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 share ...
participated in the
Eurovision Song Contest 2018
The Eurovision Song Contest 2018 was the 63rd edition of the Eurovision Song Contest. It took place in Lisbon, Portugal, following the country's victory at the with the song " Amar pelos dois" by Salvador Sobral. Organised by the European ...
in
Lisbon
Lisbon (; pt, Lisboa ) is the capital and largest city of Portugal, with an estimated population of 544,851 within its administrative limits in an area of 100.05 km2. Grande Lisboa, Lisbon's urban area extends beyond the city's administr ...
, Portugal, with the song "
Mall
Mall commonly refers to a:
* Shopping mall
* Strip mall
* Pedestrian street
* Esplanade
Mall or MALL may also refer to:
Places Shopping complexes
* The Mall (Sofia) (Tsarigradsko Mall), Sofia, Bulgaria
* The Mall, Patna, Patna, Bihar, India
...
" performed by
Eugent Bushpepa
Eugent Bushpepa (; born 2 July 1984), also known by his alternative name Gent Bushpepa, is an Albanian singer, songwriter and composer. Regarded as one of the most popular modern rock musicians in the Albanian-speaking world, he is noted for hi ...
. 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 deter ...
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 2017. To this point, the nation had participated in the
Eurovision Song Contest fourteen times since its first entry in . Prior to the contest, the song was promoted by a
music video
A music video is a video of variable duration, that integrates a music song or a music album with imagery that is produced for promotional or musical artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a music marketing device ...
and live performances in the Netherlands and Spain.
Albania was drawn to compete in the
first semi-final of the Eurovision Song Contest, which took place on 8 May 2018. Performing as number three, the nation was announced among the top 10 entries of the first semi-final and therefore qualified to compete in the final. In 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. S ...
on 12 May, it performed as number 12 and placed 11th out of the 26 participating countries, scoring 184 points.
Background
Prior to the 2018 contest, Albania had participated in the
Eurovision Song Contest fourteen times since its first entry in .
The nation's highest placing in the contest, to this point, had been the fifth place, which it achieved in with the song "
Suus
"Suus" (; or His own) is a song by Kosovo-Albanian singer and songwriter Rona Nishliu. It was released as part of a CD compilation on 4 May 2012 by Universal Music. The song was written by the singer herself and composed by Florent Boshnjaku. ...
" performed by
Rona Nishliu
Rona Nishliu (born 25 August 1986) is a Kosovo-Albanian singer and songwriter. She came to international prominence after representing Albania in the Eurovision Song Contest 2012 in Baku, Azerbaijan, where she placed fifth and achieved the best ...
.
The first entry was 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 ...
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 ...
" and finished in the seventh place, Albania's second-highest placing to date.
During its tenure in the contest, Albania failed to qualify for the final seven times, with both the and entries being the most recent non-qualifiers.
In October 2017, the national broadcaster of Albania,
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), officially confirmed Albania's participation in the
Eurovision Song Contest 2018
The Eurovision Song Contest 2018 was the 63rd edition of the Eurovision Song Contest. It took place in Lisbon, Portugal, following the country's victory at the with the song " Amar pelos dois" by Salvador Sobral. Organised by the European ...
in
Lisbon
Lisbon (; pt, Lisboa ) is the capital and largest city of Portugal, with an estimated population of 544,851 within its administrative limits in an area of 100.05 km2. Grande Lisboa, Lisbon's urban area extends beyond the city's administr ...
, Portugal. RTSH broadcasts the contest within Albania and organises the selection process for the nation's entry.
Since its debut in 2004, it has consistently selected its entry through the long-standing 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 deter ...
.
Before Eurovision
Festivali i Këngës
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) organised the 56th edition of Festivali i Këngës in order to select the nation's representative for the Eurovision Song Contest 2018. The event consisted of two semi-finals on 21 and 22 December, and the grand final on 23 December 2017. The three live shows were hosted by television presenter and journalist Adi Krasta, who had previously hosted the event five times prior to 2018. In October 2017, RTSH confirmed that the nation would participate in the contest and that once again, Festivali i Këngës would be used as the selection process for the entry. Over 70 acts submitted applications to the broadcaster for consideration during the submission period held from 2 November to 10 November 2017.
