Albina Kelmendi (; born 27 January 1998) is a Kosovo-Albanian singer and songwriter. She rose to fame after placing as the runner-up on the fourth series of ''

The Voice of Albania ''The Voice of Albania'' is an Albanian television reality singing competition created by John de Mol and is part of ''The Voice'' franchise. It began airing on Top Channel on October 21, 2011 and ended after six seasons on May 19, 2017. Top C ...

'' in 2014. Kelmendi and her family represented Albania in the

Eurovision Song Contest 2023 The Eurovision Song Contest 2023 is the upcoming 67th edition of the Eurovision Song Contest. It is set to take place in Liverpool, United Kingdom, after , winner of the with the song " Stefania" by Kalush Orchestra, was unable to meet the dem ...

with the song " Duje".

Early life

Albina Kelmendi was born in

Pejë Peja ( Indefinite Albanian form: ''Pejë'' ) or Peć ( sr-Cyrl, Пећ ) is the fourth largest city of Kosovo and seat of Peja Municipality and Peja District. It is situated in the region of Rugova on the eastern section of the Accursed Mount ...

Kosovo Kosovo ( sq, Kosova or ; sr-Cyrl, Косово ), officially the Republic of Kosovo ( sq, Republika e Kosovës, links=no; sr, Република Косово, Republika Kosovo, links=no), is a partially recognised state in Southeast Euro ...

(then part of

FR Yugoslavia Serbia and Montenegro ( sr, Cрбија и Црна Гора, translit=Srbija i Crna Gora) was a country in Southeast Europe located in the Balkans that existed from 1992 to 2006, following the breakup A relationship breakup, breakup, or ...

). She studied clarinet and piano at the Halit Kasapolli music school in her hometown, and started performing together with her family under the name Family Band.

Career

2014–2021: ''The Voice of Albania'' and Top Fest

In 2014, she auditioned for the fourth series of ''

''. After getting chair turns from all four coaches, she joined Team Elsa. She finished as the runner-up of the season. The following year, she took part in the twelfth edition of

Top Fest Top Fest was an Albanian music competition organised by Top Channel. It began airing in 2004 with its last edition being in 2015. The event was annually held in Tirana, Albania. The songs were usually performed in Albanian with artists from Albani ...

, where she presented the song "Nuk ka ma mire".

2022–present: ''Nana loke'', Festivali i Këngës, and Eurovision Song Contest

In June 2022, Albina Kelmendi released her debut album, ''Nana loke''. In December of the same year, she and five members of her family took part in the Festivali i Këngës 61 as Albina & Familja Kelmendi, where they presented the song " Duje". While coming in second place on the final night, the result of which was decided by a jury, the public chose her as the Albanian representative at the

in Liverpool, United Kingdom. At Eurovision in Liverpool, she performed in the second semi-final on 11 May 2023, and managed to successfully qualify to the final. She placed 22nd in the grand final.

Discography

Studio albums

Singles

As lead artist

Notes

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kelmendi, Albina Kosovo Albanians Albanian pop musicians 1998 births Living people People from Peja Eurovision Song Contest entrants for Albania Eurovision Song Contest entrants of 2023