She’s one of Albania’s most respected singer-songwriters, having slayed her way to fifth place at Eurovision 2012.
And earlier this month producers at The Voice of Albania conferred another honour on Rona Nishliu, announcing that she’ll serve as a coach on the upcoming sixth edition of the series.
The “Suus” singer will join Alban Skënderaj, Alma Bektashi and Sidrit Bejleri as coaches on the Top Channel show.
Practically a national treasure in Albania since Eurovision, Rona has campaigned against gender violence, sat on the Festival i Këngës jury and released her well-received debut album “Me Motive Tonat” (With Our Motives).
With The Voice of Albania she’ll share her star power with the next generation of stars. Auditions kick off on 14 October.
Rona Nishliu at Eurovision 2012
Ahead of the contest, Rona finished in second place with the Wiwi Jury, our in-house panel of musical unprofessionals. One juror wrote:
She who shrieks does not win. But she who belts it out Rona Nishliu-style has a major chance of doing well….“Suus” is a deeply emotional ballad in the style of 2007’s winning song “Molitva.” Given that the Albanians have a knack for re-mixing, cutting, and generally re-casting their Eurovision entries ahead of the contest, I have no doubt they will nip and tuck this song to perfection. And given the vocals on Rona—she serves it up like Mariah Carey, y’all!—I see this going down very well in Baku. I just hope she doesn’t shatter the ceiling of Baku’s Crystal Hall Arena!
At Eurovision itself she finished third with the professional juries and eighth in the televote, which was good enough for fifth place.
Are you excited to see her on the show? Let us know below!
Great, I love her! <3