Rita Sahatçiu Ora

Ora began performing at open mic sessions around London and, occasionally, in her father’s pub. In 2007, Ora had her first music release when she appeared on Craig David's track titled "Awkward", and then again in 2008 on "Where's Your Love", featuring Tinchy Stryder, for which she also appeared in the music video. She featured on two songs of James Morrison's album, Songs for You, Truths for Me, as backing vocalist.
She auditioned for Eurovision: Your Country Needs You on BBC One to be the British contestant for the 2009 Eurovision Song Contest but later withdrew from the competition after a few episodes as she did not feel ready. Her manager, Sarah Stennett (who also worked with Ellie Goulding, Jessie J and Conor Maynard), later told HitQuarters that Ora had entered the competition because at the time she felt it was her only chance at finding success. Her withdrawal followed her first meeting with her manager when she was reassured that she had genuine potential to make it as a solo artist and that performing in Eurovision would hinder rather than help her chances. Stennett got in touch with Jay Brown of the American label, Roc Nation, and told him about Ora. Brown asked Ora to fly out to New York where she met with Jay-Z, the founder of the label. Ora signed with Roc Nation in December 2009, within 48 hours of her arrival to the United States. The same year, she made a cameo on Jay-Z's video for "Young Forever". In 2010, Ora made a cameo on "Over" video by Drake. After being signed, Ora recorded an album and wanted to release it, but her label advised against it and she started to work on another material for her debut album.
• 2011–13: Breakthrough and Ora
Throughout 2011, Ora released covers and videos about working on her debut album on YouTube. The videos caught the attention of DJ Fresh, who at that time was looking for a female vocalist for his song, "Hot Right Now". Ora featured on the single that was released on 12 February 2012, reaching number one on the UK Singles Chart. During February 2012, Ora was also the opening act on the UK concerts from Drake's Club Paradise Tour. Ora worked with Ester Dean, will.i.am, Chase & Status, The-Dream and Stargate on her debut studio album, and took two years to completely finish it.