Arilena Ara

Arilena Ara (Albanian pronunciation: [aɾiˈlɛna aɾa]; born 17 July 1998), also known mononymously as Arilena, is an Albanian singer and songwriter. Born and raised in Shkodër, Arilena achieved national recognition in the Albanian-speaking world when she won the second season of the X Factor Albania in 2013. Her success continued with the participation in the 18th edition of Kënga Magjike finishing in the third place with the song "Nëntori". Due to the success, she rose to recognition in Romania, Russia and Eastern Europe, and peaked at number-one in the Romanian Airplay chart. In 2019, after winning the 58th edition of Festivali i Këngës, she was scheduled to represent Albania in the Eurovision Song Contest 2020 before the contest's cancellation.[lower-alpha 1]

Arilena Ara
Also known as	Arilena
Born	17 July 1998 Shkodër, Albania
Genres	Pop
Occupation(s)	Singer songwriter
Instruments	Vocals
Years active	2010–present
Labels	Elite Productions
Associated acts	Darko Dimitrov Lindon Berisha
Website	Official website

Life and career

Ara was born on 17 July 1998 into an Albanian family in the city of Shkodër, Albania.[2] She performed in diverse dancing and singing competitions as a child, including at Gjeniu i Vogël where she finished in the third place.[3][4] She auditioned for the second series of X Factor Albania in 2012 singing "We Are" for judges Tuna, Pandi Laço, Soni Malaj and Alban Skënderaj. She received a wild card and was placed in the Girls category with Tuna as her mentor. She defeated Aldo Bardhi to win the competition on 31 March 2012 performing the songs "No More Drama", "Man Down" and "S&M" as a duet with her mentor.[5][3] In February 2014, she released her first single "Aeroplan" written by Rozana Radi and produced by Darko Dimitrov.[6][7]

In November 2016, Ara was announced to participate in the 18th edition of Kënga Magjike with the song titled "Nëntori".[8] She qualified for the grand final in the contest and finished third overall winning the award for the Best Ballad.[9] In July 2017, she performed in the Europa Plus Festival in Russia along other Albanian singers such as Bebe Rexha and Era Istrefi.[10] In August 2017, the song achieved commercial success in Romania and debuted on the Romanian Radio and TV Airplay Charts at number one climbing to the same position at number one on 24 September 2017.[11] In December 2018, it was announced that she would judge alongside Aleksandër & Renis Gjoka and Miriam Cani on the third series of The Voice Kids Albania.[12][4]

In December 2019, Radio Televizioni Shqiptar (RTSH) announced Ara as the Albanian representative for the Eurovision Song Contest 2020 in Rotterdam, the Netherlands, after she won the 58th edition of Festivali i Këngës with the song "Shaj".[13][14][15] In January 2020, it was published that she will perform in the second half of the second semi-final on 14 May 2020.[16] In February 2020, following several months spent in Los Angeles, the United States, she announced that she had started working on her debut studio album.[17][18] In March 2020, the European Broadcasting Union announced the cancellation of the Eurovision Song Contest 2020 due to the pandemic of the coronavirus disease 2019-20 (COVID-19) and its spread to other countries.[1] In December 2020, she was featured on the follow-up single "A i sheh" of Albanian singer Alban Skënderaj, which also peaked at number 29 in Albania.[19]

Artistry

Arilena names Michael Jackson as her major musical and artistic influence.[20]

Discography

As lead artist

Title	Year	Peak chart positions			Album
		ALB [21]	HUN [22]	ROM [23]
"Aeroplan"	2014	N/A	—	—	Non-album single
"Business Class"			—	—
"Vegim"	2015		—	—
"Toke Rroke"	2016	—	—	—
"Nëntori"		—	38	1
"I'm Sorry"	2017	—	—	—
"Snow in December"		14	—	—
"Silver and Gold"		—	—	—
"Zemër"		—	—	—
"I'll Give You My Heart"	2018	—	—	—
"Doja" (featuring Flori Mumajesi)	2019	—	—	—
"Shaj"		—	—	—
"Fall from the Sky"	2020	—	—	—
"—" denotes a recording that did not chart or was not released in that territory.

As featured artist

Title	Year	Peak chart positions		Album
		ALB [24]	BUL [25]
"Nallane 3" (Flori Mumajesi featuring Arilena and Dj Vicky)	2017	—	—	Non-album single
"Last train to Paris" (KDDK featuring Arilena)	2018	32	1
"A i sheh" (Alban Skënderaj featuring Arilena)	2020	29	—
"—" denotes a recording that did not chart or was not released in that territory.

