Elena Risteska

Elena Risteska
Елена Ристеска

Risteska in October, 2009

Background information

Birth name - Elena Risteska
Also known as - Elena
Born - April 27, 1986 (age 26) Skopje, SR Macedonia, SFR Yugoslavia
Origin - Skopje, Macedonia
Genres - Pop, Hip Hop, R&B, Rap
Occupations - Singer (Soprano), Songwriting
Years active - 2002 – present
Labels M2 Productions

Elena Risteska (Macedonian: Елена Ристеска, [ˈɛːlɛna ˈristeska] (help·info)) (born April 27, 1986 in Skopje, SR Macedonia, SFR Yugoslavia) is a Macedonian singer and song-writer. She represented Macedonia in the Eurovision Song Contest 2006, held in Athens with the song «Ninanajna» and finished on the 12th place. That is the best result made by Macedonia in the Eurovision Song Contest ever.Contents [hide]

Biography

Early life

Elena Risteska was born in Skopje on the 27th of April, SFR Yugoslavia (today Macedonia) and showed an interest in the arts at an early age. Her mother’s name is Desa and her father’s Acko. Elena inherited her musical interest from her mother but also pursued other hobbies and interests. In 1994, Elena joined the KUD «Kočo Racin», which was a club for folk dance and songs. Elena took part in school activities such as singing in the «Young Imitators» show and becoming a member of the drama club.

In 1996, Elena made her television debut during the Mak-Karaoke Show performing the song «Flamingo» on the commercial channel A1. The same year she started to take a course on the English and French languages. Elena started to sing in the school choir and went to Bulgaria for her first tour with the folk dance club. In 1998, Elena took part in many competitions and won many local, national, and international awards in drawing. In 2000, Elena went on tour in Turkey, the Czech Republic and Bulgaria with the folk dance club.

Professional start

Elena rose to fame in Macedonia by competing and winning the music-based reality television show «Play - Search For A Star» in her home country. Her debut single, «Ona Drugoto» («The Other Thing») became a hit in Macedonia, resulting in her successful debut album Den i Nok (Ден и Ноќ). The album included various songs which also became successful singles in Macedonia and other Balkan countries. Risteska is also an occasional songwriter, writing for artists such as 4Play, Lambe Alabakoski, Aleksandra Pileva, Maja Sazdanovska, Robert Bilbilov, Verica Pandilovska, Adnan, Emil and Anja Veterova.

Following the great success of her debut album, Elena began promoting herself outside of Macedonia. In 2004, she performed at the Golden Stag Festival in Braşov, Romania and in 2005 she performed «Ni na nebo, ni na zemja» («Neither heaven nor earth») at the Sunčane Skale music festival in Herceg Novi, Montenegro. Elena’s music video was broadcast on MTV Adria and her popularity continued to grow.

Elena in the Eurovision Song Contest 2006
Main articles: Macedonia in the Eurovision Song Contest 2006 and Ninanajna

On March 4, 2006, Elena Risteska won the Macedonia pre-selection contest for the Eurovision Song Contest with the song «Ninanajna». The song was composed and produced by Darko Dimitrov, with lyrics by Rade Vrčakovski. The song is an uptempo, pop song which includes elements of R&B, disco and dance 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 66 points, the best finish for any musician representing Macedonia in the Eurovision Song Contest.

After Eurovision Song Contest - 2007
Main articles: 192 (album) and Milioner (album)

In July, 2006, Elena performed «Ne Mogu» («I Can’t» in Serbo-Croatian) at the Sunčane Skale festival where she placed 10th overall. Elena traveled to Yerevan, Armenia in September to perform as a guest in Armenia’s Eurovision 2006 representative Andre’s concert. She was well received by the audience, which was expected since her Eurovision song «Ninanajna» was a summer hit and a popular ringtone in Armenia. In October, Elena released a new single called «Esen Vo Mene» («Autumn In Me»). The song was composed by Darko Dimitrov.

