About
Biography
In the same year, she collaborated with Vesa Luma and Teuta Kurti to participate in the 43rd Festivali i Këngës. They aspired to represent Albania in the Eurovision Song Contest 2005 with their song “Flakareshë”. While they reached the final on 18 December 2004, Ledina Çelo ultimately won.
Nishliu represented Albania in the 2012 Eurovision Song Contest, held in Baku, Azerbaijan. She won her national selection on 29 December 2011 with “Suus”, becoming the first Kosovo singer to represent Albania. The tragic Qafa e Vishës bus incident led to a delay of over two hours in the first semi-final on 22 May, impacting the viewership of Nishliu’s performance. Consequently, Albania relied on jury votes for voting. RTK did not broadcast the semi-final highlights due to the tragedy. Nishliu secured fifth place in the final, earning 146 points, which stands as Albania’s top performance. She was granted Albanian citizenship on 12 January 2012.
Following Eurovision, Nishliu dedicated herself to humanitarian causes. She joined “Bonu cool, mos bjer shpullë”, an initiative promoting gender sensitivity. For this, she released “Se vetëm zemra flet saktë”, a song against young gender violence, which she produced and wrote. This song is part of a campaign by the Kosovo Gender Studies Centre, funded by the European Union.
On 18 September 2014, Rona showcased Kosovar culture with a concert in Belgrade, Serbia during the “Mirëdita, dobar dan” festival, earning a standing ovation.
In 2017, Rona became a coach for the sixth season of The Voice of Albania. In 2018, she performed at the Jazz Fest of Tetova. She also was present at the OGAE Congress in Spain.
In April 2019, Rona recorded a couple of songs with the Rona Nishliu Quartet, like “Mallëngjimi” and “Me lule t’bukra” and a live album, “Mindil”. She also performed for the charity organization SOS Fshatrat e Fëmijëve Kosovë.
In December 2021, she performed in a Christmas show on Kosovar television in duet with Gjon’s Tears. In December 2022 she started performing as Rona Nishliu & The New Big Band under the lead of Edon Ramadani. In August and September 2023 she performed at the Mitrovica International Jazz Days.
