Romania is emerging as a new center for Europe's dance scene
In the past 18 months, numerous hits have been exported from the Balkans into Western Europe. Romanian duo Edward Maya and Vika Jigulina hit the top 10 of Billboard's European Hot 100 Singles chart twice this year with "Stereo Love" and "This Is My Life." "Stereo Love" even cracked the notoriously Europhobic U.K. singles chart, peaking at No. 4 and selling 101,000 units, according to the Official Charts Company. Another Romanian dance star, Inna, hit the U.K. top 10 in March with "Hot," selling 193,000. Such success represents the international blossoming of an underground scene that took root after the fall of President Nicolae Ceausescu's Communist regime in 1989. The country is also home to an Ibiza-style summer dance scene centered on the Mamaia holiday resort, which attracts A-list DJs to its numerous clubs. British house DJ Steve Lawler describes the crowds there as "fantastic." Romania's January 2007 entry ...