May 23: German singer Lena Meyer-Landrut is 20 years-old today.

Known professionally simply as Lena, she represented Germany in the Eurovision Song Contest 2010 in Oslo, Norway, and won the contest with the song "Satellite." With her three entries from the German national final Unser Star für Oslo (Our Star for Oslo), Meyer-Landrut set an all-time chart record in her home country by debuting with three songs in the top five of the German singles chart.

Both "Satellite" and her first album My Cassette Player debuted at number one in Germany, while the former has been certified double Platinum since, the album has been certified five times Gold for sales of over 500,000 units.

Meyer-Landrut represented Germany, for the second consecutive time, in the Eurovision Song Contest at Düsseldorf in 2011 with the song "Taken by a Stranger."
She has said her musical influences include Adele, Kate Nash, Vanessa Carlton, as well as the German singer Clueso and German pop rock band Wir sind Helden.

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Lena Meyer-Landrut was born in Hanover, Germany. She started taking dancing lessons at the age of five; initially ballet and later hip-hop and jazz. Meyer-Landrut began singing and appeared as an extra in a number of German television series; without any formal acting or vocal training.

Meyer-Landrut decided to enter the talent show Unser Star für Oslo to select the German entry for the Eurovision Song Contest 2010 in Oslo. Among the 4,500 entrants, Meyer-Landrut was picked as one of the 20 contestants for the show.

After her first appearance, performing "My Same" by British singer Adele. The song entered the German singles chart at position number 61. Meyer-Landrut reached the final. Out of her eight cover performances, five of the original songs subsequently charted in Germany, with all but one reaching their peak chart position.

In the final on March 12, 2010, Meyer-Landrut sang three songs specifically written for the contest, "Bee," "Satellite" and "Love Me." Through televoting, the audience chose "Satellite," written by US American Julie Frost and Dane John Gordon, to be her designated song in case she wins the show. In a second round of voting, Meyer-Landrut was chosen as Germany's entry for the 55th Eurovision Song Contest, beating the last remaining contestant, Jennifer Braun. The music video for "Satellite" was shot during the night of the final and premiered on German television stations four days later.

One day after winning Unser Star für Oslo, all three of the songs performed by her in the final topped the German iTunes Store sales chart. "Satellite" sold over 100,000 downloads in its first week, becoming Germany's fastest selling digital release ever.

Her three songs all entered the top five of the German singles chart, reaching positions number one, three and four, which no artist had ever achieved since charts were first released in Germany in 1959. "Satellite" was eligible to be certified gold after the first week and platinum after the fourth week of its release. The song remained at number one for five consecutive weeks in Germany.

She released her debut album, My Cassette Player, in May 2010. It includes the singles "Satellite," "Love Me" and "Bee," as well as two cover songs and eight unreleased titles. Meyer-Landrut is credited as a co-writer for the lyrics of five songs.

The album debuted at number one in the German albums chart. It peaked at number one in the Austrian albums chart, number three in the Swiss albums chart, number five in European Top 100 Albums, and has been certified five times Gold in Germany.

In April 2011 she went on her first German tour in the largest concert halls in Berlin, Hanover, Frankfurt, Dortmund, Leipzig, Hamburg, Munich, Stuttgart and Cologne. The concert in Frankfurt was recorded on video and was released on DVD in May 2011.

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Meyer-Landrut usually refuses to answer questions about her private life, including her family, friends and personal beliefs, sometimes calling questions "stupid" or responding with her own questions instead. This has drawn praise as well as criticism, including allegations of arrogance.


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