Early life and career beginnings Kaliopi was born into a mixed
Aromanian–
Macedonian family in
Ohrid and raised up in
Kičevo. She showed interest in music at a young age. In 1976, she entered a
Macedonian children's festival called "Zlatno Slavejče", which she won with the song "Mojata učitelka". She later toured with the choir of Zapro Zaprov "Razvigorče", performing in
Czechoslovakia,
Slovenia (then within
Yugoslavia) and
Austria between 1978 and 1980. However, she still remained part of the competition as a composer, supplying selection finalist Aleksandra Pileva with the song "Ne", which ultimately placed third. In early 2006, Kaliopi released the single "1000 Bozji Cvetovi", which garnered media interest because it was billed as a duet with Kaliopi herself. On 4 March 2006, she competed in the Macedonia national selection for the
Eurovision Song Contest 2006 with the song "Silna". Despite the media labelling her one of the favourites to win, the song was placed sixth. It was later remixed and used in a promotional campaign in Macedonia for the
Škoda Octavia. On 12 July 2006, Kaliopi performed at the Montenegrin festival
Suncane Skale with the
Serbian version of the song "Silna" and was placed third. She later released a non-album radio single titled "Zivotot e džabe". Kaliopi was featured on Croatian singer
Massimo Savić's album as a composer and a singer, performing the song "Melankolija". In late 2006, Kaliopi celebrated her 30-year jubilee as an artist, performing at a huge concert at the Universal Hall in
Skopje. She performed her greatest hits and was joined by Esma Redžepova and
Edin Karamazov. The concert later received a video release.
International career and Želim ti reći With increased exposure in Croatia, Kaliopi signed a record deal with
Aquarius Records and released her first single, "Probudi me", in Croatia in 2007. The release was followed by a compilation album, "The Best of", which was also released in Croatia. In May 2007, Kaliopi released the single "Grev", which she composed as the theme for the film
Elegija za tebe. In November 2007, Kaliopi was a judge and a guest performer at the Albanian music event
Kënga Magjike. She received critical praise for her performance of "Ako denot mi e nokj", which she dedicated to the late
Toše Proeski, who had been involved in a tragic accident just a month earlier. In 2008, Kaliopi released the Serbo-Croatian language album "Želim ti reći", promoting it with the singles "Ljubi" and the title track "Želim ti reći". In late June, Kaliopi competed at the Montenegrin festival
Pjesma Mediterana in
Budva as a performer of the song "Reci mi" and as the composer of the song "Dajem ti sve", which was performed by
Tamara Todevska. On 6 July 2008, Kaliopi participated at the 48th edition of the
Split Festival, performing the song "Za tebe čuvam sebe", which was written by Croatian singer
Alka Vuica. On the 5 October 2008, Kaliopi was part of the memorial tribute concert honouring the anniversary of Toše Proeski's last concert during which she performed his song "Nemas ni blagodaram". Kaliopi participated in several festivals across ex-Yugoslavia in 2009: performing "Ljubičice" at the
Croatian Radio Festival, winning best interpretation for the performance of "Meni je ime" at Pjesma Mediterana, winning Suncane Skale 2009 with Naum Petreski with the song "Rum dum dum" and performing "Stine" at the Runjićeve večeri in Croatia.
Oblivion and Poraka In November 2009, Kaliopi released the album "Oblivion", a collaborative work with
Edin Karamazov which featured 11 world-famous songs performed in nine languages with musical arrangements for the baroque lute and guitar. The album was promoted with concerts across the ex-Yugoslavian region in 2010, including performances at the National Opera and Ballet in Skopje, the 15th International Cultural Manifestation
Zeničko proljeće in
Zenica and the Kastav Summer Festival in
Kastav. Kaliopi previously appeared on Edin Karamazov's album "The Lute is a Song", where she recorded a version of the old Macedonian song "So maki sum se rodila". At the end of 2009 and throughout 2010, Kaliopi participated in several music projects. She recorded the song "Nevinost" as part of "Miligram", an ex-Yugoslavian compilation album project by composer Aleksandar Milić Mili. Kaliopi also participated in the posthumous release of Toše Proeski's self-composed, unreleased songs, recording the song "Zasekogaš" in Macedonian and "Zauvijek" in Serbo-Croatian. In December 2010, Kaliopi released the album "Poraka", for which she collaborated with
Darko Juranović "D'Knock",
Tihomir Preradović, Miroslav Rus and
Rambo Amadeus. The album contained the duet "Denot si budi" with Slovenian singer Marko Vozelj and "Ako Još Ikad Padne Snijeg" with Edin Karamazov. The Serbo-Croatian version of the album, "Poruka", was released in the ex-Yugoslavian market. The singles "Ti", "Ne sum kako ti" and "Poraka" were released to promote the album.
Eurovision Song Contest 2012 On 19 November 2011,
MRT invited Kaliopi to
represent Macedonia in the
Eurovision Song Contest 2012 in
Baku, Azerbaijan. Kaliopi performed the song "
Crno i belo", with lyrics by Kaliopi and music by Romeo Grill. After a four-year pause, Kaliopi brought Macedonia again into the finals. The song qualified from the second semi-final on 24 May 2012 and was placed thirteenth in the final on 26 May 2012, scoring 71 points. Prior to her Eurovision performance, Kaliopi promoted the song in Serbia, Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, the Netherlands, United Kingdom, Ukraine and Belarus. The release of "Crno i belo" also marked a renewed cooperation between Kaliopi and Romeo Grill after the twelve-year pause. Their collaboration continued following the Eurovision Song Contest and yielded the album "Melem". Kaliopi released the singles "Vučica", "Melem" and "Mrvica" to promote the album before and after its February 2013 release date.
Album Melem and others In 2013 her fans from around the world participated in karaoke competition titled "Kaliopi Fan Festival". The online festival focused on the social networks within which audience voted and selected the best video cover for some of the songs from the album "Melem". In the spring of 2015, Kaliopi released a new single called "Mojot Dom", and shortly thereafter, the single "Poželi". In the fall of 2015 she released the acoustic ballad "Jutro".
Eurovision Song Contest 2016 in the
Eurovision Song Contest 2016. On 24 November 2015,
MRT announced that they selected Kaliopi to
represent Macedonia at the
Eurovision Song Contest 2016 in Stockholm. with the song "
Dona" (Дона), released on 7 March 2016. Kaliopi performed the song on 12 May 2016, during the second semi-final of Eurovision, but failed to qualify to the 14 May final, reaching 11th place in her semi-final. ==In popular culture==