WHICH singer from the old Yugoslavia had three British number ones during 2012, making her the artist with the most chart-topping singles last year?

The answer is Rita Ora, whose debut album also hit the top spot in a remarkable breakthrough for the one-time Eurovision Song Contest audition contestant.

Last week, Rita set out on her first UK tour, and come Tuesday, she will play York Barbican for the first time. No gentle rise for her with club dates; instead she is diving in at the deep end, capitalising on the momentum of her sudden success.

“That’s definitely the most surreal thing that’s happened to me,” she says, speaking on the morning of the Brit Award nominations. “The success of the singles, and tour dates selling out within minutes of the tickets going on sale as well – all of last year was crazy.”

It all began at the tail end of 2011, when Rita appeared with DJ Fresh in the video for Hot Right Now. Before that, she had been seen only in a handful of online videos – and two Eurovision auditions in 2009 – but by the time the song was released last February, it went straight to number one.

Hot Right Now sold more than 480,000 copies, subsequent singles RIP with Tinie Tempah and How We Do followed it to the top and debut album Ora ended the year with sales of around 240,000.

Who could have foreseen such success when she was born in Pristina in the former Yugoslavia – now Kosovo – on November 22, 1990, during the brutal Balkan conflict, moving to the UK with her Kosovan-Albanian parents when she was aged one?

They settled in London, and music came to take centre stage in young Rita Sahatciu Ora’s life. So much so that she was signed by Jay-Z’s management company and record label Roc Nation in New York after Mr Beyonce himself called to request a meeting.

At the time Rita was at college studying for her A-levels and working in a trainer shop in west London in order to pay musicians to play with her at gigs.

“I’d play anywhere: bars and clubs, in my dad’s pub, just to be out singing,” she says. “I guess Roc Nation heard about me just through people they know in the industry, called me up and asked for a meeting.

“It was a real pinch-yourself moment, and the meeting we had when I met Jay-Z was just unbelievable. It was so nerve-wracking, interesting, exciting and weird all at the same time. You know when you can feel someone’s power? It was like that, you could just tell when you walked in the room that he was powerful and successful.

“It was so odd. I walked in, shook his hand and then we were suddenly having a conversation. Now it feels like we’ve known each other a long time. I get lots of advice from him. He’s not just a great friend, but a boss and a brother. He’s the man.”

Rita has given a rather simplified version of events. Multimillion-selling artists and business moguls like Jay-Z don’t just call 18-year-old singers in London on the off chance. In reality, Rita has pursued a career in showbiz from a young age, securing a place at the Sylvia Young Theatre School in London.

“I loved the school,” she says. “My choir teacher at primary school told me about the school. The audition was massively exciting, and I’m really proud of the fact I got in and went. I really didn’t think I’d be good enough, but then the only thing I was ever interested in was singing.”

The transition from theatre school to a professional life as a performer has had a few bumps along the way, she admits.

Bumps behind her, Rita is now in the running for two Brit Awards, having been nominated for Best Breakthrough Act and Best Single, in which she has two songs on the shortlist.

“I went to the Brits last year and no one even noticed I was there; no one took a photograph or anything, and a year later I’m up for some awards,” she says.

Rita will record her second album soon, with a view to releasing it by the year’s end. “My first album was finished when I was 19, and I’m 22 now, so I have a lot more I want to talk about,” she says.

• Rita Ora plays York Barbican on Tuesday; doors open at 6pm. Tickets update: still available on 0844 854 2757 or yorkbarbican.co.uk

• Did you know?
In 2009, Rita Ora auditioned on Your Country Needs You to represent the UK in the Eurovision Song Contest, but withdrew her entry after a couple of episodes, saying she did not feel ready.