Edita Abdieski (born 14 November 1984) is a Swiss pop singer. She rose to fame during the
debut series of the German ''
X Factor
''The X Factor'' is a television music competition franchise created by British producer Simon Cowell and his company Syco Entertainment. It originated in the United Kingdom, where it was devised as a replacement for '' Pop Idol'' (2001–200 ...
'' show, which she won in November 2010.
Early life
Abdieski is the eldest child born to a
Macedonian Albanian father and a
Montenegrin Albanian mother.
Raised in
Bern
Bern (), or Berne (), ; ; ; . is the ''de facto'' Capital city, capital of Switzerland, referred to as the "federal city".; ; ; . According to the Swiss constitution, the Swiss Confederation intentionally has no "capital", but Bern has gov ...
alongside three younger siblings, she spent much of her childhood in the
Bern borough of Bümpliz-Oberbottigen, where she was enrolled at primary and secondary school. Her father died of cancer in 1992.
At eleven, Abdieski became part of her first school band and by the age of thirteen, she began writing songs.
After leaving school, she was trained as qualified office employee,
but as she hoped to embark on a professional singing career, Abdieski enrolled at the
Swiss Musical Academy in Bern – much against the wishes of her mother, who was sceptical about her daughter's ambition, prompting Abdieski to leave home and move into a girls' flat-sharing community in 2002.
To fund her academical training, she was forced to take four side jobs at times.
Career
2002—2009: Career beginnings
In 2002, a producer asked Abdieski and school friend Vanessa Tancredi to collaborate on a
mundart album, a collection of songs in
Swiss German
Swiss German (Standard German: , ,Because of the many different dialects, and because there is no #Conventions, defined orthography for any of them, many different spellings can be found. and others; ) is any of the Alemannic German, Alemannic ...
dialect
A dialect is a Variety (linguistics), variety of language spoken by a particular group of people. This may include dominant and standard language, standardized varieties as well as Vernacular language, vernacular, unwritten, or non-standardize ...
.
Barely trained in mundart singing, Abdieski even so accepted the offer to record a full-length album, and during the following two years, the pair worked with production duo Thomas Fässler and Ben Mühlethaler on what would eventually become the debut album of ''Vanessædita''.
Meanwhile, Abdieski was hired as a backing vocalist for the Swiss pop–rock band
Lunik and worked with musician
Santiago Cortés on his debut album ''Welcome to My Airline'' (2005).
The album's leading single, "Don't Leave Me," sung and co-written by Abdieski, reached number forty on the
Swiss Singles Chart. Still with Vanessædita, Abdieski was cast in the leading role of Kimberly in the musical ''Dance Me! – The Streetdance Musical'' in autumn 2005. A same-titled album, on which she appeared along with her ensemble, was released in January 2006 but failed to chart.
After Vanessædita's contract signing with Muve Recordings, their album ''Z'Debü'' ("''The Debut''") was finally released in Switzerland in March 2006. Although its first single "Wenn ig nume wüsst" entered the top fifty of the
Swiss Singles Chart, the
pop soul–influenced album underperformed commercially, only reaching number eighty-two on the
Swiss Albums Chart.
In 2007, Abdieski and Tancredi disbanded amicably, citing musical differences.
Abdieski later stated, that after one album, she had become aware that mundart singing was "not
erthing."
2010: ''X Factor''
Abdieski auditioned for the
debut series of ''
X Factor
''The X Factor'' is a television music competition franchise created by British producer Simon Cowell and his company Syco Entertainment. It originated in the United Kingdom, where it was devised as a replacement for '' Pop Idol'' (2001–200 ...
'' in 2010, singing
Joss Stone's "
Tell Me 'Bout It". She was mentored by
Till Brönner and was announced the winner on 9 November 2010, winning a record deal with
Sony Music
Sony Music Entertainment (SME), commonly known as Sony Music, is an American multinational music company owned by Japanese conglomerate Sony Group Corporation. It is the recording division of Sony Music Group, with the other half being the ...
.
2010: First Studio Album ''One''
In November and December 2010, Edita was recording her debut studio album which will be called ''
One
1 (one, unit, unity) is a number, numeral, and glyph. It is the first and smallest positive integer of the infinite sequence of natural numbers. This fundamental property has led to its unique uses in other fields, ranging from science to sp ...
''. The record will be released in March 2011. It will include her top ten hit "
I've Come to Life" and her 2nd single "The Key" which was written by
Jörgen Elofsson who has also written songs for
Celine Dion
Céline Marie Claudette Dion (born 30 March 1968) is a Canadian singer. Referred to as the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, Queen of Power Ballads", Dion's powerful, technically skilled vocals and commercially successful works have had ...
Britney Spears
Britney Jean Spears (born December 2, 1981) is an American singer. Often referred to as the "Princess of Pop", she has sold over 150 million records worldwide, making her one of the world's best-selling music artists. Cultural impact of Brit ...
and
Il Divo. Another highlight will be a feature with Latin star
Ricky Martin
Enrique Martin Morales (born December 24, 1971), known professionally as Ricky Martin, is a Puerto Rican singer, songwriter and actor. He is known for his musical versatility, with his Ricky Martin albums discography, discography incorporati ...
. The track is called "
The Best Thing About Me Is You" and features writing from another Swedish heavyweight,
Andreas Carlsson. Keeping up the Scandinavian presence are Norwegian production/songwriting teams
Dsign Music and Tracksville ("When The Music Is Over"), as well as writers Mads Hauge ("Another Universe") and Torgeir Bjordal ("I Don't Know"). In January Edita won the DIVA Award in the category "Talent of the Year". Abdieski shot the video for her single "The Key" in Teneriffa. On 25 January 2011 it was confirmed that another track on ''One'' will be called "Give A Little Love, Get A Little Love". The song was written by
Ben Cullum,
Jamie Cullum
Jamie Paul Joseph Cullum (born 20 August 1979) is an English jazz-pop singer, pianist, songwriter and radio presenter. Although primarily a vocalist and pianist, he also accompanies himself on other instruments, including guitar and drums. He h ...
's brother.
2011: Edita Club Tour and new album
In June 2011, Edita was on her first Club Tour in four German and two Swiss cities. She presented two new songs called "Done With You" and "Really Love Me", which she wrote by herself. The two songs are from her expected upcoming second studio album.
Discography
Studio albums
Singles
Featuring Singles
Awards
, -
, 2010
, rowspan=2, Edita Abdieski
, Diva Award – Talent of the Year
,
, -
, 2011
, Prix Walo – Newcomer of the Year
,
See also
*
X Factor (Germany season 1)
References
External links
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Abdieski, Edita
1984 births
Living people
English-language singers from Switzerland
21st-century Swiss women singers
The X Factor winners
Swiss people of Albanian descent
Swiss people of Macedonian descent
Swiss people of Montenegrin descent