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Elena Risteska Елена Ристеска | |
|---|---|
 Risteska in October 2009 | |
| Background information | |
| Also known as | Elena |
| Born | (1986-04-27)27 April 1986 (age 39) |
| Genres | |
| Occupations |
|
| Instrument | Vocals |
| Years active | 2002–present |
| Labels |
|
| Website | Official Website |
Elena Risteska (Macedonian:Елена Ристеска,[ɛ'lɛnari'stɛska]ⓘ; born 27 April 1986), sometimes known as simplyElena, is a Macedonian singer. Sherepresented Macedonia in theEurovision Song Contest 2006 inAthens with the song "Ninanajna", and finished in 12th place; this was the highest ever finish for the country until Risteska's record was beaten in2019.
Risteska is also an occasional songwriter, writing for artists such as 4Play,Lambe Alabakoski, and Aleksandra Pileva.
She took part inthe second season of the Serbian version ofYour Face Sounds Familiar, where she placed second in the final asBeyoncé.
Risteska was born inSkopje on 27 April 1986 in thenSR Macedonia to parents Acko and Desa. She showed an interest in thearts at an early age, inheriting hermusical interest from her mother but also pursuing other hobbies and interests. In 1994, she joined the KUD "Kočo Racin", which was aclub forfolk dance andsongs. Elena took part in school activities such as singing in the "Young Imitators" show and becoming a member of the drama club.
In 1996, Risteska made her television debut during theMak-Karaoke Show performing the song "Flamingo" on the commercial channelA1. The same year she started studying theEnglish andFrench languages. She started to sing in the schoolchoir and went toBulgaria for her firsttour with the folk dance club. In 1998, she took part in many competitions and won many local, national, and international awards in drawing. In 2000, Risteska touredBulgaria with the folk dance club again.
Risteska rose to fame in Macedonia by competing and Being one of two winners on the music-basedreality television show "Play - Search For A Star". Her debutsingle, "Ona Drugoto" ("The Other Thing") became a hit in Macedonia, resulting in her successful debut albumDen i Nok (Ден и Ноќ). The album included various songs which also became successful singles in Macedonia and otherBalkan countries. She is also an occasionalsongwriter, writing for artists such as 4Play,Lambe Alabakoski, Aleksandra Pileva, Maja Sazdanovska, Robert Bilbilov, Verica Pandilovska, Adnan, Emil and Anja Veterova.
Following the success of her debut album, she beganpromoting herself outside of Macedonia. In 2004, she performed at theGolden Stag Festival inBraşov,Romania and in 2005 she performed "Ni na nebo, ni na zemja" ("Neither heaven nor earth") at theSunčane Skale music festival inHerceg Novi,Montenegro. Hermusic video was broadcast onMTV Adria and her popularity continued to grow.
On 4 March 2006, Elena Risteska won the Macedonia pre-selection contest for theEurovision Song Contest with the song "Ninanajna". The song wascomposed andproduced byDarko Dimitrov, withlyrics byRade Vrčakovski. The song is an uptempo,pop song which includes elements ofR&B,disco anddance music. She made a video shot for the song together with the Macedonian production "Tomato". In the video, she was presented as shiny care girl that wants love. Risteska qualified for the final, and after spending most of the night on the edge of the top ten (which would guarantee automatic final qualification for Macedonia in 2007), she eventually finished 12th with 56 points, her country's highest finish ever until 2019 whenTamara Todevska came 7th with 305 points.
In July 2006, Elena performed "Ne Mogu" ("I Can't" inSerbo-Croatian) at the Sunčane Skale festival where she placed 10th overall. Elena traveled toYerevan,Armenia in September to perform as a guest in Armenia's Eurovision 2006 representativeAndre's concert. She was well received by the audience, which was expected since her Eurovision song "Ninanajna" was a summer hit and a popularringtone in Armenia. In October, Elena released a new single called "Esen Vo Mene" ("Autumn In Me"). The song was composed byDarko Dimitrov.
After her hits released over the previous year, Risteska's second album,192, was released at the end of 2006. It contains "Ninanajna", "Esen Vo Mene", a Macedonian version of "Ne Mogu" and new material.