See also

• List of awards and nominations received by Arilena Ara
• Albania in the Eurovision Song Contest 2020

Notes

1. The Eurovision Song Contest 2020 was cancelled due to the pandemic of the coronavirus disease 2019-20 (COVID-19) in China and its spread to other countries across the world.[1]

References

1. "Eurovision 2020 in Rotterdam is cancelled". European Broadcasting Union (EBU). 18 March 2020. Archived from the original on 8 April 2020. Retrieved 29 December 2020.
2. "Arilena Ara–Biografia" (in Albanian). Tekste Shqip. Archived from the original on 28 December 2020. Retrieved 28 December 2020.
3. "Arilena Ara #Bio" (in Albanian). Top Music Awards. Archived from the original on 25 October 2020. Retrieved 28 December 2020.
4. "ARILENA ARA, GATI PËR KËTË UDHËTIM TË RI NË "THE VOICE KIDS"". thevoice.top-channel.tv (in Albanian). The Voice of Albania. Retrieved 2 January 2020. Në moshën 11-vjeçare ajo mori pjesë në një kompeticion për fëmijë në Shqipëri ku u rendit e treta
5. "Arilena Ara shpallet fituese e X-Factor Albania". botasot.info (in Albanian). Bota Sot. 1 April 2014. Retrieved 2 January 2020.
6. "Arilena - Aeroplan | Official Music Video". YouTube. 26 February 2014. Retrieved 2 January 2020. Note: Open description for credits.
7. "Arilena vjen si "Aeroplan"". telegrafi.com (in Albanian). 27 February 2014. Archived from the original on 2 September 2017. Retrieved 2 January 2020.
8. Alimemaj, Jola (26 November 2016). "Arilena: E dua sfidën, me të do të arrijë suksesin e merituar". shekulli.com.al (in Albanian). Retrieved 31 December 2019.
9. ""Ma thuaj ti" fiton "Këngën Magjike"". tvklan.al (in Albanian). TV Klan. 11 December 2016. Retrieved 31 December 2019.
10. "Как звезды готовятся к Europa Plus LIVE 2017". europaplus.ru (in Russian). Europa Plus. 23 July 2017. Retrieved 31 December 2019.
11. "Airplay 100 – 20 august 2017". Media Forest (in Romanian). Kiss FM. 20 August 2017. Retrieved 21 August 2017.
12. Class Lifestyle (4 December 2018). "Ekskluzive/ Arilena Ara në jurinë e The Voice Kids, nga çfarë hoqi dorë për të qenë aty". classlifestyle.com (in Albanian). Retrieved 2 January 2020.
13. "Arilena Ara me "Shaj" fiton Fest 58". rtsh.al (in Albanian). Radio Televizioni Shqiptar (RTSH). 23 December 2019. Retrieved 29 December 2019.
14. "It's Arilena Ara for Albania! - Eurovision Song Contest". eurovision.tv. European Broadcasting Union. 23 December 2019.
15. "Festivali i 58-të i Këngës, Arilena Ara do të përfaqësojë Shqipërinë në Eurovizion". euronews.al (in Albanian). Euronews Albania. 23 December 2019. Retrieved 4 January 2020.
16. "Which country performs in which Eurovision 2020 Semi-Final?". eurovision.tv. European Broadcasting Union. 28 January 2020. Retrieved 31 January 2020.
17. "Arilena Ara do ta këndojë në anglisht këngën e saj në "Eurovision 2020"". telegrafi.com (in Albanian). 18 February 2020. Retrieved 27 February 2020.
18. Ryan, Tom (23 February 2020). ""Shaj" will be in English at Eurovision". ESCXtra. Retrieved 27 February 2020.
19. Vautrey, Jonathan (13 December 2020). "New music this week: 21 songs from Arilena Ara, Damir Kedžo, Isaiah Firebrace and more". Wiwibloggs. Archived from the original on 3 January 2021. Retrieved 3 January 2021.
20. "Arilena pozon pranë yllit të Michael Jacksonit: Frymëzimi im i përhershëm". telegrafi.com (in Albanian). 25 February 2020. Retrieved 26 February 2020.
21. Note: "The Top List" are the charts conducted by Top Channel since December 2015. For peak positions in Albania:
    • For "Snow in December":"The Top List—07/01/2018". topawards.top-channel.tv (in Albanian). Top Music Awards. Retrieved 3 February 2020.
22. "Single Top 40 slágerlista" (in Hungarian). Slágerlisták. Retrieved 5 February 2021.
23. "Media Forest – Weekly Charts". Media Forest. 18 September 2017. Retrieved 27 December 2019.
24. Note: "The Top List" are the charts conducted by Top Channel since December 2015. For peak positions in Albania:
    • For "Last train to Paris":"The Top List—18/11/2018" (in Albanian). Top Music Awards. 18 November 2018. Archived from the original on 28 December 2020. Retrieved 28 December 2020.
    • For "A i sheh":"The Top List—26/12/2020" (in Albanian). Top Music Awards. 26 December 2020. Archived from the original on 28 December 2020. Retrieved 28 December 2020.
25. Note: Charts conducted by PROPHON. For peak positions in Bulgaria:
    • For "Last train to Paris":"International Top 10 (22 June 2018–28 June 2018)". PROPHON. 22 June 2018. Archived from the original on 17 October 2020. Retrieved 28 December 2020.