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Corona
Corona is a project created by producer Francesco Bontempi (Lee Marrow) who writes and arranges the group’s songs. Francesco was born in Marina di Carrara on July 23,1957. Olga de Souza, the singer, was born in Rio de Janeiro on July 16, 1968. Olga was not originally from an entertainment background having worked for a bank in Rio, the "Caixa economica federal". She decided to come to Italy some years ago, after having been told all about the beauty of Italy by her close friend, football legend Pelé. She now lives in Rome.
When Olga arrived in Italy she decided that the change in lifestyle was the perfect opportunity for her to start a music career.
Luckily for her she met Francesco Bontempi ("Checco" to his friends), already well-known for such big hits as: "Bauhaus" aka "Push the beat" by Cappella, "Shangai", "To go crazy", "Pain" and "Do you want me" by Lee Marrow.
Shortly after their first meeting, Olga and Francesco started a new project called "Corona".
The first song entitled "The rhythm of the night" was released in December 1993 on the DWA label (Italy). It was released across the world in every major country, including the USA.
A few weeks later it reached no. 1 in Italy and retained the position for 13 consecutive weeks.
At midem 1994(an international music fair) it was the hot topic of that year.
The activity became frenetic. While Corona started taking part in TV shows, photo-sessions, performances in discos and so on, Francesco began preparing new songs for the album.
Subsequently a fantastic remix of "The rhythm of the night" and a music video, extensively aired by MTV, were released.
The original version of "The rhythm of the night" was recorded at the "Pink Studio" in Reggio Emilia, and was mixed at the "Kristal Studio" in Massa by Francesco Alberti (who, according to Checco, is one of the top sound engineers).
The song went out on worldwide release and shot up the charts everywhere.
In the UK it was released by the multinational Warner Music and reached no. 2 in the official sales charts (more than 400.000 copies sold giving it "gold disc" status). The track was also remixed by the "Rapino Brothers".
Finally the song arrived in America where it reached no. 11 in the official sales charts in the USA, and no. 1 in Canada.
It was awarded more than 15 gold and platinum discs throughout the world, and was the most played and danced to song of 1994.
In a short time and thanks to her world tour, Olga’s fame and popularity grew. She was adored worldwide for her beauty and charming personality.
The song was in such demand in Japan, the USA and the UK that several months passed before the release of the follow up single.
In fact it wasn’t until the beginning of March ‘95 that "Baby baby" had its full worldwide release.
As in "The rhythm of the night", this new song had a catchy chorus and a captivating European rhythm.
April 1995 saw the release of Corona’s long awaited album, "The rhythm of the night". It’s an album full of melodic and happy songs, which many would say are a reflection of the artist’s personality.
It was recorded in Italy at Casablanca Recordings and is a collection of 16 songs, amongst which are two versions of "The rhythm of the night" (one by "Rapino Bros" and the other, with Ice MC’s participation, remixed by Lee Marrow) and a version of "Baby baby" remixed by the English "Dancing Divaz".
In the meantime, the video of "Baby baby" was ready to be launched. It was shot by a well-known Italian film company the "Film master clip".
Unsurprisingly, within a short time of its release "Baby baby" shot up the charts making it another no.1.
Once again Corona entered the USA charts and went on tour to promote her album. America loved Corona, with her beautiful smile and friendly attitude she couldn’t fail! Radio and TV programmes all wanted her on their shows and "Top of the pops" couldn’t get enough of her.
The world tours continued, summer 1995 arrived and along with it “Festivalbar”, the highlight of Italy’s summer festivals. Naturally Corona was one of the biggest stars in attendance.
July 1995 gave us "Try me out", which went straight in at no. 2 in Italy and no. 14 in the UK. This song reached the top 5 around most of the world and many big names (MK, Alex Party, Lee Marrow) made remixes of it.
The video, again directed by "Film master clip" had major TV airplay, making this "Italian Diva" a superstar!
With November 1995 arrived the next single.
Olga had always loved the magic of the 70’s and so asked Lee Marrow to create a song in that vein..... "I don’t wanna be a star" was born!
The song was mixed in various styles and there was also a brilliant video to go with it. It was filmed in a Roman "Dolce vita" style but full of the colours and character of the 70’s.
In the summer of 1996, instead of just appearing on “Festivalbar” Corona was actually invited to present it.
Is this the beginning of a new career in television?
After this project Francesco decided to release a new Corona album by himself, without the partnership of DWA. | 
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