The names of the 22 songs and singers selected to compete in the two semi-finals were released on 13 November.
Shows
= Semi-finals
=
The semi-finals took place on 21 and 22 December 2017 and were broadcast at 20:45 (
CET
CET or cet may refer to:
Places
* Cet, Albania
* Cet, standard astronomical abbreviation for the constellation Cetus
* Colchester Town railway station (National Rail code CET), in Colchester, England
Arts, entertainment, and media
* Comcast En ...
), respectively.
The allocation draw of the participating entries for each semi-final was published on 19 December, a few days before the event. The interval acts for the first semi-final included performances from Italian singer-songwriter
Riccardo Cocciante
Riccardo Cocciante (; born 20 February 1946), also known in French-speaking countries and the U.S. as Richard Cocciante (), is an Italian singer, composer, theatre man and musician. He acquired French citizenship.
Personal life
Cocciante was ...
and Albanian singer
Elhaida Dani
Elhaida Dani (; born 17 February 1993) is an Albanian singer, songwriter, composer and actress. Born and raised in Shkodër, Dani performed in diverse singing competitions and started to play piano as a child. She rose to national recognition i ...
, the latter of whom
represented Albania in the
Eurovision Song Contest 2015
The Eurovision Song Contest 2015 was the 60th edition of the Eurovision Song Contest. It took place in Vienna, Austria, following the country's victory at the with the song "Rise Like a Phoenix" by Conchita Wurst. Organised by the European Broa ...
. The results of the semi-finals are outlined in the tables below, however of the 22 entries, 14 progressed to the grand final.
= Final
=
The grand final took place on 23 December 2017 and was broadcast at 20:45 (
CET
CET or cet may refer to:
Places
* Cet, Albania
* Cet, standard astronomical abbreviation for the constellation Cetus
* Colchester Town railway station (National Rail code CET), in Colchester, England
Arts, entertainment, and media
* Comcast En ...
). It consisted of the fourteen entries that had qualified for the final, including eight from the first semi-final and six from the second semi-final. The results were determined by a jury panel consisting of Adrian Hila, Ilirian Zhupa, Limoz Dizdari, Markelian Kapedani and Zana Çela.
After gathering the maximum points from the jury, "
Mall
Mall commonly refers to a:
* Shopping mall
* Strip mall
* Pedestrian street
* Esplanade
Mall or MALL may also refer to:
Places Shopping complexes
* The Mall (Sofia) (Tsarigradsko Mall), Sofia, Bulgaria
* The Mall, Patna, Patna, Bihar, India
...
" by
Eugent Bushpepa
Eugent Bushpepa (; born 2 July 1984), also known by his alternative name Gent Bushpepa, is an Albanian singer, songwriter and composer. Regarded as one of the most popular modern rock musicians in the Albanian-speaking world, he is noted for hi ...
emerged as the country's representative for the Eurovision Song Contest. The results of the final are summarized in the table below:
Key:
Winner
Second place
Third place
Promotion
An accompanying
music video
A music video is a video of variable duration, that integrates a music song or a music album with imagery that is produced for promotional or musical artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a music marketing device ...
for "Mall" premiered on the official
YouTube
YouTube is a global online video sharing and social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by Google, and is the second mo ...
channel of the Eurovision Song Contest on 26 March 2018. Apart from the music video, Eugent Bushpepa traveled to the city of
Aveiro on the
Atlantic Ocean
The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's five oceans, with an area of about . It covers approximately 20% of Earth's surface and about 29% of its water surface area. It is known to separate the " Old World" of Africa, Europe ...
to film his introductory postcard, serving as an introduction for each participating country and artist.
The postcard shows him visiting the fishermen's houses, fish warehouses and the salt mines of Aveiro.
