Albania: A combination of jury and public vote will decide the country’s representative in Eurovision 2025!

Preparations for their representation in Eurovision 2025 have already started in Albania. Yesterday, RTSH revealed the thirty candidates of Festivali I Këngës 63, the Albanian selection format, which has been used since its inaugural participation.

In yesterday’s announcement, RTSH did not disclose how the winner of the festival nor the country’s representative in Eurovision 2025 will emerge. However and according to exclusive information given to Euromix.il, changes will be made to the format this year.

A combination of jury and public vote will decide

For the past two editions, Festivali i Këngës had two separate winners. The winner of the jury voting was crowned as the winner of the festival and the winner of the public vote was the chosen one for the Albanian representation in the Eurovision Song Contest. Indicatively,

• Elsa Lila and Mal Retkoceri won the jury voting and were crowned as the winners of Festivali i Këngës 61 and 62 respectively, while
• Albina & Familja Kelmendi and Besa won the public vote, won the tickets to Liverpool and Malmö

This year and according to Euromix.il, the winner and consecutively the Eurovision 2024 Albanian representative will be chosen accordingly through a combination of jury and public vote. Hence, a 60/40 format will be used in order to select the next Albanian act.

This is another change that Festivali i Këngës sees in its voting format. Festivali i Këngës has now started to implement the public opinion more, especially when it comes to Eurovision. For many years it was accused of corruption and the country’s inability to respond to the modern-day Eurovision standards.

A similar change was in plans for last year’s edition, however was never implemented and two separate winners were announced.

Festivali i Këngës 63

Following the closing of the submission window for artists interested in participating on September 29, these are the thirty participants of Festivali i Këngës 63:

1. Algert Sala
2. Alis Kallacej
3. Ardit Çuni
4. Devis Xherahu
5. Djemtë e Detit
6. Elvana Gjata
7. Endrik Beba
8. Epos Grup
9. Erma Mici
10. Frensi Revania
11. Gjergj Kaçinari
12. Gresa Gjocera
13. Jet
14. Kejsi Jazxhi
15. Kleansa Susaj
16. Laurjan Ejlli ft. Adelina Corraj
17. Lorenc Hasrama
18. Luna Çausholli
19. Mal Retkoceri
20. Martina Serreqi
21. Mihallaq Andrea
22. Nita Latifi
23. Olsi Bylyku
24. Orgesa Zaimi
25. Rea Nuhu
26. Ronaldo Mesuli
27. Santino De Bartolo
28. Shkodra Elektronike
29. Stine
30. Vesa Smolica

The list includes last year’s FiK Mal Retkoceri winner and Elvana Gjata, who is a favorite among many after her participation in FiK in 2019.

The dates of the Festivali i Këngës this year have not yet been disclosed, while the renowned Albanian singer and former Eurovision representative, Elhaida Dani will take over the artistic direction of this year’s FiK edition.

The Albanian public’s pick for Eurovision 2024 was Besa with her song “Zemrën n’dorë“. Besa released a revamped version in English titled “Titan” for Eurovision, where she did not make it to the Grand Final, finishing fourteenth in the second semi-final.

Stay tuned to EurovisionFun for all the news! 

Source: euromix.il