After her countless hits released in the past year, Elena’s second album, 192, was released at the end of 2006. The album contains «Ninanajna», «Esen Vo Mene», a Macedonian version of «Ne Mogu» and new material. 192 is the three-digit telephone number for the police in Macedonia.

In 2007, Elena took part in Skopje Fest 2007, the national selection for the Eurovision 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 the Eurovision Song Contest 2007, she delivered the results of the national Macedonian televoting during the final night.

Elena participated in the Radijski Festival on December 15, 2007 performing the song «Kreveta dva». It is the Serbian version of her song Ima li kraj. Elena finished in second place together with Karolina Gočeva. Elena won two awards, one for best interpretation and the other from Radio OSM Pale. At the end of 2007 she realized her first Serbian language studio album called Milioner. It contained nearly the same songs from «192» just re-recorded in Serbian (with exceptions some stayed as they were, in Macedonian).

2008 - present

For Elena 2008 started professional. She released her first English single with a music video. It was for the song «Million Dollar Player» (the English version of the popular song «Milioner». The video is production of «Corrino Media Group» and the director of the video is Mike Static[1]. Beside Elena, Leroy Chambers takes part in the video as her «Millionaire». In fact he is the author of the lyrics too.

After that Elena returned to older projects. She shout a video for the song «Nekade Daleku[2]» from the album 192. Besides the Macedonian version, she shouted a video for the Serbian version of the same song called «Bye, Bye[3]» included in the album Milioner. 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 the 19th of December, 2008 Elena made her first sufficient concert in Skopje. It was held in Metropolis Arena and featured many guests as: Lambe Alabakovski, Tuna, Parketi, Regina and etc.

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 November 3 2009 Elena released her single «Dosta» which is the first single from Elena’s fourth studio album which will be released in 2010.

Discography

Elena performing in 2007.
Main article: Elena Risteska discography

Albums
Den i Nok (2003)
192 (2006)
Milioner (2008)
Untitled Forth Upcoming album (2010}

Compilations
Play: Search for a new Star (Compilation)
Makedonija Zasekogaš

Solo Singles
2002: «Ona Drugoto»
2003: «Den I Nok»
2003: «Raj I Pekol»
2003: «Vo Tvojot Svet» (with Adnan)
2003: «Ne Sakam Da Krijam»
2004: «Pobeda Za Nas» (with Emil Arsov)
2004: «Ni Na Nebo, Ni Na Zemja»
2006: «Ninanajna»
2006: «Ne Mogu»
2006: «Ljubav Nije Za Nas» (with Grupa Regina)
2006: «Esen Vo Mene»
2007: «192»
2007: «Milioner» (featuring Leroy Chambers)
2007: «Kreveta Dva»
2008: «Million Dollar Player
2008: «Nekade Daleku/Bye, Bye»
2008: «More Sokol Pie»
2008: «Sakam Da Te Galam» (with Parketi)
2009: «Usni Kako Temno Mastilo/Usne Boje Tamnog Mastila»
2009: «Dosta»

Featured Singles
2006: «Zaspana Ubavica» feat. Vrčak
2006: «Na Nekoi Drugi Svetovi» (with Lambe Alabakoski feat. Vrčak)
2008: «Sakam Zeleno» (feat. other singers)
2008: «Come and Get Me» (with SnowBlack)
2009: «Icelenie» (feat. other singers)

Awards

Golden Lady Bug
Discovery of the Year

2006:
Female Singer of the Year

Night of Stars

2004:
Most Attractive Singer of the Year

Sunčane Skale

2006:
Princeton Award for Debut of the Year

2007:
Duet of the Year: «Love Is Not For Us»

High School Union
Discovery of the Year

2006:
Most Successful Female Singer of the Year

Other awards
SMS Hit of the Year (as voted by the listeners of Antenna 5 radio)
Female Singer of the Year (as voted by the listeners of MS television)

2006:
Duet of the Year: «Ljubav Nije Za Nas» (Love is not for us)» (Oscar of Popularity)

Radijski Festival

2007:
The best interpretation
The award from Radio OSM Pale