dariusz Krupa.

Górniak performing in 2006.

The songs she recorded with Mathplanete didn't become big hits. So, she decided to change her music style. She started working on a new international pop album and looked for a new major record label. She chose Sony BMG. Some of the first songs from this new direction were Cygańskie serce ("Gypsy Heart") and Loving You. In 2007, she sang another movie theme song for the Polish version of the animated Spanish movie "Dragon Hill".

From 2007 to 2009, Edyta was a judge on the Polish TV show "Soapstar Superstar". In this show, TV stars competed for a record deal.

Her first studio album in five years, E.K.G., was released in October 2007. It was promoted by the song and video List ("Letter"). This was a Polish version of Celine Dion's "I Surrender". E.K.G. sold 40,000 copies in Poland.

Back on Top

In November 2008, Edyta released the song To nie tak jak myślisz ("It's Not How You Think"). This song was the theme for the Polish comedy movie "To nie tak jak myślisz, kotku". This song became a big success for her. It was her first major hit on Polish radio and music TV in six years. She also released a Christmas album called Zakochaj się na Święta w kolędach ("Fall in Love With Carols on Christmas") in December.

In 2009, her marriage to Dariusz Krupa ended, and she left their independent label. In 2010, she took part in Taniec z gwiazdami, which is the Polish version of the TV show Dancing with the Stars.

In 2011, she released the first song from her fifth studio album, Teraz – tu ("Now – Here"). She also helped direct its music video. Another song, On The Run, also had a video she co-directed. Later that year, she released Oj... kotku ("Oh... Kitty"), a song for the Polish comedy movie "Pokaż kotku, co masz w środku". Her full album, My ("We"), was released in February 2012 by her new independent label, Anaconda. This album had a new electro-pop sound. Other popular songs from the album included Nie zapomnij ("Don't Forget") and the dance song Consequences.

In 2012, she also participated in the Polish TV show "Clash of the Choirs". That same year, she performed her second concert in Poland with José Carreras. In 2013, she recorded the classic song All The Way with Matt Dusk. She also became a judge on the third season of The Voice of Poland.

In 2014, Edyta Górniak signed a new record deal with Universal Music. She started working on a new electro-pop album. From these sessions, she released four songs: Your High and Glow On (both in 2014), Oczyszczenie (2015), and Grateful (2016). She submitted Grateful for the Polish national final of the Eurovision Song Contest 2016, where she finished in third place.

She returned as a judge on The Voice of Poland for seasons five (2014) and six (2015). In 2016, she became a judge on a new Polish TV music talent show for children and teenagers called Hit, Hit, Hurra!. In 2017, she was announced as a coach for the first season of The Voice Kids in Poland. She coached Roksana Węgiel, who won the first season of The Voice Kids. Roksana later won the Junior Eurovision Song Contest 2018. Edyta also released new songs like Andromeda with Donatan (2017), Dom dobrych drzew ("House of good trees") (2018), and Tylko ty ("Only You") (2018). The last song is a Polish version of "Bei Mir Bistu Shein" and was released for a movie.

In November 2018, she performed at a special concert called "Sto lat" at the Royal Albert Hall in London. This concert celebrated 100 years of Poland regaining its independence. In 2019, she was a contestant on the Polish TV show "The Mole". In August 2020, it was announced that Edyta Górniak would return as a coach for the eleventh season of The Voice of Poland.

Discography

• Dotyk (1995)
• Edyta Górniak (1997)
• Perła (2002)
• Invisible (2003)
• EKG (2007)
• Zakochaj się na Święta w kolędach (2008)
• My (2012)
• My Favourite Winter (2024)

Dancing with the Stars

Edyta Górniak took part in the 12th season of the Polish Dancing with the Stars show, called Taniec z Gwiazdami. She made it to the semi-final round before being eliminated.

See also

In Spanish: Edyta Górniak para niños