Aurela Gaçe (; born 16 October 1974) is an Albanian singer and songwriter. She is a three-time

Festivali i Këngës Festivali i Këngës (; ), also referred to as simply FiK, is an annual music competition in Albania organised by the national broadcaster Radio Televizioni Shqiptar (RTSH). Broadcast every year since its inauguration in 1962, it has also determ ...

winner, a three-time

Kënga Magjike Kënga Magjike (; ) is an annual music competition organised by the Albanian television broadcaster Televizioni Klan. The music competition has been broadcasting annually since its inauguration in 1999 with the exception of 2020. The first edi ...

winner and a two-time Balkan Music Award winner for ''Balkan's Song of the Year'' and ''Best Singer from Albania''. She was a judge on the third season 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 2011, she won the 49th edition of

with the song "

Kënga ime "Feel the Passion" is a song by Albanian singer Aurela Gaçe. It was issued as a CD single on 15 April 2011 by EMI. The English-language pop and rock song was composed by Shpëtim Saraçi and written by Sokol Marsi. An accompanying music vi ...

" and represented Albania in the

Eurovision Song Contest 2011 The Eurovision Song Contest 2011 was the 56th edition of the Eurovision Song Contest. It took place in Düsseldorf, Germany, following the country's victory at the with the song "Satellite" by Lena. Organised by the European Broadcasting Union ...

held in

Düsseldorf Düsseldorf ( , , ; often in English sources; Low Franconian and Ripuarian: ''Düsseldörp'' ; archaic nl, Dusseldorp ) is the capital city of North Rhine-Westphalia, the most populous state of Germany. It is the second-largest city in th ...

, Germany.

Life and career

Aurela Gaçe was born on 16 October 1974 into an Albanian family in the village of Llakatund,

Vlorë Vlorë ( , ; sq-definite, Vlora) is the third most populous city of the Republic of Albania and seat of Vlorë County and Vlorë Municipality. Located in southwestern Albania, Vlorë sprawls on the Bay of Vlorë and is surrounded by the foothi ...

, then part of the People's Socialist Republic, present

Albania Albania ( ; sq, Shqipëri or ), or , also or . officially the Republic of Albania ( sq, Republika e Shqipërisë), is a country in Southeastern Europe. It is located on the Adriatic and Ionian Seas within the Mediterranean Sea and shares ...

. In 2010 Gaçe won the 49th edition of "

" with "Kënga Ime", written by Shpëtim Saraçi. Her most successful song ''Origjinale'' (feat. Dr. Flori & Marsel) has more than 8 million views on YouTube."Origjinale"
Aurela Gaçe After experiencing success during the late 1990s and early 2000s, Gaçe quit singing and moved to the United States where she spent 8 years. She returned to the music industry in 2010 releasing "Origjinale", a song composed by

Flori Mumajesi Florjan Mumajesi (; born 23 August 1982), known professionally as Flori, is an Albanian recording artist, composer, producer, and singer. Born and raised in Tirana, Mumajesi began his career at an early age and rose to significant recognition aft ...

, that became a success in Albania. In late 2010, Gaçe was invited by Shpëtim Saraçi to participate in the Festivali i Këngës. Initially she denied the request, as she stated "It is time for new artists to be promoted with original music performed by an orchestra". However, she later decided to participate.

Eurovision Song Contest

Gaçe participated in the Festivali i Këngës, 10 years after her last participation. She won for the third time, and was chosen to represent her

Albania in the Eurovision Song Contest 2011 Albania participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 2011 in Düsseldorf, Germany, with the song " Feel the Passion" performed by Aurela Gaçe. Its selected entry was chosen through the national selection competition Festivali i Këngës organise ...

, which was held in Düsseldorf, Germany. Gaçe flew to

Los Angeles, California Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

to record the final version of her song, cooperating with

Capitol Records Capitol Records, LLC (known legally as Capitol Records, Inc. until 2007) is an American record label distributed by Universal Music Group through its Capitol Music Group imprint. It was founded as the first West Coast-based record label of note ...

. Later, it was announced that the song title would be " Feel the Passion", as the song was translated to English. The final version was released on 12 March 2011. Gaçe appeared on the first semi-final of the Eurovision Song Contest 2011, performing third. She finished 14th in total with 47 points, thus failing to qualify to the final of the competition.

Discography

Albums

* 1998: ''Oh Nënë'' * 1998: ''The Best'' * 2001: ''Tundu Bejke'' * 2001: ''Superxhiro'' * 2008: ''Mu Thanë Sytë'' * 2012: ''Paraprakisht''

Singles

* 1993: "Pegaso" * 1994: "Nuk mjafton" * 1995: "Nata" * 1996: "Me jetën dashuruar" * 1997: "Pranvera e vonuar" * 1997: "Fati ynë shpresë dhe marrëzi" * 1998: "E pafajshme jam" * 1999: "S'jam tribu" * 2000: "Cimica" * 2001: "Jetoj" * 2007: "Hape veten" * 2008: "Bosh" * 2009: "Mu thanë sytë" * 2009: "Jehonë" (feat. West Side Family) * 2010: "Origjinale" (feat. Dr. Flori & Marsel) * 2010: "

" * 2011: " Feel the Passion" * 2011: "CA$H" (feat.

Mc Kresha Kreshnik Fazliu (; born 5 September 1984), known professionally as MC Kresha, is a Kosovo-Albanian rapper and songwriter. Born and raised in Mitrovica, Fazliu is credited as a viable hip hop artist in the Albanian-speaking Balkans. Life and ca ...

) * 2012: "Tranzit" * 2012: "Boom Boom Boom" * 2012: "Ja ke nge" * 2013: "Shpirt i shpirtit tim" * 2013: "Dua" * 2014: "Merrem sonte" * 2014: "Pa kontroll" (feat. Young Zerka) * 2015: "Akoma jo" * 2016: "Nënë e imja nënë" * 2017: "S'mundem" * 2017: "S'nuk" (feat. Fifi) * 2020: "Lento"

References

External links

* *
Aurela Gaçe
on

YouTube YouTube is a global online video platform, online video sharing and social media, social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gace, Aurela 1974 births Living people People from Vlorë 21st-century Albanian women singers Albanian songwriters 20th-century Albanian women singers Albanian expatriates in the United States Albanian jazz singers Balkan Music Awards winners Festivali i Këngës winners Kënga Magjike winners Eurovision Song Contest entrants of 2011 Albanian pop musicians