Vesa Luma

Vesa Luma is a Kosovo Albanian pop singer, songwriter and television presenter. She was born on 12 May 1986 in Pristina, the capital of Kosovo, and grew up and studied there, which is why she is on Muzika-Balkan. For some years she lived with her family in New Zealand; in 2023 she told Telegrafi that they had come back to Kosovo on a one-way ticket, to be close to family, without ruling out leaving again one day. She has performed in Kosovo and Albania since, including a 2024 concert in Pristina.

She comes from a family of intellectuals and says she got her talent from her mother. She first sang at the age of five, at the Akordet e Kosovës festival with the children's group Xixëllonjat. She finished the lower music school in flute, then studied solo singing at the Prenk Jakova music secondary school in Pristina, and later graduated in mass communication and journalism at AAB University. For about seven years she worked as a journalist and presenter at the public broadcaster RTK.

Her singing career took off on the Albanian talent show Ethet e së premtes mbrëma, where she reached the final. In 2004 she joined Rona Nishliu and Teuta Kurti at the 43rd Festivali i Këngës with "Flakareshë"; the trio reached the final on 18 December 2004. She went on to win prizes at Albanian festivals, and songs such as "Jemi dhe s'jemi", "Amanet", "Luaj" and "Edhe për mua do të ketë një zemër" became her best-known hits.

She also became a familiar face on television. In 2012 she was a judge and mentor on X Factor in Albania, and she took part in Dancing with the Stars. She has presented TV shows, produced her own show in Kosovo and hosted a weekend radio programme. Kosovo's Ministry of Culture named her a goodwill ambassador for her charity concerts.

In 2023 she competed at Festivali i Këngës 62 with "Mbinatyrale", a duet with the rapper Big Basta, her husband, and in 2024 she was part of the Albanian jury at the Junior Eurovision Song Contest. The playlist gathers her official videos and her 2024 concert at the Opera and Ballet Theatre in Tirana.