Arilena Ara ; born 18 July 1998), also known mononymously as Arilena, is an Albanian singer and songwriter. Ara rose to national recognition in the Albanian-speaking Balkans, upon her victory at X Factor Albania in 2013. After her participation in the 18th edition of Kënga Magjike, „Nëntori“ found significant success in Romania and Eastern Europe, peaking at number-one in the Romanian Airplay chart. Following her forthcoming success at the 58th edition of Festivali i Këngës 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
Ara was born on 17 July 1998 into an Albanian Catholic family in the city of Shkodër, Albania. She performed in diverse dancing and singing competitions as a child, including at Gjeniu i Vogël, where she finished in the third place. After auditioning for the second series of X Factor Albania in 2012, she resulted as the winner of the competition during the final on 31 March 2012. She released her first single, „Aeroplan“, in February 2014, which was written by Albanian singer Rozana Radi and produced by Macedonian composer Darko Dimitrov. In November 2016, Ara competed in the 18th edition of Kënga Magjike with the song „Nëntori“ and finished third overall. In early 2017, the song’s remixes, including „Nentori (Bess Remix)“ and „Nentori (Beverly Pills Remix)“, received heavy airplay in the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) and went later on to perform at the Europa Plus Festival in Moscow, Russia. Following in August 2017, the song attained significant success in Romania and peaked at number one on the Romanian Radio and TV Airplay Charts. In December 2018, Top Channel announced that Ara would judge alongside Aleksandër and Renis Gjoka and Miriam Cani on the third series of The Voice Kids Albania.
2019–present: Eurovision and Pop Art
After winning the 58th edition of Festivali i Këngës with the song „Shaj“ in late December 2019, Radio Televizioni Shqiptar (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, in relation to the COVID-19 pandemic, the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) announced the cancellation of 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.
Ara released her debut studio album, Pop Art The Album, on 6 November 2021. Prior to its release, four subsequent 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 her native country.[29][30] Ara scored her first number-one single with „Ke me mungu“ in October 2021.
Artistry
Ara names Michael Jackson as her major musical and artistic influence.
| Name | : | Arilena Ara |
| Born | : | 17 june 1998 |
| Nationality | : | Albanian |
| National Finals | : | Festival i Këngës 2020 |
| ESC Entries | : | Fall from the sky (2020) |
| Website | : | arilenaara.com |
Entries
| Country | : | Albania |
| Year | : | 2020 |
| Language | : | English |
| Artist | : | Arilena Ara |
| Song | : | Fall from the sky |
| Lyrics | : | Michael Blue Robert Stevenson Sam Schummer |
| Composer(s) | : | Darko Dimitrov Lazar Cvetkovski |
| Results Semi | ||
| Points | : | – |
| Position | : | – |
| Running order | : | – |
| Results | ||
| Points | : | – |
| Position | : | – |
| Running order | : | – |