Gina Dirawi facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Gina Dirawi
Dirawi after winning a Kristallen award in 2013
Born	Gina Dirawi (1990-12-11) 11 December 1990 (age 34) Sundsvall, Sweden
Occupation	Television host, singer, comedian, actress
Years active	2009–present
Known for	Hosting Melodifestivalen in 2012, 2013 and 2016

Gina Dirawi, born on December 11, 1990, is a very talented Swedish TV host, singer, writer, and actress. She has won many awards for her work. Gina is especially known for being the only woman to host Melodifestivalen three times. This is a huge music competition in Sweden. She has also hosted other big TV shows like the Swedish Grammy Awards and Idol. Besides TV, Gina has released music, written a book, and acted in movies and plays. In 2016, she played the main character in the play Donna Juanita at the Stockholm City Theatre.

Gina's Early Life and Family

Gina Dirawi was born in Sundsvall, Sweden, on December 11, 1990. She grew up with three brothers and sisters. Her parents are Palestinian, but they grew up in refugee camps in Lebanon. Gina's father moved to Sundsvall to study. Later, he went back to Lebanon to marry Gina's mother. They then settled in Sundsvall. Gina's grandparents also moved there a few years later. Her grandfather was an imam (a Muslim religious leader) in Sundsvall until he passed away in 2011. Gina studied political science and public speaking at Mid Sweden University.

How Gina Started Her Career

Starting with Blogs and Videos (2009–2011)

Gina Dirawi began her career in March 2009. She started a blog called Ana Gina, which means "I am Gina" in Arabic. By August of that same year, she began making video blogs, also known as vlogs. Many people consider Gina to be Sweden's first real YouTuber. In 2009, she even made it to the final auditions for the TV show Idol.

Gina's vlogs often featured funny characters. These characters made fun of common ideas about Swedish and Palestinian culture. She became very popular by sharing her videos on YouTube. By May 2016, her videos had been watched over 18 million times!

Some of Gina's popular characters included:

• Sister Khadidje – a Muslim woman
• Svennemorsan Bettan – a Swedish mom
• Discoturken Dario – a young immigrant man
• Fjortisen Fippan – a typical teenage girl

Through these characters, Gina wanted to challenge old ideas and stereotypes. She used humor to make people think and feel. Her videos and characters became very well-known. However, during this time, Gina also faced some difficult challenges.

Gina is most famous for being the first woman to host Melodifestivalen three times. She hosted in 2012 with Helena Bergström and Sarah Dawn Finer. She returned in 2013 with Danny Saucedo. Her third time was in 2016, where she had different guest hosts for each show.

She won the award for best female TV host at the Kristallen (a Swedish TV award) in both 2012 and 2013.

Gina also hosted the Swedish Grammy Awards in 2014 and 2015. She was a host for Musikhjälpen (a charity radio and TV event) in 2011, 2012, and 2015. In 2015, she also hosted SVT's traditional Christmas Eve program.

In April 2016, it was announced that Gina would be the Swedish spokesperson for the Eurovision Song Contest. She announced Sweden's jury votes from Stockholm. She also hosted Studio Eurovision, a show that covered news and events from the contest.

From February to August 2010, Gina worked as a mobile reporter for the radio channel P4 Västernorrland. Before that, she had studied at Mid Sweden University.

Before the 2010 general elections, Swedish Television (SVT) noticed Gina. She started blogging about the election on SVT's website. She then hosted a web talk show called The Ana Gina Show on SVT Play. This show had 32 episodes and featured famous guests. Her characters also appeared in funny skits on the show.

In the fall of 2011, her second show, The Fabulous Life of Ana Gina, started on SVT Play. It featured guests like Wiz Khalifa and James Blunt.

On August 18, 2011, Gina made her debut as a summer host on Sommar i P1, a popular radio show. Her program talked about the challenges of being a young Muslim girl with an immigrant background in Sweden.

From December 12–18, 2011, she co-hosted Musikhjälpen 2011 on SVT and P3. She hosted alongside Timbuktu and Kodjo Akolor.

Becoming a Big Star (2012–2013)

On October 31, 2011, it was announced that Gina Dirawi would host Melodifestivalen 2012. She hosted with Sarah Dawn Finer and Helena Bergström. Gina was the first host of Melodifestivalen born in the 1990s. People really liked her performance. She later appeared on SVT's Inför Eurovision Song Contest and helped commentate the Eurovision 2012 broadcasts.

