Caroline "Dina" Lillian Kongerud (commonly referred to by the stage name Dina), born 1 August 1985, is a Norwegian pop/trance artist. She released one album and seven singles in the early 2000s, several of which were hits. Her first single topped the Norwegian record chart and was later re-released in Swedish and English.

Early life

Kongerud grew up in Holtet, Oslo, the daughter of a university professor. She attended Lambertseter Upper Secondary School in Oslo, including one year as an exchange student in the United States. She also studied classical singing at the Barratt Due Institute of Music in Oslo.

At age seven, she began playing classical music, switching to pop music at age 14. From age 11, she took classes in opera singing. When she was a child, she was nicknamed "Dina", which she adopted as her stage name when entering the music industry.

Career

Dina started writing songs in 2000, initially writing in English, before switching to Norwegian. Later she signed with the Norwegian record label Tribe Records. She was the first trance music artist in Norway to sing in Norwegian, and also the first female Norwegian trance artist. Despite being given the worst possible score, a "die throw" of 1, in a review by the newspaper Dagbladet, the song was a major hit. The single sold to double platinum and stayed on the VG-lista Top 20 record chart for 21 weeks, the longest of any song in 2003. Her second single, "For evig min", stayed on VG-lista for 10 weeks and peaked at 4th place. Her first and only album Dina was released in November 2003, spending five weeks on VG-lista. The 11-track album was released by Universal Music, and was given a positive review and a "die throw" of 4 by the newspaper Dagsavisen.

She released another single in 2004, called "Besatt" ("Obsessed"). released by the label Nordic Records. "Ikke alene" was included in Diaz' 2006 album Jessheimfanden. In 2007 Dina re-released her debut single "Bli hos meg" in Swedish and English in collaboration with the musician Deejay Jay. "Bli hos meg" was relaunched by the Swedish record label Catchy Tunes on 20 June 2007 under the titles "Bli Hos Mig" and "Say Goodbye".

Dina was a finalist in Miss Norway 2003 only months before she became an artist. In 2004 she played herself in an episode of the comedy television programme Team Antonsen. graduating in 2010.

Discography

Albums

  • Dina (November 2003)

Singles

Solo

  • "Bli hos meg" (2003)
  • "For evig min" (2003)
  • "Besatt" (2004)
  • "Hvis" (2005)
  • "En sommernatts drøm" (2005)
  • "Bli hos meg" (new version) (2016)

Collaborations

  • "Ikke alene" (2005, with Diaz)
  • "Bli Hos Mig" (2007, with Deejay Jay)
  • "Say Goodbye" (2007, with Deejay Jay)

Chart positions

Albums

  • 2003 — Dina # 18 - VG-lista

Singles

  • 2003 — "Bli hos meg" # 1 - VG-lista
  • 2003 — "For evig min" # 4 - VG-lista
  • 2005 — "Hvis" # 5 - VG-lista
  • 2005 — "En sommernatts drøm" # 17 - VG-lista

References

  • (in Norwegian)
  • Dina's entry at Discogs