Albania Albania ( ; sq, Shqipëri or ), or , also or . officially the Republic of Albania ( sq, Republika e Shqipërisë), is a country in Southeastern Europe. It is located on the Adriatic and Ionian Seas within the Mediterranean Sea and shares ...

participated in the

Eurovision Song Contest 2006 The Eurovision Song Contest 2006 was the 51st edition of the Eurovision Song Contest. It took place in Athens, Greece, following the country's victory at the with the song "My Number One" by Helena Paparizou. Organised by the European Broadcasti ...

Athens Athens ( ; el, Αθήνα, Athína ; grc, Ἀθῆναι, Athênai (pl.) ) is both the capital and largest city of Greece. With a population close to four million, it is also the seventh largest city in the European Union. Athens dominates ...

, Greece, with the song " Zjarr e ftohtë" performed by

Luiz Ejlli Luiz Ejlli (born 12 July 1985) is an Albanian singer. After winning the 44th edition of , he represented Albania in the 2006 Eurovision Song Contest. Life and career Luiz Ejlli was born in Shkodër, Albania. Between 1991 and 2002, he att ...

. Its selected entry was chosen through the national selection competition

Festivali i Këngës Festivali i Këngës (; ), also referred to as simply FiK, is an annual music competition in Albania organised by the national broadcaster Radio Televizioni Shqiptar (RTSH). Broadcast every year since its inauguration in 1962, it has also determ ...

organised by

Radio Televizioni Shqiptar Radio Televizioni Shqiptar (; en, "Albanian Radio and Television"; mostly called RTSH ) is an Albanian public broadcasting radio and television company. Founded in 1938, it operates several radio and television channels, over a domestic transmi ...

(RTSH) in December 2005. To this point, the nation had participated in the

Eurovision Song Contest The Eurovision Song Contest (), sometimes abbreviated to ESC and often known simply as Eurovision, is an international songwriting competition organised annually by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU), featuring participants representing pr ...

two times since its first entry in . Due to the non-top 11 result in the previous contest, Albania was drawn to compete in the

semi-final A single-elimination, knockout, or sudden death tournament is a type of elimination tournament where the loser of each match-up is immediately eliminated from the tournament. Each winner will play another in the next round, until the final matc ...

of the contest, which took place on 18 May 2006. Performing as number six, the nation was not announced among the top 10 entries of the semi-final and therefore failed to qualify for the

grand final Primarily in Australian sports, a grand final (sometimes colloquially abbreviated to "grannie") is a game that decides a sports league's premiership (or championship) winning team, i.e. the conclusive game of a finals (or play-off) series. Sy ...

, marking Albania's first non-qualification in the contest.

Background

Prior to the 2006 contest, Albania had participated in the

two times since its first entry in . The country's highest placing in the contest, to this point, had been the seventh place, which it achieved in 2004 with the song "

The Image of You "The Image of You" is a song by Albanian singer Anjeza Shahini. The song was composed by Edmond Zhulali and written by Agim Doçi. Radio Televizioni Shqiptar (RTSH) released it as a CD single in 2004. A rhythmic English-language electropop b ...

" performed by

Anjeza Shahini Anjeza Shahini (born 4 May 1987) is an Albanian singer. She is best known for representing Albania at 2004 Eurovision Song Contest in Istanbul, after winning the 42nd edition of Festivali i Këngës. Career 2003–2009 Anjez ...

. Albania's national broadcaster,

(RTSH), has organised

since its inauguration in 1962. Since 2003, the winner of the competition has simultaneously won the right to represent Albania in the Eurovision Song Contest.

Before Eurovision

Festivali i Këngës

RTSH organised the 44th edition of Festivali i Këngës to determine Albania's representative for the

. The competition consisted of two semi-finals on 16 and 17 December, respectively, and the grand final on 18 December 2005. The three live shows were hosted by Albanian singer

Soni Malaj Soni Malaj (born 23 October 1981), also known mononymously as Soni, is an Albanian singer, songwriter and dancer. Life and career Soni Malaj was born on 23 October 1982 into an Albanian family in the city of Tropojë, then part of the People' ...

and presenter Drini Zeqo.

Competing entries

Shows

= Semi-finals

= The semi-finals of Festivali i Këngës took place on 16 December and 17 December 2005, respectively. 17 contestants participated in each semi-final, with the highlighted ones progressing to the grand final.

= Final

= The grand final of Festivali i Këngës took place on 18 December 2005.

emerged as the winner with " Zjarr e ftohtë" and was simultaneously announced as Albania's representative for the Eurovision Song Contest 2006. Key: Winner Second place Third place

At Eurovision

The Eurovision Song Contest 2006 took place at the

O.A.C.A. Olympic Indoor Hall The O.A.C.A. Olympic Indoor Hall (honorarily named ''Nikos Galis Olympic Indoor Hall'' since 2016), which is a part of the Olympic Athletic Center of Athens (O.A.C.A.) « Spyros Louis» ( el, O.A.K.A. «Σπύρος Λούης»), was completed ...

, Greece, and consisted of a

on 18 May and the

on 20 May 2006. According to the Eurovision rules at the time, all participating countries, except the host nation and the " Big Four", consisting of , , and the , were required to qualify from the semi-final to compete for the final, although the top 10 countries from the semi-final progress to the final. Due to its non-top 11 result in the 2005 contest, Albania was required to compete in the semi-final. It was set to perform in position six, following and preceding . At the end of the semi-final, the country was not announced among the top 10 entries and therefore failed to qualify for the final, marking Albania's first non-qualification in the Eurovision Song Contest.

Voting

The tables below visualise a breakdown of points awarded to Albania in the semi-final of the Eurovision Song Contest 2006, as well as by the country for both the semi-final and grand final. In the semi-final, Albania finished in 14th place with a total of 58 points, including 12 from and 10 from . Albania awarded its 12 points to Macedonia in the semi-final and to in the grand final of the contest.

Points awarded to Albania

Points awarded by Albania

References

{{Eurovision Song Contest 2006

2006 File:2006 Events Collage V1.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2006 Winter Olympics open in Turin; Twitter is founded and launched by Jack Dorsey; The Nintendo Wii is released; Montenegro 2006 Montenegrin independence referendum, votes to declare ...

Countries in the Eurovision Song Contest 2006

2005 File:2005 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: Hurricane Katrina in the Gulf of Mexico; the Funeral of Pope John Paul II is held in Vatican City; "Me at the zoo", the first video ever to be uploaded to YouTube; Eris was discovered in ...

Eurovision The Eurovision Song Contest (), sometimes abbreviated to ESC and often known simply as Eurovision, is an international songwriting competition organised annually by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU), featuring participants representing pr ...