Albania In The Eurovision Song Contest 2014

Albania participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 2014 in Copenhagen, Denmark, with the song "One Night's Anger" performed by Hersi. Its selected entry was chosen through the national selection competition organised by Radio Televizioni Shqiptar (RTSH) in December 2013. To this point, the nation had participated in the Eurovision Song Contest ten times since its first entry in . Prior to the contest, the song was promoted by a music video and several live performances across Europe. Albania was drawn to compete in the first semi-final of the Eurovision Song Contest, which took place on 6 May 2014. Performing as number 6th, the nation was not announced among the top 10 entries of the first semi-final and therefore failed to qualify for the final, marking Albania's fifth non-qualification in the contest.

Background

Prior to the 2014 contest, Albania had participated in the Eurovision Song Contest ten times since its first entry in . The country's highest placing in the contest, to this point, had been the fifth place, which it achieved in with the song "Suus" performed by Rona Nishliu. The first entry was performed by Anjeza Shahini with the song "The Image of You" and finished in the seventh place, the nation's second-highest placing to date. During its tenure in the contest, Albania failed to qualify for the final three times, with the entry being the most recent non-qualifier.

Before Eurovision

Festivali i Këngës

The national broadcaster of Albania, (RTSH), organised the 52nd edition of with the aim to determine the country's participant for the Eurovision Song Contest 2014. The competition consisted of two semi-finals on 26 and 27 December, respectively, and the grand final on 28 December 2013. The three live shows were held at the Palace of Congresses in Tirana and hosted by Albanian journalist Enkel Demi, with models Xhesika Berberi and Marinela Meta co-hosting the two semi-finals as well as actress Klea Huta co-hosting the final. From 8 and 9 October 2013, interested artists were able to submit their entries to the broadcaster. However, Orges Toçe withdrew from the contest and was replaced by the band NA.

Contestants

Key:
Withdrawn
Replacement entry

Shows

= Semi-finals

=

The two semi-finals of took place on 26 December and 27 December 2013 and were broadcast at 20:45 (CET) on the respective dates. In each of the semi-finals, the contestants performed their entries alongside another Albanian artist, singing a past entry from .

= Final

=

The final of took place on 28 December 2013 and was broadcast at 20:45 (CET). Italian-Albanian singer Elhaida Dani and Danish singer Emmelie de Forest, who won the Eurovision Song Contest 2013, were the interval acts of the final. The jury, consisting of Agim Krajka, Bojken Lako, Aleksander Lalo, Petrit Malaj, Erjona Rushiti, Xhevahir Spahiu, Hajg Zaharian, determined Hersiana Matmuja as the winner of the contest with the song "".

Key:
Winner
Second place
Third place

Promotion

A music video for "One Night's Anger" premiered on the official YouTube channel of the Eurovision Song Contest on 16 March 2014. For promotional purposes, Matmuja embarked on a small tour with live performances at various events related to the contest, including in Hungary, Montenegro, the Netherlands and San Marino.

At Eurovision

The Eurovision Song Contest 2014 took place at B&W Hallerne in Copenhagen, Denmark, and consisted of two semi-finals held on 6 and 8 May, respectively, and the final on 10 May 2014. According to the Eurovision rules, all participating countries, apart from the host nation and the " Big Five", consisting of , , , and the , were required to qualify from one of the two semi-finals to compete for the final, although the top 10 countries from the respective semi-final progress to the final. On 20 January 2014, an allocation draw was held at the Copenhagen City Hall in Copenhagen that placed each country into one of the two semi-finals, and determined which half of the show they would perform in. Albania was placed into the first semi-final, to be held on 6 May, and was scheduled to perform in the first half of the show. Once all the competing songs for the contest had been released, the running order for the semi-finals was decided by the producers of the contest rather than through another draw, to prevent similar songs being placed next to each other; Albania was set to perform in position 6, following and preceding . The contest was broadcast within Albania on the RTSH network, with Andri Xhahu providing commentary, a role he also performed at the prior years contest.

Hersi took part in technical rehearsals on 28 April and 2 May, followed by dress rehearsals on 5 and 6 May. This included the jury final on 6 May where the professional juries of each country, responsible for 50 percent of each country's vote, watched and voted on the competing entries.
At the end of the first semi-final, the country was not announced among the top 10 entries and therefore failed to qualify for the final, marking Albania's fifth non-qualification in the Eurovision Song Contest.

Voting

Voting during the three shows involved each country awarding points from 1-8, 10 and 12 as determined by a combination of 50% national jury and 50% televoting. Each nation's jury consisted of five music industry professionals who are citizens of the country they represent. This jury judged each entry based on: vocal capacity; the stage performance; the song's composition and originality; and the overall impression by the act. In addition, no member of a national jury was permitted to be related in any way to any of the competing acts in such a way that they cannot vote impartially and independently. In the first semi-final, Albania placed 15th with 22 points, which included the top 12 points from Montenegro. The nation awarded its 12 points to Montenegro in the first semi-final and Spain in the final. Xhahu was the Albanian spokesperson who announced the country's voting results during the shows.

Below is a breakdown of points awarded to and awarded by Albania in the first semi-final and final of the Eurovision Song Contest 2014, respectively. The points awarded by Albania in both the first semi-final and the final were based solely on the jury's vote due to an insufficient number of votes cast during the televote period.

Points awarded to Albania

Points awarded by Albania

Detailed voting results

The following members comprised the Albanian jury:

*Edmond Zhulali (jury chairperson)
*Alfred Kacinari
*Jetmir Barbullushi
*Mira Tuci
*Engjëll Ndocaj

References

{{Festivali i Këngës

Eurovision
Eurovision
2014
Countries in the Eurovision Song Contest 2014
2013