| Dara | |
| Native Name: | Дара |
| Native Name Lang: | bg |
| Birth Name: | Darina Nikolaeva Yotova |
| Birth Date: | 9 September 1998 |
| Birth Place: | Varna, Bulgaria |
| Origin: | Varna, Bulgaria |
| Years Active: | 2015–present |
| Website: | https://www.virginiarecords.com/ |
Darina Nikolaeva Yotova (Bulgarian: Дарина Николаева Йотова, born 9 September 1998), better known by her stage name Dara, is a Bulgarian pop singer, who rose to fame in late 2015 after reaching the final in the Bulgarian edition of The X Factor. She is currently signed to Virginia Records, and in 2016 she released her debut single "K'vo ne chu" under the label.[1]
Born in Varna, in 2015 Yotova participated in the Bulgarian version of the reality show The X Factor where she finished third, with Bulgarian rapper Krisko being her mentor.
Following her departure from The X Factor, Yotova signed a record deal with Bulgarian music label Virginia Records and adopted the stage name Dara. In the summer of 2016, she released her debut single "K'vo ne chu", accompanied by a music video. A few weeks later, the single peaked the Bulgarian charts and a subsequent English version of the song by the name of "Onto You" was released on 29 September, directed towards an international audience.[2]
On 12 March 2017, Dara released her second single entitled "Rodena takava", also accompanied by a music video.[3] A few months later, on 21 July, she made her first guest appearance on a single named "Nyama da si tragnesh s drug" by labelmates Plamen & Ivo alongside Bulgarian hip-hop duo Pavell and Venci Venc'.[4] On 29 September, Dara's third single "Nedei" was released on YouTube with an official music video.[5] On 20 June 2018, Dara released her fourth single entitled "Vse na men", along with a music video.
In early 2020, Dara starred in the TV show Kato dve kapki voda, the Bulgarian version of Your Face Sounds Familiar.
Since 2021, Dara has been a coach on The Voice of Bulgaria. In 2022, on the ninth season, Jacklyn Tarrakci, a member of Team Dara, won the competition. This made Dara the winning coach.
On 7 March 2022, Dara announced her debut album Rodena takava set to be released on 20 April 2022, accompanied with a live concert showcasing the album in Joy Station, Sofia.
In March 2023, Kai released "Rover", a remake of Dara's original "Mr. Rover", with his solo album Rover.[6]
| Artist: | Dara |
| Music Videos: | 6 |
| Singles: | 10 |
| Title | Year | Peak chart positions | Album | |||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| BUL [7] | ||||||||||||||
| "K'vo ne chu" | 2016 | 1 | rowspan="11" | |||||||||||
| "Rodena takava" | 2017 | 28 | ||||||||||||
| "Nedei" | 6 | |||||||||||||
| "Vse na men" | 2018 | 9 | ||||||||||||
| "Darbie" | 2019 | 3 | ||||||||||||
| "Ella Ella" | 6 | |||||||||||||
| "Ai Ai" | 2020 | 16 | ||||||||||||
| "Mamacita" | 37 | |||||||||||||
| "Cold as Ice" | 2021 | 2 | ||||||||||||
| "Thunder" | 1 | |||||||||||||
| "In My Head" | 2023 | 1 | ||||||||||||
| "—" denotes a recording that did not chart or was not released in that territory. | ||||||||||||||
| Title | Year | Peak chart positions | Album |
|---|---|---|---|
| BUL | |||
| "Nyama da si tragnesh s drug" (Plamen & Ivo featuring Dara, Pavell & Venci Venc') | 2017 | 16 | rowspan="2" |
| "My Time" (Monoir featuring Dara) | 2018 | 31 | |
| Year | Title | Director | Artist(s) |
|---|---|---|---|
| As main performer | |||
| 2016 | "K'vo ne chu" | Lyusi Ilarionov, Andrey Andreev | |
| 2017 | "Rodena takava" | Lyusi Ilarionov, Georgi Markov[8] | |
| As featured performer | |||
| 2017 | "Nyama da si tragnesh s drug" | Lyusi Ilarionov, Georgi Markov | Plamen & Ivo featuring Dara, Pavell & Venci Venc' |