"Zemrën e lamë peng" (; ) is a song by Albanian singer

Olta Boka Olta Boka (born 13 September 1991) is an Albanian singer. She represented Albania in the Eurovision Song Contest 2008 with the song "Zemrën e lamë peng", after winning Festivali i Këngës 46. Career Olta Boka was born in Tirana. She started ...

, written by

Pandi Laço Pandi Laço (born 21 March 1964 in Korçë) is an Albanian journalist, songwriter, presenter and scenarist. He is mostly known for his work on Albanian Eurovision songs, of which he wrote several. Pandi has worked with notable Albanian artists inc ...

and composed by Adrian Hila. It was released as a

CD single A CD single (sometimes abbreviated to CDS) is a music single in the form of a compact disc. The standard in the Red Book for the term ''CD single'' is an 8 cm (3-inch) CD (or Mini CD). It now refers to any single recorded onto a CD of any si ...

in 2008 through

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). Musically, it is an Albanian-language

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 ...

, lyrically revolving around lovesickness and the pain of separation from a loved one. The song represented in the

Eurovision Song Contest 2008 The Eurovision Song Contest 2008 was the 53rd edition of the Eurovision Song Contest. It took place in Belgrade, Serbia, following the country's victory at the with the song "Molitva" by Marija Šerifović. Organised by the European Broadcas ...

Belgrade Belgrade ( , ;, ; Names of European cities in different languages: B, names in other languages) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Serbia, largest city in Serbia. It is located at the confluence of the Sava and Danube rivers a ...

, Serbia, after winning the country's pre-selection competition Festivali i Këngës 46. The country reached the 17th place in a field of 25, gathering a total of 55 points. During her dark-themed show, Boka was on stage accompanied by three

instrumentalist A musical instrument is a device created or adapted to make musical sounds. In principle, any object that produces sound can be considered a musical instrument—it is through purpose that the object becomes a musical instrument. A person who pl ...

s, 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 displayed various violet and yellow-coloured hearts.

Background and composition

In 2007, Olta Boka was announced as one of the contestants selected to compete in the 46th edition of

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 ...

, a competition to determine Albania's entrant for the Eurovision Song Contest 2008. Following the competition's rules, the lyrics of the participating entries had to be in the Albanian language. Boka took part with the song "Zemrën e lamë peng", composed by Adrian Hila and written by Pandi Laço. For the purpose of the singer's Eurovision Song Contest participation, the song was remastered and reworked in

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...

with few modifications leading to a more "rhythmic version". Musically, it was described as a

, which lyrically revolves around lovesickness and the pain of separation.

Release and promotion

The song was released as a CD single in 2008 through Radio Televizioni Shqiptar (RTSH), while approximately 1000 promotional CD's were distributed to radio stations. 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 premiered prior to the start of the

. For promotional purposes, Boka made diverse live appearances on multiple occasions in April that year to perform the song, including in

Azerbaijan Azerbaijan (, ; az, Azərbaycan ), officially the Republic of Azerbaijan, , also sometimes officially called the Azerbaijan Republic is a transcontinental country located at the boundary of Eastern Europe and Western Asia. It is a part of th ...

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States Georgia may also refer to: Places Historical states and entities * Related to the ...

and

Ukraine Ukraine ( uk, Україна, Ukraïna, ) is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the second-largest European country after Russia, which it borders to the east and northeast. Ukraine covers approximately . Prior to the ongoing Russian inv ...

. In the same month, she also appeared to perform on the Turkish television shows ''Aynadan yansıyanlar'' and ''Michael show''. Israel's

representative Representative may refer to: Politics * Representative democracy, type of democracy in which elected officials represent a group of people * House of Representatives, legislative body in various countries or sub-national entities * Legislator, som ...

for the Eurovision Song Contest 2008,

Boaz Ma'uda Boaz Ma'uda ( he, בועז מעודה, born April 23, 1987) is an Israeli singer and songwriter. He won the fifth season of ''Kokhav Nolad'', the Israeli version of ''Pop Idol'', and represented Israel in the Eurovision Song Contest 2008, finishin ...

, released in 2009 a

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version of the song titled "Sha'ar Libach" ().

At Eurovision

Festivali i Këngës

The national broadcaster of Albania, Radio Televizioni Shqiptar (RTSH), organised the 46th edition of Festivali i Këngës to determine the country's participant for the Eurovision Song Contest 2008. The former consisted of two semi-finals on 14 and 15 December, and the grand final on 16 December 2007, which included Boka being chosen to represent the country in the contest, after the votes of an expert jury were combined, resulting in 67 points. Boka's victory was surrounded by controversy after several observers accused the Radio Televizioni Shqiptar (RTSH) of

conspiracy A conspiracy, also known as a plot, is a secret plan or agreement between persons (called conspirers or conspirators) for an unlawful or harmful purpose, such as murder or treason, especially with political motivation, while keeping their agree ...

and manipulation.

Belgrade

The 53rd edition of the Eurovision Song Contest took place in

, Serbia, and consisted of two semi-finals on 20 and 22 May, and the grand final on 24 May 2008. According to the Eurovision rules at the time, each participating country, apart from the host country and the " Big Four", consisting of , , , and the , were required to qualify from one of the two semi-finals to compete for the grand final. However, the top ten countries from the respective semi-final progressed to the grand final. On 28 January 2008, it was announced that "Zemrën e lamë peng" would be performed in the second semi-final of the contest. Albania performed sixth in the second semi-final, following and preceding , and qualified for the grand final in ninth place with 67 points. At the grand final, it performed third, following and preceding . Albania reached the 17th place in a field of 25 with 55 points. During her dark-themed show of the song, Boka was accompanied on stage by two

guitar The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected stri ...

ists and a

drum The drum is a member of the percussion group of musical instruments. In the Hornbostel-Sachs classification system, it is a membranophone. Drums consist of at least one membrane, called a drumhead or drum skin, that is stretched over a she ...

mer. The

s in the background displayed various violet and yellow-toned hearts throughout the performance.

Track listing

*CD *#"Zemrën e lamë peng"2:57 *Digital download *#"Zemrën e lamë peng (Festivali i Këngës)"3:28

Release history

References

{{Eurovision Song Contest 2008, state=collapsed 2007 songs 2008 songs 2007 singles 2008 singles Eurovision songs of 2008 Eurovision songs of Albania 2000s ballads Festivali i Këngës songs Albanian-language songs Songs written by Pandi Laço