Albania In The Eurovision Song Contest 2019
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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 2019 The Eurovision Song Contest 2019 was the 64th edition of the Eurovision Song Contest. It took place in Tel Aviv, Israel, following the country's victory at the 2018 contest with the song " Toy" by Netta. Organised by the European Broad ...
in
Tel Aviv Tel Aviv-Yafo ( he, תֵּל־אָבִיב-יָפוֹ, translit=Tēl-ʾĀvīv-Yāfō ; ar, تَلّ أَبِيب – يَافَا, translit=Tall ʾAbīb-Yāfā, links=no), often referred to as just Tel Aviv, is the most populous city in the G ...
, Israel, with the song "" performed by
Jonida Maliqi Jonida Maliqi (; born 26 March 1983) is an Albanian singer and media personality. Throughout her career, Maliqi has won six awards at Kënga Magjike and first place in 2008. She is also a double winner of accolades at the Top Fest in 2006 and 2 ...
. Its selected entry was chosen through the national selection competition organised by (RTSH) in December 2018. 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 ...
fifteen 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 promotion (marketing), promotional or musical artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a m ...
and live performances in the Netherlands, Spain and the United Kingdom. Albania was drawn to compete in the second semi-final of the Eurovision Song Contest, which took place on 16 May 2019. Performing as number 14, the nation was announced among the top 10 entries of the second 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. Sy ...
on 18 May 2019, it performed as number two and placed 17th out of the 26 participating countries, scoring 90 points.


Background

Prior to the 2019 contest, Albania 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 ...
fifteen 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 "" 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 bal ...
" finishing 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 seven times, with both the and entries being the most recent non-qualifiers. In , the nation qualified for the final with
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 ...
finishing in 11th place with "". In September 2018, the national broadcaster of Albania, (RTSH), officially confirmed Albania's participation in the
Eurovision Song Contest 2019 The Eurovision Song Contest 2019 was the 64th edition of the Eurovision Song Contest. It took place in Tel Aviv, Israel, following the country's victory at the 2018 contest with the song " Toy" by Netta. Organised by the European Broad ...
in
Tel Aviv Tel Aviv-Yafo ( he, תֵּל־אָבִיב-יָפוֹ, translit=Tēl-ʾĀvīv-Yāfō ; ar, تَلّ أَبِيب – يَافَا, translit=Tall ʾAbīb-Yāfā, links=no), often referred to as just Tel Aviv, is the most populous city in the G ...
, Israel. 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 .


Before Eurovision


Festivali i Këngës

(RTSH) organised the 57th edition of to select their participant for the Eurovision Song Contest 2019. The competition consisted of two semi-finals on 20 and 21 December, respectively, and the grand final on 22 December 2018. The three live shows were hosted by Albanian-Canadian actress
Ana Golja Muazana "Ana" Golja is a Canadian actress and singer. She is known for playing Zoë Rivas in the teen dramas '' Degrassi: Next Class'' and '' Degrassi: The Next Generation'' and Ariana Berlin in the TV movie ''Full Out''. Career Golja began h ...
and Albanian television presenter Viktor Zhusti. The broadcaster had previously confirmed the nation's participation in the contest in September 2018. It opened a submission period between 16 May and 30 September 2018 for artists and composers to participate in the competition. The list of competing artists and songs was officially revealed on 17 October 2018, being shortlisted to compete in the two semi-finals of the contest.


Competing entries


Shows


= Semi-finals

= The semi-finals of Festivali i Këngës took place on 20 December and 21 December 2018, and were broadcast live 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 Ente ...
) on the respective dates. The first semi-final was closed by Italy's
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 Broa ...
representative
Ermal Meta Ermal Meta (; born 20 April 1981) is an Italian singer, songwriter, composer, and writer of Albanian origin (he holds double citizenship). Born in Fier and raised in Bari, Meta rose to prominence as one of the lead singers of Ameba 4 and . After ...
. In it, the competing artists traditionally performed in cooperation with a
symphonic orchestra A symphony is an extended musical composition in Western classical music, most often for orchestra. Although the term has had many meanings from its origins in the ancient Greek era, by the late 18th century the word had taken on the meaning com ...
. During the second semi-final, the 22 acts delivered performances of the final versions of their entries as intended to be performed on the stage of the Eurovision Song Contest.


