She took part in the second season of the Serbian version of Your Face Sounds Familiar, where she placed second in the final as Beyoncé.

Elena took part in school activities such as singing in the "Young Imitators" show and becoming a member of the drama club.

In 1996, Risteska made her television debut during the Mak-Karaoke Show performing the song "Flamingo" on the commercial channel A1.

Risteska rose to fame in Macedonia by competing and Being one of two winners on the music-based reality television show "Play - Search For A Star".

She is also an occasional songwriter, writing for artists such as 4Play, Lambe Alabakoski, Aleksandra Pileva, Maja Sazdanovska, Robert Bilbilov, Verica Pandilovska, Adnan, Emil and Anja Veterova.

In 2004, she performed at the Golden Stag Festival in Braşov, Romania and in 2005 she performed "Ni na nebo, ni na zemja" ("Neither heaven nor earth") at the Sunčane Skale music festival in Herceg Novi, Montenegro.

In July 2006, Elena performed "Ne Mogu" ("I Can't" in Serbo-Croatian) at the Sunčane Skale festival where she placed 10th overall.

She was well received by the audience, which was expected since her Eurovision song "Ninanajna" was a summer hit and a popular ringtone in Armenia.

It contains "Ninanajna", "Esen Vo Mene", a Macedonian version of "Ne Mogu" and new material.

At the Eurovision Song Contest 2007, she delivered the results of the national televoting of Macedonia during the final night.

In the middle time she made a new duet with "Parketi" called "Sakam Da Te Galam".

It was staged at the Metropolis Arena and featured guests such as Lambe Alabakovski, Tuna, Parketi, and Regina.

On 14 March 2010 Elena released her second single of her fourth studio album named "Sakam Po Dobro Da Te Pamtam".

She won only in the fifth week, as Jennifer Lopez singing "Booty", but she was chosen by the public to participate in the finals.

[6] She stated in an interview that in her earliest youth, Celine Dion and Whitney Houston were her main influences, but as she grew she found more inspiration in Beyonce Knowles and Christina Aguilera.