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When the Eurovision Song Contest flickers across the screens this evening, Ledina Celo from the Fulda district is looking particularly at this stage: The singer once represented Albania herself at the ESC – now she is looking back on this time.
Kalbach – Anyone who meets Ledina Celo will meet a radiant, elegant woman. The now 49-year-old once filled halls, smiled from the covers of glossy magazines and appeared on television in front of an audience of millions. “I used to be constantly on the move, often sitting on planes and rushing from concert to concert,” says Ledina with a smile. “Today I'm a little calmer and enjoying life here to the fullest. I was a big city kid, but Kalbach gives me exactly the peace and quiet I need.”
Ledina Celo sang for Albania at the ESC over 20 years ago
Ledina Celo was born with music. Growing up in the Albanian capital Tirana, her opera tenor father was her greatest role model. “The predisposition is absolutely genetic,” she says proudly. “Through my dad, I heard legends like Plácido Domingo and José Carreras from an early age.” Four years of intensive piano lessons followed – the perfect foundation for hearing and intonation.
Her teachers quickly recognized her exceptional talent and advised her to study music. When she was just 17 years old, she was on the big TV stage at the legendary summer festival in Albania in 1994. A key moment: her piano teacher had tailored a song for her, and the press went wild with enthusiasm. “The journalists wrote back then: She sings like Whitney Houston,” remembers Ledina with shining eyes.
Career start like in a fairy tale
The start of my career was like in a fairy tale. Just a year later, in 1995, she took first place at the festival. “It all happened so incredibly quickly: yesterday hardly anyone knew me, two days later I was recognized on the street. That was wonderful, but also exhausting as a young girl.” Music, she says, is freedom for her. Ledina Celo doesn't just want to sing, she wants to pass something on to her audience with her music: “a message, something they can believe in.”
This was followed by concerts, a tour through Europe and even the USA, the recording of their first album, the production of video clips and moderation of numerous shows. The absolute highlight came in the winter of 2004: Ledina won the national selection festival “Festivali i Këngës” and thus got her ticket for the Eurovision Song Contest 2005 in Kiev. But the dream also brought with it tons of responsibility. “I was 28 years old and suddenly you feel this huge weight on your shoulders. You no longer represent just yourself, but an entire country.”
Despite the immense pressure and nervousness backstage (“I thought my heart was going to stop beating!”), she kept her nerve. “Despite the tension, I had enough confidence in myself and I said to myself: I am young, I am beautiful and I have a great voice.” While the German participant Gracia finished in last place, Ledina landed in 16th place with “Tomorrow I Go”. The evening of the ESC final was a huge party: “I remember it like it was yesterday,” she says.
After the ESC adventure, Ledina Celo dreamed of an international breakthrough. She moved to London, fought her way through castings, sang in nightclubs and even performed for six months on a prestigious stage in Beirut, Lebanon. “My big dream was MTV,” she remembers today with a smile. But the music industry was tough and focused on her age: “I was already around 29 or 30 back then. That was considered old back then.”
She still appears on the big stages in Albania today
But the supposed end of the international pop dream was the beginning of her private happiness. In a detour, she got the phone number of a man she had briefly met at a concert in Switzerland in 2000: a successful kickboxing champion. Years later, Ledina's brother, who already lived in Fulda, worked for this same man. Sparks flew and Celo went to Germany. After a stopover in Eschwege, the couple finally moved to Fulda. “It’s a beautiful city, I really like it,” enthuses the singer.
The family now lives in Kalbach. The two children are 11 and 15 years old. The pop diva temporarily gave up her great career for the sake of her younger generation. Nevertheless, she continues to show her talent again and again. She smiles and remembers a performance with the Niederkalbach carnival club in Frankfurt, which was broadcast on hr television.
The big show stage also always attracts: she often appears in her home country – whether at the Miss Albania show or as a juror on the Albanian ESC jury. Last year, Celo also sat on the jury for the first season of “Albania's got Talent” – the Albanian counterpart to “Supertalent” and evaluated the young up-and-coming artists there. “It was a great experience: I recognized myself in these young people,” says she, whose songs are still part of Albanian cultural heritage today and who is followed by almost a million people on Instagram.
The next emotional milestone is just around the corner: In June she will travel as a jury member to the summer festival in Albania – where it all began more than 30 years ago. She will sing the song from back then again. Tonight, when the ESC anthem sounds, Ledina Celo will be sitting in front of the television and will definitely be cheering along with the singers.
While Ledina Celo can now look back on an international career with performances, formats such as “The Voice of Fulda” shows that musical dreams live on in the region: Young talents like Susanne Vey gain their first stage experience here – perhaps the beginning of a path that could one day take them far beyond Fulda.
