Valentina Ionescu

Valentina is a classical pianist by avocation and a producer and presenter of television entertainment shows by vocation. Valentina studied piano from the age of four and performed at major concerts halls all over Romania, Germany and Greece.

Her love for television production developed during a two-year unpaid internship in the Music & Entertainment Division at TVR (the Romanian National Broadcasting Corporation) after which she was hired on a full-time basis in 2003.

From 2007 - 2010, Valentina produced and hosted her own two-hour live entertainment show, VINEriSTAR (Friday Star), which aired every Friday on TVR International, reaching the eight million Romanians living abroad. In 2007 and 2008, the show won Valentina the "Audience Award" for being most appreciated TV production out of 20 shows produced by TVR International.

Since 2009, Valentina has produced and hosted Miss Universe Romania, the national beauty pageant that selects a Romanian representative to compete annually at Miss Universe along 88 other countries. After an 11-year absence from participating at Miss Universe, Valentina was instrumental in assisting with the negotiations with Donald Trump's organization for the franchise for Romania and was instrumental in the co-production deal between the local franchisee and TVR.

Over the past ten years, Valentina had the privilege of interviewing hundreds of renowned Romanian personalities and international celebrities such as Stephen Baldwin, Tarkan, Mai Ling Lee, Lauren Conrad, Boy George, Lil Ma, Giuseppe Stefanel, Stella Stevens and Dayana Mendoza (Miss Universe 2008).

Below is a list of TV shows hosted by Valentina:

- "Miss Universe Romania 2009" ~ June 2009 (150 min)
- "Miss Universe Romania 2010" ~ July 2010 (120 min)
- "New Year's Eve 2007 at TVR" ~ December 2006 (10 min)
- "Being No 1" ~ December 2006 (75 min)
- "With us during Easter" ~ April 2006 (120 min)
- "Remember Mihai Florea" ~ February 2006 (70 min)
- "Cultural Journal" ~ 2003 - 2005 (15 min daily)
- "Fete de la musique" ~ July 2004 (60 min)

Below is a list of TV shows produced by Valentina:

- "Miss Universe Romania 2009 ~ June 2009
- "Miss Universe Romania 2010" ~ July 2010
- "A Famous Star" ~ 2002 - 2009 (weekly)
- "Don't forget" ~ 2002 - 2005 (weekly)
- "Repondez s'il vous plaît!" ~ 2002 (weekly)
- "Summer on TV" ~ 2003 (weekly)
- "TVR Book of Records" ~ 2004 (weekly)
- Celebrating 50 years of TVR ~ 2006
- "Maria Tanase" Folklore Music Festival ~ 2006
- Folclore TVR 50 ~ 2006
- Romania for Europe's Children ~ 2006
- "My Dearest Valentine" ~ 2002 - 2006
- "Golden Stag" International Festival ~ 2002 - 2005
- "At Easter Supper" ~ 2002 - 2006
- "Black Sea" Summer Music Festival ~ 2005 - 2006
- "Romanian National Day" ~ 2003

Valentina has a Masters degree in National Security Intelligence Management from the Romanian National Intelligence Academy (2008), a Masters degree in Management of Mass-Media Institutions from the University of Bucharest (2007) and a Bachelor of Arts degree in Instrumental Interpretation - Classical Piano from the Romanian National University of Music (2003). Additionally, Valentina completed the Romanian National Superior Intelligence College (2007) and the Program on Negotiations for Senior Executives at Harvard University (2008).

Valentina has been a member of the Board of Directors of the Blue Heron Foundation since 2005 and has produced and hosted the foundation's annual Valentine's Day Charity Ball. Since inception in 2002, the foundation has raised and invested over $1,000,000 in various social programs in Romania; most notable is the University Scholarship Program for orphan and abandoned children.

Valentina is fluent in Romanian and English and has basic knowledge of French and Spanish.