Elen Levon (born 13 July 1994) is a Ukranian-born Australian dance-pop and R&B singer as well as a dancer, actress and model from Sydney. She started to become active in 2008 when she was selected through the television competition Airtime! to become one-fifth of the teen-pop group Panjo 5. The group's two singles didn't fare too well on the charts and by late 2009 the group had disbanded.
She released her debut single, "Naughty", in September 2011, with her follow-up single "Like a Girl in Love" being released six months later. Though the two songs only did moderately well in the ARIA Singles Charts ("Naughty" peaked at #60 and "Like a Girl in Love" peaked at #74), they were a big success in the clubs and on the Dance charts. "Naughty", especially, caused a minor controversy due to the nature of its lyrics being performed by someone of such a young age. It also received mixed reviews from listeners and critics due to the excessive use of Auto-Tune, the cliched nature of its lyrics and its explicit themes.
Despite the criticism, Levon has also performed on Chinese television to an estimated audience of one billion people as well as performing in ANZ Arena during AFL Halftime. She's also supported the likes of Lil' Kim and 50 Cent during the R&B / Hip-Hop festivals Supafest and Winterbeatz — and if you have any young female Australian friends on Facebook or Twitter, you would know how big a deal these festivals are. Moreover, Levon herself has earned comparisons to Britney Spears, Janet Jackson, Rihanna, and Ciara.
She made her television acting debut as a young Muslim girl in the Australian series SLiDE.
Singles discography (including features):
- Party Up Remix
(an Israel Cruz feature) (2011) - Naughty (2011)
- Save My Life (an Israel Cruz feature) (2011)
- Like a Girl in Love (2012)
- Dancing to the Same Song (Version 1) (2012)
- Dancing to the Same Song (Version 2) (2012)
- Wild Child (2013)
This musician and actress displays examples of:
- Age-Inappropriate Art: Despite being of legal age in most states when "Naughty" was released, she still came under fire for "dancing around like a call-girl". She was also singing about clubs when she was (though only slightly) too young to enter one.
- Auto-Tune: Her voice is practically buried in this and vocoder with "Naughty". Averted with all her other songs.
- Celebrity Endorsement: For the Blackberry Playbook.
- Child Prodigy: Underwent training for singing and dancing at the age of 3 and started playing piano at age 6.
- Cover Version: Of Beyoncé's "Scared of Lonely" and "1+1", which used to be on YouTube
but have since mysteriously vanished. She's also covered Britney Spears's "Till the World Ends" and Etta James' "At Last". - Homeschooled Kid: Since mid-2011.
- Genki Girl
- Good Bad Girl: Her image is essentially this. Strangely, Levon has denied that "Naughty" is about this trope, saying that it is about expressing yourself. It's not really that way if you read the lyrics...
- Hidden Depths: She can sing without AutoTune, and she can dance. She's also completed all her grades for piano.
- In Da Club: "Naughty" is all about this.
- Long-Distance Relationship: "Dancing to the Same Song" and its video are all about this.
- Intercourse with You: Israel Cruz's rap in "Naughty" turns the song from a club song into one of these for a verse. Admittedly, it does make the whole thing more than a little
squicky. - Ms. Fanservice
- New Sound Album: Well, more like "new sound single". "Wild Child" suggests a complete 180 from her musical direction in 2011, with African chanting, drums and more focus on melody than electronic beats.
- Nice Girl: She's very bubbly, responsive and complimentary in interviews as well as in real life.
- Silly Love Songs: "Like a Girl in Love", "Dancing to the Same Song" and to an extent "Wild Child".
- Stripperiffic / Age-Inappropriate Dress: The videos speak for themselves. "Naughty" involves the singer wearing dangerously short minidresses and low-cut bodices, and in "Like a Girl In Love" she runs around Cambodia wearing nothing but tiny shorts and an American flag tied to hide any — erm — objectionable parts of the anatomy. It seems she's rather fond of showing her legs, her stomach and her cleavage.
- Spiritual Successor: At the time of her debut, the Australian media deemed her to be this to Jessica Mauboy and Vanessa Amorosi.
- Three Minutes of Writhing: Both "Naughty" and "Like a Girl in Love" feature this trope.
- Video Full of Film Clips: The "viral" version of "Dancing to the Same Song". It's composed of black and white clips of Elen celebrating her birthday, having fun with friends, performing live and so on.
- A Wild Rapper Appears!: Israel Cruz in "Naughty".
