Çiljeta

Biography

Çiljeta was born in Tirana, Albania, to Ferdinand Xhilaga, an accountant, whose family hailed from Debar but who was born in Delvinë, and Majlinda Xhilaga, a hairdresser, from Korçë. She attended the Sami Frashëri High School in the city.

Career as model

Xhilaga featured in the Miss Shqipëria competition in 2001 and won the title "Miss Cinema".

Career as singer

Çiljeta distinguished herself in the successful song Dridhe (English: Shake it), a collaboration with Getoar Selimi of Tingulli 3nt, a rap group from Kosovo. The song was followed by many successful ones, especially Puçi Puçi (English: Kiss kiss), featuring Ingrid Gjoni, and Të dy qajmë të ndarë (English: Away we both cry), a hit composed by Flori Mumajesi and with words of Ardit Roshi in the Kënga Magjike of 2010, where she cried while interpreting the song. Çiljeta had already interpreted in the Kënga Magjike 08 with S'ke ku vete (English: Can't go nowhere).

Çiljeta participated in the Dancing with the Stars (Albania) show, in its 2011 (second) edition, along with partner Dion Gjinika.

Private life

Çiljeta had a son in February 4, 2013, whom she has named Ferdinand, her father's name. Her partner and father of the baby, is reportedly a French architect with a Latin American background. She is a well known supporter of Partizani Tirana

Politics

Çiljeta is self-declared as being a supporter of the Democratix Party of Albania, and its leader [[Lulzim Basha]. Earlier, she had sung in New York, in a party organized by Red and Black Alliance, now an extinguished party, but declared that she was unaware of who the organizer of the party was.

She notably had two public reactions against Serbia and Greece politicians: to Serbia after the Serbian government removed a memorial to the Liberation Army of Preševo, Medveđa and Bujanovac in Preševo, an Albanian-inhabited region of Serbia. The second reaction was to Greece, after she saw in television an anti-Albanian interview of Christos Pappas, a politician of the Golden Dawn, a Greek far-right political party. After these declarations, the Greek media attacked her, saying that she claims to be a singer, but must be something else, and published provoking photos of Çiljeta.

Humanitarian activities

In March 20, 2012 Çiljeta was reported by the media to visit a correctional facility for minors, where she met 38 children, a meeting organized by the Institute of Minors, Kavaje, the Center for the Human Rights of Children of Albania, and UNICEF.

Hits