Fanny Lu

Fanny Lu shot to the top of the Colombian pop charts in 2006 with "No Te Pido Flores," and she quickly became a sensation outside of the country as well. Her savvy but clearly heartfelt tropi-pop draws its drive from vallenato, the accordion-driven music of Colombia's northeast, but its sheen is pure bubblegum -- a genre that translates across languages and borders. Born Fanny Lucia Martinez Buenaventura in Santiago de Cali, Lu studied industrial engineering in college, but she soon after took a left turn and became a television presenter and actress. She seems to have found a perfect resting place as a pop singer; the first single from her sophomore effort, the imaginatively named Dos, camped out at the top of the charts as soon as it was released.