"World" is a song by Kosovo-Albanian singer and songwriter Lindita. It was issued as a

single Single may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * Single (music), a song release Songs * "Single" (Natasha Bedingfield song), 2004 * "Single" (New Kids on the Block and Ne-Yo song), 2008 * "Single" (William Wei song), 2016 * "Single", by ...

on 29 March 2017 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) and

Universal Music Universal Music Group N.V. (often abbreviated as UMG and referred to as just Universal Music) is a Netherlands, Dutch–United States, American multinational Music industry, music corporation under Law of the Netherlands, Dutch law. UMG's cor ...

. The song was written by the singer herself together with Gerald Xhari, and composed by Klodian Qafoku. An

English-language English is a West Germanic language of the Indo-European language family, with its earliest forms spoken by the inhabitants of early medieval England. It is named after the Angles, one of the ancient Germanic peoples that migrated to the is ...

pop-rock Pop rock (also typeset as pop/rock) is a fusion genre with an emphasis on professional songwriting and recording craft, and less emphasis on attitude than rock music Rock music is a broad genre of popular music that originated as " rock and ...

ballad A ballad is a form of verse, often a narrative set to music. Ballads derive from the medieval French ''chanson balladée'' or ''ballade'', which were originally "dance songs". Ballads were particularly characteristic of the popular poetry and ...

, it is lyrically a

manifesto A manifesto is a published declaration of the intentions, motives, or views of the issuer, be it an individual, group, political party or government. A manifesto usually accepts a previously published opinion or public consensus or promotes a ...

that discuss the challenges within a modern society simultaneously calling for rising up against wars and pleading for

peace Peace is a concept of societal friendship and harmony in the absence of hostility and violence. In a social sense, peace is commonly used to mean a lack of conflict (such as war) and freedom from fear of violence between individuals or groups. ...

and

love Love encompasses a range of strong and positive emotional and mental states, from the most sublime virtue or good habit, the deepest Interpersonal relationship, interpersonal affection, to the simplest pleasure. An example of this range of ...

. The song represented Albania in the

Eurovision Song Contest 2017 The Eurovision Song Contest 2017 was the 62nd edition of the Eurovision Song Contest. It took place in Kyiv, Ukraine, following the country's victory at the with the song "1944 (song), 1944" by Jamala. Organised by the European Broadcasting Uni ...

Kyiv Kyiv, also spelled Kiev, is the capital and most populous city of Ukraine. It is in north-central Ukraine along the Dnieper, Dnieper River. As of 1 January 2021, its population was 2,962,180, making Kyiv the List of European cities by populat ...

, Ukraine, after Lindita's victory at the country's pre-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 determ ...

with the song's Albanian-language version "Botë". It ultimately failed to qualify for the grand final also marking the country's seventh non-qualification in the contest. During her

minimalistic Minimalism is a movement in visual arts, music, and other media that began in post–World War II Western art. Minimalism may also refer to: *Minimalism (computing), a philosophy of programming and configuring computers *Minimalism (philosophy), ...

performance, she was accompanied by four backing vocalists while the

LED screen A LED display is a flat panel display that uses an array of light-emitting diodes as pixels for a video display. Their brightness allows them to be used outdoors where they are visible in the sun for store signs and billboards. In recent y ...

s portrayed a variety of imagery. "World" was positively received by

music critics Music journalism (or music criticism) is media criticism and reporting about music topics, including popular music, classical music, and traditional music. Journalists began writing about music in the eighteenth century, providing commentary on w ...

, who praised Lindita's vocals, as well as the song's composition and lyrics. For promotional purposes, the singer performed the song live on multiple Eurovision-related occasions, 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 ...

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 ...

and

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 ...

. 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 promotion (marketing), promotional or musical artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a m ...

for the song was premiered to the official

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channel of 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 ...

on 13 March 2017. It prominently features scenes of Lindita singing her song within an alternate dimension.

Background

In 2016, Lindita was announced as one of the twenty-five contestants selected to compete in the 55th edition of

, a competition to determine Albania's participant for the

. Following the competition's rules, the lyrics of the participating entries had to be in the

Albanian language Albanian ( endonym: or ) is an Indo-European language and an independent branch of that family of languages. It is spoken by the Albanians in the Balkans and by the Albanian diaspora, which is generally concentrated in the Americas, Europ ...

. Lindita took part with the song "Botë" written by Gerald Xhari and composed by Klodian Qafoku. For the purpose of the singer's Eurovision Song Contest participation, "Botë" was remastered and translated to "World". The latter song was then rewritten by Lindita herself together with Gerald Xhari, and composed by Klodian Qafoku. It was mixed by Marco Borsatti and further produced by Qafoku alongside Andrea Camilletti and Shpetim Saraci. It was premiered on 13 March 2017, while being digitally released on

digital platforms Digital usually refers to something using discrete digits, often binary digits. Technology and computing Hardware *Digital electronics, electronic circuits which operate using digital signals **Digital camera, which captures and stores digital i ...

and

streaming services An over-the-top media service is a streaming media service offered directly to viewers via the Internet. OTT bypasses cable, broadcast, and satellite television platforms, the companies that traditionally act as a controller or distributors of s ...

on 29 March 2017.