= Final

= The grand final of took place on 22 December 2018 and was broadcast live at 20:45 (CET). On the same day, prior to the live show, 14 songs competed and the winner was determined by the combination of the votes from a nine-member jury panel consisting of Agim Krajka, Arta Marku, Dorian Çene, Haig Zacharian, Olsa Toqi, Pali Kuke,
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 ...
, Rovena Dilo and Shpëtim Kushta. Before the end of the show,
Jonida Maliqi Jonida Maliqi (; born 26 March 1983) is an Albanian singer and media personality. Throughout her career, Maliqi has won six awards at Kënga Magjike and first place in 2008. She is also a double winner of accolades at the Top Fest in 2006 and 2 ...
emerged as the winner and was simultaneously announced as the Albania's representative for the 2019 Eurovision Song Contest. The results of the final are summarized in the table below:


Promotion

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 promotion (marketing), promotional or musical artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a m ...
for "" premiered via the Eurovision Song Contest's official
YouTube YouTube is a global online video platform, online video sharing and social media, 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 ...
channel on 10 March 2019. Outside of the music video,
Jonida Maliqi Jonida Maliqi (; born 26 March 1983) is an Albanian singer and media personality. Throughout her career, Maliqi has won six awards at Kënga Magjike and first place in 2008. She is also a double winner of accolades at the Top Fest in 2006 and 2 ...
travelled to the Banias Nature Reserve at
Mount Hermon Mount Hermon ( ar, جبل الشيخ or جبل حرمون / ALA-LC: ''Jabal al-Shaykh'' ("Mountain of the Sheikh") or ''Jabal Haramun''; he, הַר חֶרְמוֹן, ''Har Hermon'') is a mountain cluster constituting the southern end of the ...
in Israel to film her introductory postcard. In the postcard, she is seen dressed in 1950s style clothing while walking through the surroundings. Maliqi is subsequently joined by four female dancers on the edge of a waterfall, where they perform an
interpretive dance Interpretive dance is a family of modern dance styles that began around 1900 with Isadora Duncan. It used classical concert music but marked a departure from traditional concert dance. It seeks to translate human emotions, conditions, situations o ...
choreography Choreography is the art or practice of designing sequences of movements of physical bodies (or their depictions) in which Motion (physics), motion or Visual appearance, form or both are specified. ''Choreography'' may also refer to the design ...
. For further promotion, the singer embarked on a small tour with live performances at various Eurovision Song Contest-related events, including in
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 ...
,
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 ...
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 ...
.


At Eurovision

The Eurovision Song Contest 2019 took place at
Expo Tel Aviv Expo Tel Aviv (formerly the Israel Trade Fairs and Convention Center ( he, מרכז הירידים והקונגרסים בישראל) and later the Tel Aviv Convention Center ( he, מרכז הירידים - תל אביב), commonly referred to as ...
in
Tel Aviv Tel Aviv-Yafo ( he, תֵּל־אָבִיב-יָפוֹ, translit=Tēl-ʾĀvīv-Yāfō ; ar, تَلّ أَبِيب – يَافَا, translit=Tall ʾAbīb-Yāfā, links=no), often referred to as just Tel Aviv, is the most populous city in the G ...
, Israel, and consisted of two semi-finals held on the respective dates of 14 and 16 May and the grand final on 18 May 2019. According to the Eurovision rules, all participating countries, except 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 grand final, although the top 10 countries from the respective semi-final progress to the grand final. On 28 January 2019, a special allocation draw was held at the
Tel Aviv Museum of Art Tel Aviv Museum of Art ( he, מוזיאון תל אביב לאמנות ''Muzeon Tel Aviv Leomanut'') is an art museum in Tel Aviv, Israel. The museum is dedicated to the preservation and display of modern and contemporary art from Israel and aroun ...
in Tel Aviv 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 second semi-final, to be held on 16 May, and was scheduled to perform in the second half of the show. Once all the competing songs for the 2019 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 14, following and preceding . At the end of 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 ...
, 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. Sy ...
.


Voting

Voting during the three shows involved each nation awarding two sets of points from 1–8, 10 and 12: one from their professional jury and the other from televoting. Each nation's jury consisted of five music industry professionals who are citizens of the nation they represent, with their names being 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 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. The individual rankings of each jury member as well as the nation's televoting results were released soon after the grand final. The tables below visualise a breakdown of points awarded to Albania in the second semi-final and final of the Eurovision Song Contest 2019, as well as by the nation on both occasions. In the semi-final, Albania finished in ninth place, being awarded a total of 96 points, including 12 by the televoters from , and , and the same number of points by the juries from North Macedonia. In the final, Albania reached the 17th place with 90 points, including 12 by the televoters from Italy and North Macedonia, and eight by the juries from and North Macedonia. The nation's televoters awarded its 12 points to in the semi-final and to in the final. Its juries awarded its 12 points to North Macedonia in both the semi-final and final.


Points awarded to Albania


Points awarded by Albania


Detailed voting results

The following members comprised the Albanian jury: * Gent Rushi (jury chairperson)pedagogue, jazz musician * singer * Dilan Rekasinger * Julka Gramosinger, moderator, entertainer * mezzo-soprano


Notes and references


Notes


References


External links

* {{Festivali i Këngës
2019 File:2019 collage v1.png, From top left, clockwise: Hong Kong protests turn to widespread riots and civil disobedience; House of Representatives votes to adopt articles of impeachment against Donald Trump; CRISPR gene editing first used to experim ...
Countries in the Eurovision Song Contest 2019
2018 File:2018 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2018 Winter Olympics opening ceremony in PyeongChang, South Korea; Protests erupt following the Assassination of Jamal Khashoggi; March for Our Lives protests take place across the United ...
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 ...
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 ...