Florin Salam

Who is Florin Salam?

Florin Stoian, better known under the stage name of Florin Salam and Florin Fermecătoru, is a Roma singer of manele from Romania.

Stoian has been singing since he was a child; his first contact with music took place at age of four. His father and uncle were well-known lăutari. He debuted in 2002 with help from bandleader Dan Bursuc. His first hit single was "Ce gagică şmecherită". He played an important part when the smash hit "Of, viaţa mea" was released in 2000, sung by Adrian Minune and Costi Ioniţă. In 2002, Florin Stoian changed his stage name from Fermecătoru to the Arabic Salam.

In 2008 he performed a song together with pop singer Paula Seling and the Bucharest Symphonic Orchestra. The show host described their performance as a reconciliation between manele and mainstream pop music; in the same respect, the song's lyrics raised the problem of ethnic intolerance.

Florin Stoian is the vice-president of Asociaţia Artiştilor, Muzicanţilor şi Lăutarilor Romi din România. In December 2005, he was announced the best manele performer of the year. According to the daily paper Libertatea, politician Mădălin Voicu and footballer Marius Niculae count among his fans.