"The Balkan Girls" is a song by Romanian singer Elena Gheorghe for a special 2009 edition of her second studio album, Te Ador (2008), and third record, Disco Romancing (2012).

Gheorghe qualified in ninth place for the Grand Final in Moscow, where she finished 19th with a total of 40 points (one of Romania's lowest scores in the contest).

During her iele-inspired, mostly negatively-received show, she performed "The Balkan Girls" accompanied by female background dancers with hair extensions and chopped dresses.

"The Balkan Girls" fared well commercially, topping the Romanian Nielsen Music Control chart and receiving airplay in Greek, Maltese and Turkish clubs.

[1] It was released on an enhanced CD on 6 January 2009 by Cat Music in Romania,[1] and was later included on a special 2009 edition of Gheorghe's second studio album, Te Ador (2008), and her third record, Disco Romancing (2012).

[5] Uwe Hinrichs, in his book Handbuch der Eurolinguistik (Handbook of Eurolinguistics), cited the song as an example of the word "Balkan" referring to a group of people rather than the geographic region.

[9] "The Balkan Girls" had low betting odds before the Eurovision Song Contest,[10] and an editor of the French magazine Pure People wrote that it "does not really stay in the eardrums".

[11] However, the song topped the Romanian Nielsen Music Control chart in April 2009 and was played in Greek, Maltese and Turkish clubs.

[22] Gheorghe's win was contested by fans of the Romanian rock band Blaxy Girls, who placed second with 18 points for "Dear Mama".

[4]Her performance began with "a cloud of smoke", from which the singer's background dancers emerged in "ropey hair extensions, ronseal tans and shredded mermaid frocks".

[6] The Guardian's Stephens likened Gheorghe's appearance to that of British singer Geri Halliwell,[8] and Dana Cobuz of Jurnalul Național compared the background dancers to Ieles.