Aurela Gaçe (; born 16 October 1974) is an Albanian singer-songwriter, actress and television personality. Her music career made her to be called as the diva of South Albania.
Awards
A three-time
Festivali i Këngës winner, a three-time
Kënga Magjike 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''.
In 2010, she won the 49th edition of
Festivali i Këngës with the song "
Kënga ime" and represented Albania in the
Eurovision Song Contest 2011 held in
Düsseldorf
Düsseldorf is the capital city of North Rhine-Westphalia, the most populous state of Germany. It is the second-largest city in the state after Cologne and the List of cities in Germany with more than 100,000 inhabitants, seventh-largest city ...
, 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 List of cities and towns in Albania, third most populous city of Albania and seat of Vlorë County and Vlorë Municipality. Located in southwestern Albania, Vlorë sprawls on the Bay of Vlorë and is surr ...
, then part of the
People's Socialist Republic, present
Albania
Albania ( ; or ), officially the Republic of Albania (), is a country in Southeast Europe. It is located in the Balkans, on the Adriatic Sea, Adriatic and Ionian Seas within the Mediterranean Sea, and shares land borders with Montenegro to ...
.
In 2010 Gaçe won the
49th edition of "
Festivali i Këngës" with "Kënga Ime", written by Shpëtim Saraçi. Her most successful song ''Origjinale''
(feat. Dr. Flori & Marsel) has more than 20 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, 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, which was held in Düsseldorf, Germany. Gaçe flew to Los Angeles, California
Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...
to record the final version of her song, cooperating with Capitol Records
Capitol Records, LLC (known legally as Capitol Records, Inc. until 2007), and simply known as Capitol, is an American record label owned by Universal Music Group through its Capitol Music Group imprint. It was founded as the first West Coast-base ...
. 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: " Kënga ime"
* 2011: " Feel the Passion"
* 2011: "CA$H" (feat. Mc Kresha)
* 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"
See also
* Albania in the Eurovision Song Contest 2011
* Awards and nominations received by Aurela Gaçe
References
External links
*
*
Aurela Gaçe
on YouTube
YouTube is an American social media and online video sharing platform owned by Google. YouTube was founded on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim who were three former employees of PayPal. Headquartered in ...
{{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
Albanian pop musicians
Eurovision Song Contest entrants