(; ), simply known as and informally as Fest, is an annual

music competition A music competition is a public event designed to identify and award outstanding musical ensembles, soloists, composers, conductors and musicologists. Pop music competitions are music competitions which are held to find pop starlets. Exampl ...

Kosovo Kosovo ( sq, Kosova or ; sr-Cyrl, Косово ), officially the Republic of Kosovo ( sq, Republika e Kosovës, links=no; sr, Република Косово, Republika Kosovo, links=no), is a partially recognised state in Southeast Euro ...

organised by the national broadcaster Radio Television of Kosovo (RTK) since 2023. It is broadcast on

RTK 1 RTK 1 (English: ''Radio Television of Kosovo 1'', Albanian: ''Radio Televizioni i Kosovës 1'') is the first public television channel of Kosovo, providing general programming. As part of the Radio Television of Kosovo (RTK), a public service b ...

RTK 2 RTK 2 (English: ''Radio Television of Kosovo 2'', Serbian: ''Радио Телевизија Косова 2 / Radio Televizija Kosova 2'', ) is the second public television channel of Kosovo, providing news and shows. As part of the Radio Tele ...

and Radio Kosova 1, as well as on RTSH in Albania and on MRT 2 in North Macedonia.

History

The contest was modelled on the basis of the festival of the same name held in Albania since 1962 and used as the Albanian national final for 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 ...

since 2003. Kosovo, formerly part of , has never participated in the Eurovision Song Contest on its own, but the contest has been broadcast in the territory since 1961 and a number of Kosovan artists have represented Albania or in the event. Despite its inability to become a full member of the

European Broadcasting Union The European Broadcasting Union (EBU; french: Union européenne de radio-télévision, links=no, UER) is an alliance of Public broadcasting, public service media organisations whose countries are within the European Broadcasting Area or who ar ...

(EBU) in order to take part in the contest, in February 2023 Kosovan broadcaster RTK started to develop the format, with the long-term aim of using it as its national selection for Eurovision. The format was ultimately defined on 7 March 2023. In October 2023, shortly before the launch of its first edition, the festival's director reported that he had been in contact with people at EBU who had expressed "extreme enthusiasm" regarding the event. Director-general of the EBU

Noel Curran Noel Curran (born 13 November 1967) is an Irish radio and television producer and journalist who has been the Director-General of the European Broadcasting Union since October 2017. He previously served as the Director-General of RTÉ (Ireland's ...

made a remote appearance during the first night of the festival to express his congratulations. RTK stated it would apply for EBU membership in June 2024, having reaffirmed the intention to participate in Eurovision and use the next edition of the festival to select its entrant.

Editions

2023

The inaugural edition of was held at the Great Hall of the Palace of Youth and Sports in

Pristina Pristina, ; sr, / (, ) is the capital and largest city of Kosovo. The city's municipal boundaries in Pristina District form the largest urban center in Kosovo. After Tirana, Pristina has the second largest population of ethnic Albanians and ...

, directed by and co-hosted by Krasta and

Besim Dina Besim Dina (born 6 July 1971) is a Kosovo Albanian The Albanians of Kosovo ( sq, Shqiptarët e Kosovës, ), also commonly called Kosovo Albanians, Kosovar/Kosovan Albanians or Kosovars/Kosovans, constitute the largest ethnic group in Kosovo. ...

(all shows) alongside Edona Kasapolli (first night),

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 ...

(second night) and Edona Reshitaj (third night); it consisted of two qualification shows on 26 and 27 October 2023 and a final on 28 October 2023. The artistic director for this edition was , while performances were conducted by , Edon Ramadani and ; the four, as well as and , also served as orchestrators. A submission period was open between 2 June and 9 September 2023 to select eighteen competing entries. At the festival, a 5-member jury – consisting of Adi Hila, , , Ulla Sjöström and chair – voted to determine ten qualifiers from the first phase and the first three places in the final. The winner was La Fazani (Arbër Salihu) with "". A number of guest performers also made an appearance in this edition, namely Bektashi herself, ,

Dafina Zeqiri Dafina Zeqiri (; born 14 April 1989), also known mononymously as Dafina, is a Swedish-born Kosovo-Albanian singer. Life and career Dafina Zeqiri was born on 14 April 1989 into an Albanian family from Kosovo in the city of Varberg, Sweden. ...

Enver Petrovci Enver Petrovci (born 28 February 1954 in Pristina) is a Kosovo-Albanian actor, writer and director. He went to high school in Prishtina and completed acting school in Belgrade. He played as Hamlet, Macbeth, Julius Cesar and other famous Shake ...

, , , and her daughters,

Irma Libohova Irma Libohova (born 14 April 1959) is an Albanian singer and songwriter. Life and career Libohova was born in Libohovë in a family originating from Libohovë. She debuted in the Albanian National Festival ( sq, Festivali i Këngës) in Dece ...

, Kamela Islamaj and , , , and Xuxi.

2024

The second edition of is set to be held in late October 2024, directed by Adi Krasta with Florent Boshnjaku as artistic director and as executive producer. A submission period is open between 31 May and 31 August 2024 to select the competing entries.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Festivali i Kenges ne RTK Singing competitions Song contests October events 2023 establishments in Kosovo Music festivals in Kosovo Music festivals established in 2023 Events in Pristina 2023 Kosovan television series debuts 2020s Kosovan television series