Edsilia Rombley

Edsilia Rombley
Edsilia Rombley in 2009
Background information
Birth name	Edsilia Francisca Rombley
Also known as	Edsilia
Born	(1978-02-13) 13 February 1978 (age 39) Amsterdam, Netherlands
Genres	Pop, R&B, contemporary R&B
Occupation(s)	Singer
Years active	1995–present
Associated acts	Dignity
Website	www.edsiliarombley.nl

Edsilia Francisca Rombley (born 13 February 1978) is a Dutch singer. She participated in the Soundmixshow in 1996. She represented the Netherlands in the Eurovision Song Contest twice, in 1998 and 2007.

Edsilia Rombley was born on 13 February 1978 in Amsterdam in the Netherlands. Her parents were from Aruba and Curaçao (Netherlands Antilles).

The career of Edsilia Rombley started in 1995, with Gracia Gorré, Karima Lemghari and Susan Haps in the group called Dignity. The name Dignity stands for Dignified Individuals Giving New Insight To You. A year later the singles "Talk To Me" and "Hold Me" from the compilation album "No Sweat" entered the charts. In 1996, Edsilia won the final of the European Soundmix Show with a cover version of Oleta Adams' song, "I Just Had To Hear Your Voice". In 1997, her international reputation was established thanks to the profit of the European Soundmix Show, in which she sang the same song. That year she left Dignity and released her first solo single "Baby It's You". In 1997 she recorded her first album "Thuis" which was in assignment and exclusive for Douwe Egberts.

In 1998, Edsilia competed in the Eurovision Song Contest 1998 in Birmingham, United Kingdom, where she gained 150 points and placed 4th with the song "Hemel en aarde" ("Heaven and earth"). This was the best result the Netherlands had achieved since their win in 1975 with Teach-In. The song was written by Fluitsma & Van Tijn and reached twelfth place in the top 40. Her debut English album was released shortly after her Eurovision participation. After many struggles, Edsilia released her second album "Face To Face" in 2002. The album was produced by Tjeerd Oosterhuis. This was preceded by the hit "What Have You Done To Me", which became nominated in the category for best R&B song at the TMF Awards. The same song gained her a nomination in 2003, as well as an Edison Award nomination for the 'Best Artist'. In spite of high expectations, the album did not do well. In 2003, "Face to Face" was released in Germany and also gained minimal success. The singer stayed there to promote the album, however, the album did not succeed.