User:MarinSelimollari/sandbox

= PONI =

Her full name is Shqiponja, she was born on NOVEMBER 8, 1981 in Vlora, she is married and has a son.

PONI is her childhood name, which was chosen to be also her stage name!

Driven by talent and desire to sing, she graduated from the music school “Naim Frasheri ” in Vlora as a singer and in parallel has been engaged in artistic activities at the “Petro Marko” theater in Vlora.

The Vlora Song Festival was her first activity when she was still at school. Then, the doors of the music world would open, where with her voice she would attract the attention and the love of the public.

She worked for 2 years as a music teacher, where she did not just teach music lessons to the children, but she cultivated their love for the music in general and especially the folk songs of Laberia region in particular!

In parallel with her professional growth, ranking among the best singers in the Albanian-speaking areas, she studied and graduated on Political Sciences from the University “Marin Barleti ”.

Career
Her career counts 7 albums and hundreds of concerts, in country and abroad, such as: America, Australia, Italy, Greece, Germany, France, Norway, etc.

She is active on television, taking part in a series of shows, one of which is Big Brother Vip in Albanian, fulfilling the wish of one of the residents, Beniades.

In 2006
She participated in the TOP FEST 4 Festival. She was awarded 2 prizes: “Internet” Prize, with the song “As a rose” (Si trendafil), as the most voted song on the Internet and the Prize “Best Female”, ranking second among over 100 competing songs. This prize confirmed her success as a professional singer.

In 2011
She received the award “Gratitude for the dignifying promotion of the Vlora folk song ”.

In 2012
With the song “Albania is ours” (Është e jona Shqipëria), she was awarded the First Prize at the Folk Song Festival “Nota Fest”, in Skopje.

In 2012
She was honored by the Laberia Association, as “Exerciser of the cultural values of the Laberia Region, especially of the Vlora and Laberia region songs”.

In 2012
She received the award as “The best folk song video clip” in the festival “Albanian Clip Nights 11 ” (with the video clip “My word is the song” (Fjala ime është kënga)).