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Albania: With Shkodra Elektronike and “Zjerm” at Eurovision 2025!

A short while ago, the Festivali i Këngës 63 concluded, crowning Shkodra Elektronike as the winners and Albania’s representatives at the Eurovision Song Contest 2025 with the song “Zjerm.”

Once again, Albania’s national broadcaster RTSH chose its Eurovision entry through the FiK. The grand final took place at the Pallati i Kongreseve in Tirana, hosted by Enkel Demi and Ornela Bregu. The 15 artists who made it to the final gave their best performances, vying for the votes of the public and the jury to secure their ticket to Basel in May.

The 15 finalists were:

  1. Jet – “Gjallë”
  2. Kejsi Jazxhi – “Kur bota hesht”
  3. Vesa Smolica – “Lutem”
  4. Stine – “E kishim nis”
  5. Djemtë e Detit – “Larg”
  6. Nita Latifi – “Zemrës”
  7. Gjergj Kaçinari – “Larg jetës pa ty”
  8. Orgesa Zaimi – “I parë”
  9. Ardit Çuni – “Amane”
  10. Algert Sala – “Bosh”
  11. Shkodra Elektronike – “Zjerm”
  12. Lorenc Hasrama – “Frymë”
  13. Elvana Gjata – “Karnaval”
  14. Mal Retkoceri – “Antihero”
  15. Alis Kallacej – “Mjegull”

Results:

During tonight’s final evening of the festival, the top three awards were presented: first place, second place, and third place. Additionally, a lyrics award and a career award were granted by the professional jury.

The jury members were:

  • Zana Çela
  • Ylljet Aliçka
  • Alma Bektashi
  • Florent Boshnjaku
  • Jonida Maliqi
  • Merita Rexha Tërshana
  • Ramona Tullumani

The Critics’ Award, presented by the professional jury, was awarded to Shkodra Elektronike for their song “Zjerm.”
The Lyrics Award was given to Vesa Smolica for her song “Lutem.”

JURIES RESULTS

3rd Place: Alis Kallacej with the song “Mjegull.”
2nd Place: Elvana Gjata with the song “Karnaval
Winner: Shkodra Elektronike with the song “Zjerm” who will represent Albania at the Eurovision Song Contest 2025.

Albania in the Eurovision Song Contest
In 2025, Albania will mark its 22nd participation in the contest, having debuted in 2004 with Anjeza Shahini and her song “The Image Of You,” which achieved an honorable 7th place! RTSH had shown interest in the Eurovision Song Contest as early as 2003. However, with three other countries debuting that year, Albania did not manage to participate. Over the years, Albania has successfully qualified for the Grand Final 11 times, while failing to advance from the semi-finals on 9 occasions.

Albania’s best result came in 2012, when Rona Nishliu achieved a remarkable finish with her emotional performance of “Suus.”

Below, watch the winning performance of Shkodra Elektronike with the song “Zjerm,” which will represent Albania at Eurovision 2025:

What do you think Albania’s chances are in Eurovision 2025?

Albania: Elvana Gjata will sing “Karnaval” in Festivali I Këngës 63!

RTSH progressively reveals the song titles of the contestants following the announcement of the list of participants for Festivali I Këngës 63, the Albanian selection format for Eurovision 2025.

Elvana Gjata is the sixth contestant whose song title and credits are made public. She is unquestionably one of the most well received artists from this year’s competition and a strong contender to win.

“Karnaval” for Elvana Gjata

As unveiled in RTSH’s instagram post, Elvana’s bid for Eurovision 2025 is titled “Karnaval“. Her entry is penned by Elvana herself along with Lira Blakaj. The fact that “Karnaval” will be a dance song is also disclosed.

The other song titles we know so far

As previously mentioned, RTSH progressively reveals the song titles of the competitors in this edition. The following song titles have been revealed thus far:

  • Algert Sala will sing “Bosh” – Ballad
  • Alis will sing “Mjegull” – Ballad
  • Ardit Çuni will sing “Amane” – Pop/Dance
  • Devis Xherahu will sing “Ka Momente” – Ballad
  • Djemtë e Detit will sing “Larg” – Folk Rock
  • Elvana Gjata will sing “Karnaval” – Dance

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

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 votewon 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.

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: RTSH