Arilena Ara

Arilena Ara (; born 17 July 1998) is an Albanian singer. Ara rose to national recognition in Albania, upon her victory at X Factor Albania in 2013. After her participation in the 18th edition of the music contest , her song "" found significant success in Romania, peaking at number-one in the Romanian Airplay chart. Following her forthcoming success at the 58th edition of the music contest in 2019, she was designated as the Albanian representative at the Eurovision Song Contest 2020, before the contest's cancellation.

Life and career

1998–2018: Early life and career beginnings

Arilena Ara was born on 17 July 1998 into an Albanian family in the city of Shkodër, Albania. Ara performed in various dancing and singing competitions as a child, including at the children's talent show finishing in third place. She won the second series of the talent show X Factor Albania on 31 March 2013. Her first single, "", was released in February 2014. Finishing in third place, Ara participated in the 18th edition of the music contest with the song "" in November 2016. The song subsequently experienced commercial success abroad, peaking at number one on the Romanian Radio and TV Airplay rankings as well as reaching number 3 in Bulgaria and number 38 in Hungary. In early 2017, the song's remixes, including " (Bess Remix)" and " (Beverly Pills Remix)", further reached the top 20 in the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS). In the course of 2017, Ara performed at the Europa Plus Festival in Moscow, Russia, and won the award for the song of the year at the Astana Dausy Music Awards in Astana, Kazakhstan.

2019–present: Pop Art and continued success

As of 2019, Ara has been a juror for the third series of the singing show The Voice Kids Albania. After winning the 58th edition of the music contest with the song "" in late December 2019, (RTSH) designated Ara as the Albanian representative for the Eurovision Song Contest 2020 in Rotterdam, the Netherlands. In February 2020, following several months spent in Los Angeles, the singer announced that she had started working on her debut studio album. In March 2020, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) cancelled the Eurovision Song Contest 2020. After a short hiatus, she was featured on Albanian singer Alban Skënderaj's "A i sheh" in December 2020, which peaked at number 29 in Albania. Prior to its release, four singles, "Murderer", "Aligator", "Thirr Policinë" and "Ke me mungu", were released from the record. Containing R&B and hip hop music, "Murderer" featuring Albanian rapper Noizy was released as the record's lead single in July 2021. Its second single, "Aligator", followed on 9 August 2021 and peaked at number five in Albania. For the record's third single titled, "Thirr Policinë", the singer collaborated with Kosovo-Albanian musician Dafina Zeqiri and reached number six in Albania. Ara scored her first number-one single with "Ke me mungu" in October 2021. In April 2022, she debuted as a television presenter, hosting the investigative show . On the fifth season of the singing show X Factor Albania was a Judge. Ara participated in Kënga Magjike 2024, duetting with Pirro Çako with their song "ZERO GRADË", later withdrawing from the competition for unknown reasons.

Artistry

Ara names Michael Jackson as her major musical and artistic influence.

Discography

Albums Pop Art The Album (2021)

Singles

As lead artist

+ List of singles as lead artist, with selected chart positions Title Year Peakchart positions Album "Aeroplan" 2014 — — — "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" 2019 — — — — "Shaj" — — — — "Fall from the Sky" 2020 — — — — "Murderer" 2021 — — — — Pop Art The Album "Aligator" 5 — — — "Thirr Policinë" 6 — — — "Ke me mungu" 1 — — — "Dashuria ime" 2022 — — — — "Zero Gradë" 2024 — — — — "—" denotes a recording that did not chart or was not released in that territory.

As featured artist

+ List of singles as featured artist, with selected chart positions Title Year Peakchart positions Album ALB "Nallane 3" 2017 — — "Last train to Paris" 2018 32 1 "A i sheh" 2020 29 — "—" denotes a recording that did not chart or was not released in that territory.

Other charted songs

+ List of other charted songs, with selected chart positions Title Year Peakchartpositions Album ALB "E gjallë" 2021 2 Pop Art The Album "Dance Me" 10 "—" denotes a recording that did not chart or was not released in that territory.