Composition and critical reception

"World" was musically characterised by Sebastian Kettley from ''

Daily Express The ''Daily Express'' is a national daily United Kingdom middle-market newspaper printed in tabloid format. Published in London, it is the flagship of Express Newspapers, owned by publisher Reach plc. It was first published as a broadsheet i ...

'' as an

song. Chris Zeiher from '' SBS'' called it a " Bond-style

", while '' Eurovision.de'' writer Stefanie Grossmann said, "World" is a spherical power ballad that brings Lindita's powerful voice to the fore". Regarding the song's lyrics, Grossmann said, "the song is about the challenges within a modern society and also calls for rising up against wars and pleading for

and

". Sebastian Kettley from ''

'' described it as a pop-rock song noting a "powerful" message of spreading love. An editor of ''

The Telegraph ''The Telegraph'', ''Daily Telegraph'', ''Sunday Telegraph'' and other variant names are popular names for newspapers. Newspapers with these titles include: Australia * ''The Telegraph'' (Adelaide), a newspaper in Adelaide, South Australia, publ ...

'' concluded, "another Eurovision staple: the what is happening to the world? power ballad". Reviewers from

Wiwibloggs Wiwibloggs is a fansite and YouTube channel focusing on the Eurovision Song Contest, launched in 2009. It has a seasonal audience, peaking at 250,000 page views per day during the week of Eurovision in May 2016, based on Google Analytics data. ...

were generally positive, praising the singer's vocal delivery, as well as the song's composition and instrumentation, while labelling it as being "organic" and "contemporary".

Music video and promotion

An accompanying

for "World" premiered on the official

channel of the

on 13 March 2017. Chris Halpin of

praised Lindita's appearance as well as the music video itself noting the maintenance of "many hidden messages". In an exclusive presentation for

San Marino RTV Radiotelevisione della Repubblica di San Marino, commonly known as San Marino RTV (abbreviated SMRTV), is the public service broadcaster of San Marino. On 13 June 2011, San Marino RTV changed its name to SMtv San Marino. In November 2013, the n ...

, commentator

John Kennedy O'Connor John Kennedy O'Connor (born 1964) is a television and radio broadcaster, author and entertainment commentator. He was born in North London, but is a naturalized citizen of the United States. He has written, reported and broadcast for numerous m ...

gave a favourably review saying, "This is definitely one of the most beautiful and inspiring videos of this year's previews". For further promotion, Lindita made several appearances throughout Europe to specifically promote the song at various events, including at

's Eurovision in Concert, PreParty ES in

and Israel Calling in

At Eurovision

Festivali i Këngës

The national broadcaster of Albania,

(RTSH), organised the 55th edition of

to select the

country A country is a distinct part of the world, such as a state, nation, or other political entity. It may be a sovereign state or make up one part of a larger state. For example, the country of Japan is an independent, sovereign state, while the ...

's entrant for the

. The contest took place in December 2017, for which 24 songs had been internally shortlisted by a jury panel made up of music professionals. Subsequently, after the grand final, Lindita and her Albanian-language song "Botë" were chosen to represent Albania in the contest, after the votes of an expert jury panel and the internet were combined, resulting in 85 total points.

Kyiv

The 62nd edition of the

took place in

, Ukraine, and consisted of two semi-finals held on 9 and 11 May, and the grand final on 13 May 2017. According to the Eurovision rules, each participating country, except the host country and the " Big Five" including , , , and the , were required to qualify from one of two semi-finals to compete for the grand final, although, the top ten countries from the respective semi-final progress to the grand final. On 31 January 2017, it was announced that "World" would be performed in the first half of the first semi-final of the contest. During the live show, Albania performed fourth following and preceding . The country eventually failed to qualify for the grand final in fourteenth place with 38 points ranking fourteenth by the jury's 38 points and twelfth by the televote of 38 points. The well-received performance of Lindita begins with her singing the song in front of dark green lights while wearing a white costume which symbolises "peace" and "elegance". Following the first refrain, a clock appears on the

s and fills the entire circular stage floor, ticking to the song. Later in the show, the screens shows sailing spaceships and numerous chandeliers flowing on the stage.

Personnel

Credits adapted from

Tidal Tidal is the adjectival form of tide. Tidal may also refer to: * ''Tidal'' (album), a 1996 album by Fiona Apple * Tidal (king), a king involved in the Battle of the Vale of Siddim * TidalCycles, a live coding environment for music * Tidal (servic ...

. ''Note: Open "Credits" for credits.'' * Linditaperforming, vocals * Klodian Qafokucomposing, producing * Shpetim Saraciproducing * Andrea Camillettiproducing * Gerald Xharisongwriting * Marco Borsattimixing

Track listing

*Digital download #"World"2:56

Release history

References

{{Authority control 2017 singles 2017 songs 2010s ballads Pop ballads Pop rock songs Rock ballads English-language Albanian songs Eurovision songs of Albania Eurovision songs of 2017 Universal Music Group singles