Gjon Muharremaj, known by his stage name Gjon's Tears is a Swiss singer and songwriter of Albanian-Kosovar descent. He also fronts an indie-pop band known as Gjon's Tears and the Weeping Willows.
His stage name came from when he made his grandfather cry while he sang to him as a child.
He participated in the first season of Albania's Got Talent as a 12-year-old and made it all the way to the final, finishing in 3rd place. The next year, he participated in Switzerland's Got Talent and reached the semifinals.
In 2019, he competed in the eighth series of The Voice in France as part of Team Mika, reaching the semifinal. The same year, he released his debut single "Babi", which peaked at #1 in Albania.
He was originally chosen to participate in the 2020 contest with the song Répondez-moi. With the cancellation of the event, SRG SSR announced he would represent Switzerland at the Eurovision Song Contest 2021 with the song Tout l'univers. He won the jury vote in the final and finished in 3rd place overall, giving Switzerland its best finish since Annie Cotton in 1993. Additionally, in winning the second semifinal, he gave the country its highest-ever placing in the semifinals.
Gjon was revealed as one of the participants in The Voice All-Stars, to celebrate the 10th anniversary of the French version of the franchise. In his blind audition, all five coaches (including 1993 French representative Patrick Fiori) turned their chairs for him. He chose to be part of Team Zazie, reaching the semifinal. He also served as a member of the jury for the 2022 edition of Eurovision France: C'est vous qui décidez and was a commentator for Swiss-French broadcaster RTS alongside Jean-Marc Richard for the final of the 2022 contest in Turin. He released his debut album The Game in 2023.
Gjon is a 2-time winner of the MTV Europe Music Award for Best Swiss Act, winning in 2021 and 2023.
Trivia[]
- With his qualification, Gjon is the first Swiss artist from the Romandie region of the country to participate in the Eurovision final since Kathy Leander in 1996.
- He was the highest placed of the 26 artists that were carried over from 2020.
- He considered participating in Destination Eurovision, the former French national selection, in 2019. He was also invited by RTSH to participate in the 58th Festivali i Këngës in Albania, however all the places were filled by the time he had accepted the invitation.
- One of his closest friends among the 2021 artists is Kateryna Pavlenko, lead singer of Ukrainian band Go_A.
- His personal favorite Eurovision entry is Un jour, un enfant by Frida Boccara (France 1969).
- He shares the same birthday with Alexandra Rotan from KEiiNO (Norway 2019), born 2 years apart (Gjon in 1998, Alexandra in 1996).
- Gjon is the first artist to win in the same category in the ESCRadio Awards in back-to-back years, winning Best Male Artist in both 2020 and 2021.
- He is one of the few Eurovision artists to have 2 songs in the top 40 of the ESC Top 250 in a single year, with Répondez-moi finishing at #36 and Tout l'univers debuting at #10 on the 2021 chart.
- He agreed to take part in The Voice All-Stars on the condition that the production team would help him find a French record label to sign with.
- His coach on The Voice, Mika, was selected to co-present the 2022 contest in Turin.