Albania was represented at the

Eurovision Song Contest 2006 The Eurovision Song Contest 2006 was the 51st edition of the Eurovision Song Contest. It took place in Athens, Greece, following the country's victory at the with the song "My Number One" by Helena Paparizou. Organised by the European Broadcas ...

with the song "", composed by Klodian Qafoku, with lyrics by Florian Kondi, and performed by

Luiz Ejlli Luiz Ejlli (born 12 July 1985) is an Albanian singer, songwriter, actor, musician, ex-diplomat, reality show star and TV personality. A former winner of the 44th edition of , he also represented Albania in the 2006 Eurovision Song Contest ...

. The Albanian participating broadcaster, (RTSH), selected its entry through the national selection competition

Festivali i Këngës (; ), commonly known as and also referred to as simply FiK or Fest, is an annual music competition in Albania organised by the national broadcaster (RTSH). Broadcast every year since its inauguration in 1962, the festival has determined th ...

in December 2005. Due to the non-top 11 result in the previous contest, Albania was drawn to compete in the

semi-final A single-elimination knockout, or sudden-death tournament is a type of elimination tournament where the loser of a match-up is immediately eliminated from the tournament. Each winner will play another in the next round, until the final match-up, w ...

of the contest, which took place on 18 May 2006. Performing as number six, the nation was not announced among the top 10 entries of the semi-final and therefore failed to qualify for the

grand final Primarily in Australian sports, a grand final 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. Synonymous with a championship game in North Ameri ...

, marking Albania's first non-qualification in the contest.

Background

Prior to the 2006 contest, (RTSH) had participated in the

Eurovision Song Contest The Eurovision Song Contest (), often known simply as Eurovision, is an international Music competition, song competition organised annually by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) among its members since 1956. Each participating broadcaster ...

representing Albania two times since its first entry in . Its highest placing in the contest, to this point, had been the seventh place, achieved in 2004 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 ...

" performed by Anjeza Shahini. As part of its duties as participating broadcaster, RTSH organises the selection of its entry in the Eurovision Song Contest and broadcasts the event in the country. RTSH has organised

since its inauguration in 1962. Since 2003, the winner of the competition has simultaneously won the right to in the Eurovision Song Contest.

Before Eurovision

Festivali i Këngës

RTSH organised the 44th edition of Festivali i Këngës to determine its entry for the

. The competition consisted of two semi-finals on 16 and 17 December, respectively, and the grand final on 18 December 2005. The three live shows were hosted by Albanian singer

Soni Malaj Sonja "Soni" Malaj (born 23 October 1981), also known mononymously as Soni, is an Albanian singer, songwriter and dancer. Life and career Soni Malaj was born on 23 October 1981 into an Albanian family in the city of Tropojë, then part of th ...

and presenter Drini Zeqo.

Competing entries

Shows

= Semi-finals

= The semi-finals of Festivali i Këngës took place on 16 December and 17 December 2005, respectively. 17 contestants participated in each semi-final, with the highlighted ones progressing to the grand final.

= Final

= The grand final of Festivali i Këngës took place on 18 December 2005. "" performed by

emerged as the winner and was simultaneously announced as the Albanian entry for the Eurovision Song Contest 2006. Key: Winner Second place Third place

At Eurovision

The Eurovision Song Contest 2006 took place at the O.A.C.A. Olympic Indoor Hall in

Athens Athens ( ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Greece, largest city of Greece. A significant coastal urban area in the Mediterranean, Athens is also the capital of the Attica (region), Attica region and is the southe ...

, Greece, and consisted of a

on 18 May and the

on 20 May 2006. According to the Eurovision rules at the time, all participating countries, except the host nation and the " Big Four", consisting of , , and the , were required to qualify from the semi-final to compete for the final, although the top 10 countries from the semi-final progress to the final. Due to its non-top 11 result in the , Albania was required to compete in the semi-final. It was set to perform in position six, following and preceding . At the end of the semi-final, the country was not announced among the top 10 entries and therefore failed to qualify for the final, marking Albania's first non-qualification in the Eurovision Song Contest.

Voting

The tables below visualise a breakdown of points awarded to Albania in the semi-final of the Eurovision Song Contest 2006, as well as by the country for both the semi-final and grand final. In the semi-final, Albania finished in 14th place with a total of 58 points, including 12 from and 10 from . Albania awarded its 12 points to Macedonia in the semi-final and to in the grand final of the contest.

Points awarded to Albania

Points awarded by Albania

References

{{Eurovision Song Contest 2006

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Countries in the Eurovision Song Contest 2006

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