In spring 2012, after Melodifestivalen, the second season of her show The Fabulous Life of Ana Gina began. This time, it was filmed in Hollywood.

In summer 2012, Gina hosted the radio program Hallå i P3 on Sveriges Radio. She had famous guests who answered questions from listeners. At the same time, she wrote articles for the newspaper Aftonbladet.

Gina returned to co-host Musikhjälpen in 2012. She hosted with Kodjo Akolor and Jason Diakité.

For Melodifestivalen 2013, Gina came back as a host, this time with Danny Saucedo. She also hosted Studio Eurovision, a show that aired before the Eurovision Song Contest 2013 in Malmö. On this show, she interviewed famous people like Jean Paul Gaultier.

On June 1, 2013, Gina hosted SVT's national Hungerhjälpen campaign, which helped fight hunger. She also hosted Hallå i P3 again in summer 2013. She co-hosted the Kristallen awards in 2013 with André Pops.

TV Shows and Theater Roles (2014–2018)

In 2014, Gina hosted the Grammisgalan (Swedish Grammy Awards) with British co-host Ray Cokes. She hosted the awards again in 2015, this time by herself.

On August 27, 2014, Gina released her first song, "Love," which she wrote herself. This happened at the same time as her new series Ginas värld (Gina's World) premiered on SVT Flow. The show later moved to SVT1. Guests on her show included Felicia Pearson and Princess Märtha Louise of Norway.

On March 10, 2015, she released her second song, "Mad Woman."

On March 21, 2015, the series Ginas show premiered on SVT. The second season of Ginas värld started on August 27, 2015. In this season, Gina interviewed many different people.

On October 15, 2015, her interview program Edit: Dirawi premiered on SVT2.

In November 2015, SVT announced that Gina would host the 2015 Christmas Eve broadcast. This made her the youngest person ever to host that program. She was also one of three hosts for Musikhjälpen 2015.

In spring 2016, Gina was the main host of Melodifestivalen 2016. She also hosted the pre-show Studio ESC for Eurovision Song Contest 2016. She announced Sweden's votes during the competition.

In August 2016, Gina co-hosted Årets retro on SVT. That fall, she played the main role in the play Donna Juanita – En musikal fritt efter Hasse & Tage at Stockholm City Theatre.

On December 9, 2016, Gina released the song "Hurt You So Bad," which she also wrote.

In the fall of 2017 and 2018, Gina co-hosted 11 Friday finals of Idol with Per Lernström.

Documentaries, Books, and Music (2019–2022)

In December 2019, a documentary called What Happened to Gina Dirawi? aired on SVT. It explored her life and the challenges she faced.

On March 4, 2020, Gina published her first novel. It was called Paradiset ligger under mammas fötter (Paradise lies beneath mum's feet). The book is about the friendship between two Swedish-Palestinian girls.

On February 18, 2022, Gina released her first music album, Meet Me in Jannah. Two of her songs, "Sunday" and "Live and Die," were featured in the Netflix series Young Royals.

In January 2022, Gina hosted the Guldbagge Awards, which celebrate Swedish films.

In May 2022, SVT premiered Gina's documentary series Gina Dirawi lever och dör. This series explored topics like trauma and anxiety.

Gina also served on the Kristallen jury (the group that decides the awards) in 2021, 2022, and 2023.

Recent Work (2023–Present)

In 2023, Gina's album Meet Me in Jannah was nominated for Pop Album of the Year at the Manifest Gala.

Before the Grammis Gala 2023 (Swedish Grammys), Gina was nominated for "Music Video of the Year" for her song "Meet Me in Jannah." The video also received nominations at other international film festivals in 2022.

In 2022, Gina released an Arabic version of the song Urban City. This song was part of the popular TV series Thin Blue Line.

In 2023, Gina played the main character, Farah, in the short film Dissonans. The film was shown at the Göteborg Film Festival.

In the spring of 2024, Gina started the Gina Dirawi Foundation. On June 6, the first two Gina Dirawi Scholarships were given out. These scholarships help young creative and artistic people. The first scholarships went to Yaniel Wallsten and Zoe Fantis from Sundsvall.

Gina's Music

Albums

Singles

See also

In Spanish: Gina Dirawi para niños