Bledar Sejko (born February 19, 1971) is an Albanian guitarist, composer, and

singer Singing is the act of creating musical sounds with the voice. A person who sings is called a singer, artist or vocalist (in jazz and/or popular music). Singers perform music (arias, recitatives, songs, etc.) that can be sung with or withou ...

who represented Albania in the

Eurovision Song Contest 2013 The Eurovision Song Contest 2013 was the 58th edition of the Eurovision Song Contest. It took place in Malmö, Sweden, following the country's victory at the with the song "Euphoria" by Loreen. Organised by the European Broadcasting Union (EB ...

Malmö Malmö (, ; da, Malmø ) is the largest city in the Swedish county (län) of Scania (Skåne). It is the third-largest city in Sweden, after Stockholm and Gothenburg, and the sixth-largest city in the Nordic region, with a municipal pop ...

with his song " Identitet", which he performed with

Adrian Lulgjuraj Adrian Lulgjuraj (born 19 August 1980) is a Montenegrin-born Albanian singer . Together with Bledar Sejko, he represented Albania in the Eurovision Song Contest 2013 in Malmö with the song " Identitet". The song failed to qualify for the fi ...

. According to Sejko, the song includes combined motives from

Northern Albania Northern Albania ( sq, Shqipëria Veriore) is one of the three NUTS-2 Regions of Albania. This ethnographical territory is sometimes referred to as ''Ghegeria'' ( sq, Gegëria) which also includes parts of the Albanian-inhabited territories of ...

and

Chameria Chameria ( sq, Çamëria; el, Τσαμουριά, ''Tsamouriá''; tr, Çamlık) is a term used today mostly by Albanians to refer to parts of the coastal region of Epirus in southern Albania and Greece, traditionally associated with the Alban ...

. He also appeared in the 2011 edition of the contest, performing alongside

Aurela Gaçe Aurela Gaçe (; born 16 October 1974) is an Albanian singer and songwriter. She is a three-time Festivali i Këngës winner, a three-time Kënga Magjike winner and a two-time Balkan Music Award winner for ''Balkan's Song of the Year'' and ''Bes ...

in her song Feel the Passion. Sejko's first group, which included Redon Makashi and Elton Deda was one of the first pop groups of Albania created in clandestinity in the late 1980s:

Communist Albania The People's Socialist Republic of Albania ( sq, Republika Popullore Socialiste e Shqipërisë, links=no) was the Marxist–Leninist one party state that existed in Albania from 1946 to 1992 (the official name of the country was the People's R ...

did not allow pop music to be recorded, performed or broadcast. Sejko's nickname has always been ''Qepa'' ( en, Onion). He taught guitar to Makashi and has always been known as a great performer of the instrument in Albania. He created Megahertz, the first rock band in Albania. Sejko's last participation to the

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 ...

before "Identitet" had been in 1992 with his group Thunder Way. Their song, "Legjenda e Heroit" ( en, The Hero’s Legend), had come last in that festival.

References

1971 births Living people Musicians from Tirana Albanian rock singers Festivali i Këngës winners Eurovision Song Contest entrants of 2013 Eurovision Song Contest entrants for Albania {{Eurovision-stub