Category Archives: Arts and Culture

UK’s Mirror Magazine has featured an article on Rita Ora’s appearance on the Voice. Apart from her singing, the magazine also highlights Ora’s past, the path to success and what has made Rita Ora the artist that she is today.

Born Rita Sahatçiu in 1990, her first name was in tribute to classic film star Rita Hayworth and her surname was the hereditary profession of her family – Sahatçiu (in Albanian: watchmaker). In a nod to the profession, her father gave her the surname Ora meaning ‘hour’ because it rolled off the tongue easier.

Rita’s family fled from Yugoslavia when she was a year old and she grew up near Portobello Road, London. Her grandmother Besa, who still lives there, told the Sun: “There were riots, uprisings and suppression by the Government of the former Yugoslavia. Kosovars wanted rights like other Yugoslav republics.”

Rita began singing in open mic sessions in London and performed in her dad’s pub. She had her first taste of fame in 2007 when she appeared on Craig David’s Awkward. She caught the attention of DJ Fresh, who was looking for a female singer for his song Hot Right Now, and the rest, as they say is history.

Check out the rest of the article by following the link here.

Rona Still on Top

“Suus” of Rona Nishliu is ranked 18th among 250 best songs of the Eurovision Song Contest. The representing song of Albania in the grand finale of the Eurovision 2012 reached the top-20 in the 2014 edition of the #ESC250 Eurovision TOP 250 songs survey.

Over four thousand people have voted throughout December 2014 for the listing of the 250 best songs of the ESC festival.

Rona, a native of Kosovo born on August 25, 1987, achieved the best placement for Albania to date in Eurovision Song Contest 2012 in Baku, Azerbaijan.

The impression never ends:

Five Diaspora Highlights of 2014

2014 was a successful year for the Kosovo and Albanian diaspora across the world. Representatives of diaspora were noted for their accomplishments in various fields including sports, music, arts and business. We have compiled here only five highlights to remember 2014 and welcome 2015. This list is by no means exhaustive as it includes only some of the many successes of our diaspora.

1. Majlinda is the Best Judoka in World!

Majlinda Kelmendi, the record-smashing judoka from Kosovo, was announced as the best judoka in the world for 2014 by the International Judo Federation. She is World and European champion in judo in the 52 kg category. The 23-year old Majlinda has become the hope of her country for the Rio Olympics in 2016 after Kosovo gained full membership in the International Olympic Committee last December. We wish her all the best as she keeps winning gold!

2. Rita Ora Performed in Washington at President Obama’s Christmas concert

Rita made us all proud with her flawless voice and looks at the President Obama’s concert in Washington. See the video below:

3. Xherdan Shaqiri scored a hat trick at the World Cup

Xherdan scored three goals in a single match for Switzerland against Honduras during the World Cup held last summer in Brazil. The Swiss national team depended in large part on the other Albanian players as well: Valon Behrami, Granit Xhaka, Blerim Xhemajli, Admir Mehmeti and Pajtim Kasami.

4. Shkodran Mustafi and Germany won the World Cup

Shkodran Mustafi became the first Albanian to play for a winning team at the World Cup!

5. Shkëlzen Doli performed at the Vienna Philharmonic concert

The cherry on the cake was a wonderful performance of Albanian music at the Vienna Philharmonic New Year’s concert by Shkëlzen Doli, who was born in Albania and raised in Kosovo.

Last but not least, here’s a remake in Pristina of the 2014 hit “Happy”:

Flaka Haliti in All the World’s Futures

Flaka Haliti, the Kosovar artist who lives and works between Prishtina, Vienna and Munich will represent Kosovo in the 56th edition of the International Art Exhibition of La Biennale di Venezia. “All the World’s Futures” exhibition will take place from May 9th to November 22nd 2015 at the Giardini and at the Arsenale and in various other city venues in Venice, Italy.

Haliti, who was born in 1982 in Prishtina, will participate in this event with curator Nicolas Schafhausen from Germany, also known as the founder of several cultural institutions in Europe. The Kosovar artist explains that the visitors to this year’s edition in the Pavilion of Kosovo at the Biennale can see a mix-media installation with adapted size to the dimension of reserved space for Kosovo’s art representation.

This is the second year that Kosovo participates in this unique event of visual arts. The first International Art Exhibition of the reformed Biennale di Venezia took place in 1999.

The original article was published in KOHA Net.

Inva Mula: The Opera Queen in Marseille Opera

On the last night of 2014, December 31^st, Inva Mula conquered the stage of Marseille Opera Theatre with the role of Adina in the “L’elisir d’amore” (The Elixir of Love) comic opera. She performed under Roberto Rizzi Brignoli’s music and orchestra of the theater.

This act was the choice of the theater to close 2014 as a successful year for the Marseille Opera and will come up again in the theater scene during the early days of 2015, January 2^nd and 4^th.

“L’elisir d’amore” has been the most featured opera in Italy during 1838-1848. Its premiere took place on May 12, 1832 at the Teatro della Canobbiana in Milan and today is part of the global repertoire of operas.

2014 has been a successful year for the Albanian opera soprano Inva Mula, who was born on June 27, 1963 in Tirana, Albania.

The Astonishing Albanian Soul

Shkëlzen Doli, the renowned Albanian violinist of the Vienna Philharmonic, started 2015 with a great performance in the Vienna Philharmonic New Year’s Concert. The greatest show of classical music in the world this year took place under the baton of Zubin Mehta on January 1, 2015.

The “Albanian Soul” (in Albanian: “Shpirti Shqipar”) was a 4-minute performance, part of this year’s concert, which was broadcast live today on 90 countries of the world for more than 50 million television viewers.

Albanian music motives were performed for the first time in the history of this reputable concert by the Vienna Philharmonic Ensemble, which is the formation of the Albanian violinist from Elbasan who was raised in the city of Gjakova, Kosovo.

Numerous compositions by Johann Strauss Father and Son, Eduard and Josef Strauss, as well as works by Franz von Suppé und Hans Christian Lumbye were featured in this year’s program.

Click here for the video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wt8mm2_NyMA

Imam Mustafa Is The Swiss Of The Year!

Known for his moderate views on Islam and uncompromising attitude towards the extreme, Imam Mustafë Mehmeti has been awarded the “The Swiss of the Year” title by the “SonntagsZeitung” newspaper. Originating from the Presevo Valley and a Swiss citizen since 2005, Imam Mustafë Mehmeti is the president of the Albanian Islamic Community of Switzerland and acting imam at the Albanian mosque in Bern.

Mr. Mehmeti has been a voice of reason in dealing with all matters treated in Swiss opinion affecting Muslims or indirectly even the Albanian Muslims. He has been famously quoted as arguing against silence: “We as Muslims should not contest that there is extremism in the name of Islam. We need to speak up among us – the Muslims, as well as among our locals. Silence is not a solution”.

By awarding Mr. Mehmeti, the SonntagsZeitung editors are sending a sign of support for the peaceful coexistence of religions in Switzerland. He has been awarded on “his courage and commitment to dealing with the most difficult debates of our time”.

Source: http://koha.net/?id=27&l=38951

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