[ For further promotional purposes, the singer embarked on a small tour with live performances at various Eurovision Song Contest-related events, including ]Amsterdam
Amsterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Amstel'') is the Capital of the Netherlands, capital and Municipalities of the Netherlands, most populous city of the Netherlands, with The Hague being the seat of government. It has a population ...
and Madrid
Madrid ( , ) is the capital and most populous city of Spain. The city has almost 3.4 million inhabitants and a metropolitan area population of approximately 6.7 million. It is the second-largest city in the European Union (EU), and ...
. In addition, he was scheduled to perform in London
London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...
but was forced to withdraw due to issues obtaining a visa
Visa most commonly refers to:
*Visa Inc., a US multinational financial and payment cards company
** Visa Debit card issued by the above company
** Visa Electron, a debit card
** Visa Plus, an interbank network
*Travel visa, a document that allows ...
.
At Eurovision
The Eurovision Song Contest 2018 took place at the Altice Arena
Altice Arena (formerly MEO Arena; also referred to by its original name, Pavilhão Atlântico) is a multi-purpose indoor arena in Lisbon, Portugal. The arena is among the largest indoor arenas in Europe and the largest in Portugal with a capacit ...
in Lisbon
Lisbon (; pt, Lisboa ) is the capital and largest city of Portugal, with an estimated population of 544,851 within its administrative limits in an area of 100.05 km2. Grande Lisboa, Lisbon's urban area extends beyond the city's administr ...
, Portugal, and consisted of two semi-finals held on the respective dates of 8 and 10 May and the grand final on 12 May 2018. According to the rules
Rule or ruling may refer to:
Education
* Royal University of Law and Economics (RULE), a university in Cambodia
Human activity
* The exercise of political or personal control by someone with authority or power
* Business rule, a rule pert ...
, each participating country, except the host country and the " Big Five", consisting of , , , , and the , were required to qualify from one of the two semi-finals to compete for the grand final, although, the top ten countries from the respective semi-final progress to the grand final.
In January 2018, a special allocation draw was held at the City Hall of Lisbon that placed each country into one of the two semi-finals, as well as which half of the show they would perform in. Albania was placed into the first semi-final, to be held on 8 May, and was scheduled to perform in the first half of the show. Once all the competing songs for the 2018 contest had been released, the running order for the semi-finals was decided by the producers of the contest rather than through another draw, for preventing similar songs being placed next to each other. Albania was set to perform in position three, following and preceding . At the end of the semi-final, the nation was announced among the top 10 entries and therefore qualified to compete in 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. S ...
. Four days later at the grand final on 12 May, Albania appeared twelfth in the running order, following and preceding .
Voting
Voting during the three shows involved each country awarding two sets of points, including one from their professional jury and the other from televoting. Songs were given points ranging from 1 though 8, then 10 and 12, from lowest to highest ranking. Each nation's jury consisted of five music professionals, who are citizens of the country they represent, with their names published before the contest to ensure transparency. This jury judged each entry based on vocal capacity, the stage performance, the song's composition and originality, and the act's overall impression. 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. The individual rankings of each jury member as well as the nation's televoting results were released shortly after the grand final.
The tables below visualise a breakdown of points awarded to Albania in the first semi-final and final of the Eurovision Song Contest 2018, as well as by the nation on both occasions. In the semi-final, Albania finished in eighth place, being awarded a total of 162 points, including 12 by the televoters from , and the same number of points by the juries from and . In the final, Albania reached the 11th place with 184 points, including 12 by the televoters from and Macedonia, and 12 by the juries from .
Points awarded to Albania
Points awarded by Albania
Detailed voting results
The following members comprised the Albanian jury:
* (jury chairperson)singer, music producer, pianist
* (Ben Andoni)journalist
* singer, TV and theater director
* Rosela Gjylbegu
Rosela Gjylbegu (; born 13 March 1987) is an Albanian singer who won '' Kënga Magjike'' in 2009.
Life
Rosela graduated at the Shkolla e Mesme Pedagogjike in Shkodër, obtaining a degree in Social Work at the University of Tirana since w ...
singer
* singer
References
External links
*
{{Festivali i Këngës
2018
Countries in the Eurovision Song Contest 2018
2017
Eurovision
Eurovision