In 2007, Elena took part inSkopje Fest 2007, the national selection for theEurovision Song Contest. Although she was not a performer this time, she wrote the lyrics for the song "Belo e se" ("Everything is White"), which was performed by Lambe Alabakoski and came in third place with 101 points. At theEurovision Song Contest 2007, she delivered the results of the national televoting of Macedonia during the final night.
Risteska participated in the Radijski Festival on 15 December 2007, performing the song "Kreveta dva". It is the Serbian version of her songIma li kraj. Elena finished in second place together withKarolina Gočeva. Elena won two awards, one for best interpretation and the other from Radio OSM Pale. At the end of 2007 she made her firstSerbian language studio album, titledMilioner. It contained mostly the same songs from "192", re-recorded in Serbian, with some exceptions.
In 2008, Risteska released her firstEnglish single, "Million Dollar Player" (the English version of the popular song "Milioner"), with a music video. The video is a production of "Corrino Media Group" with director Mike Static.[1] Leroy Chambers, author of the lyrics, takes part in the video as her "Millionaire".
After that, she returned to older projects. She shout a video for the song "Nekade Daleku[2] " from the album192. Besides the Macedonian version, she shouted a video for theSerbian version of the same song called "Bye, Bye[3] " included in the albumMilioner. Director of the video was Aleksandar Ristovski - Princ. In the middle time she made a new duet with "Parketi" called "Sakam Da Te Galam".
On 19 December 2008, Risteska held her first solo concert inSkopje. It was staged at the Metropolis Arena and featured guests such asLambe Alabakovski,Tuna, Parketi, andRegina.
In 2009, she released a video for her song "Usni Kako Temno Mastilo".[4] The same as her previous videos director was again Aleksandar Ristovski - Princ. On 3 November 2009 Elena released her single "Dosta" which is the first single from Elena's fourth studio album. On 14 March 2010 Elena released her second single of her fourth studio album named "Sakam Po Dobro Da Te Pamtam". Later that year, Elena released her single "Srekna Nov Godina" (Happy New Year). 2010 was the year of the fourth M2 Search For A Star which was the show that Elena was discovered in, but this time Elena had the role of a judge along with Ivo Jankoski, Darko Dimitrov & Vesna Petrusevska.The following year Elena was chosen as "Best Song in the Balkans from North Macedonia for 2010" with her hit single "Sakam Po Dobro Da Te Pamtam"(I want to remember you for good).On 24 June 2011 Elena & Lambe Alabakovski released their second duet titled "Najdobro Do Sega" (The Best Til Now), a music video was later recorded for the song which had already become a summer hit single. Later that year in August, Risteska held a special concert in Ohrid, North Macedonia, she performed many traditional Macedonian songs and some of her past hits but with a traditional arrangement. In September 2012, she announced that her new single would be called "Opasni Vreminja". It was released in October with new video. She shot her new video in many different places such asOhrid and other cities in Macedonia.
In late 2014, she was a contestant ofthe second season of the Serbian version ofYour Face Sounds Familiar. She imitated artists such asNina Badric,Severina,Jennifer Lopez, andEsma Redzepova. She won only in the fifth week, asJennifer Lopez singing "Booty", but she was chosen by the public to participate in the finals. She placed as the runner-up in the finals asBeyoncé, singing "End of Time".
In 2022, she performed her song "Dozivotno" together with Macedonian singerKarolina Gočeva at the latter'sNew Year's Eve performance onMacedonian Radio Television (MRT). The live performance video was released on the singer's official YouTube channel on 26 July 2023.[5]
Risteska is best known for her distinctmezzo-soprano vocal range and stage presence. Throughout her career, Risteska has drawn frequent comparisons to Beyonce and Christina Aguilera. In terms of vocals, choreography and stage presence, she has been citing both as influences in her work. She has also covered Beyonce's songHalo in 2010.[6] She stated in an interview that in her earliest youth,Celine Dion andWhitney Houston were her main influences, but as she grew she found more inspiration inBeyonce Knowles andChristina Aguilera. In 2010, Risteska also covered "Hit the Road Jack" withLambe Alabakovski.[7]
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| Preceded by | Macedonia in the Eurovision Song Contest 2006 | Succeeded by |
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