Me tana

"Me tana" (Albanian pronunciation: [mɛ tana]; transl. With all or With everything) is a song performed by Albanian singer and songwriter Elvana Gjata. It was written and composed by the singer herself, and produced by UNIK. Musically, the song was described as an Albanian-language ethnic dance-pop song, which lyrically explores the theme of unconditional and hopeless love. It received favorable responses from music critics upon its release, with some praising its composition, lyrics and Elvana's vocal delivery.

"Me tana"
Single by Elvana Gjata
LanguageAlbanian
Released10 December 2019 (2019-12-10)
GenreDance-pop
Length3:40
LabelEast Music Matters
Songwriter(s)Elvana Gjata
Producer(s)UNIK
Elvana Gjata singles chronology
"A m'don"
(2019)		 "Me tana"
(2019)
Music video
"Me tana" on YouTube

In December 2019, Elvana participated in the 58th edition of Festivali i Këngës to represent Albania in the Eurovision Song Contest 2020 in Rotterdam, the Netherlands. She finished in the second place despite being the favourite to win the competition. During her red and black-themed show of the song, she was accompanied by six backing dancers, while the background LED screens displayed different folklore-inspired images.

The song was released as a single on 10 December 2019 for download and streaming by East Music Matters. An accompanying black and white lyric video was premiered to the official YouTube channel of Radio Televizioni Shqiptar (RTSH) on the same date and trended in numerous countries throughout Europe.

Background and composition

"Me tana", which runs three minutes and forty seconds, was composed and written by Elvana Gjata herself, approximately a year before her participation at Festivali i Këngës.[1][2] The Albanian-language song was produced by German-Greek producer UNIK.[1] It was released on digital platforms and to streaming services as a single on 10 December 2019 through East Music Matters.[3]

The song's title translated into English, "With all" or "With everything", is in this case an expression for giving up everything of yourself, and giving it to the other person you love.[4] Musically, it draws influence from the musical genres of dance-pop intertwined with ethnic elements.[5] The song lyrically focuses on the singer's unconditional and hopeless love in which, according to a music reviewer, Elvana "burst with emotions letting them out through the song".[4]

Critical reception

"Me tana" received favorable reviews from music critics upon its release and was further considered a favourite to win Festivali i Këngës in late December 2019.[6] Robyn Gallagher of Wiwibloggs commended the song "an examination of deep feelings of love" and praised the song's lyrics which, according to her, reflect on "emotions" and "sensual delights".[4] An editor of SoundsEuropean was generally positive towards the song's nature calling it a "fresh blend of pop with ethnic touches".[7] Eurovision.de writer from Germany, Irving Wolther, compared the song with "Fuego" (2018) by singer Eleni Foureira.[8] Despite that, many prominent figures and influencers, as Aurela Gaçe[9], Besa Kokëdhima[10], Capital T[11], Ledri Vula[12] and Eleni Foureira[13], came out in support of the song through their Instagram stories.[14]

Simultaneously with the digital release, the national broadcaster Radio Televizioni Shqiptar (RTSH) premiered official lyric videos of all competing entries in Festivali i Këngës to YouTube. After the release, "Me tana" was featured on the YouTube trends in Albania, Germany, Greece, North Macedonia, Switzerland and Turkey and additionally became the most viewed video of all contestants.[15]

Festivali i Këngës
See also: Festivali i Këngës 58

The Radio Televizioni Shqiptar (RTSH) organised the 58th edition of Festivali i Këngës for determining Albania's participant for the Eurovision Song Contest 2020 in Rotterdam, the Netherlands. It opened a submission period for artists and composers between 28 May and 15 September 2019, while out of all received submissions, a jury panel internally selected 20 songs to participate in the competition's semi-finals.[16][17] After being selected to compete, Elvana Gjata performed the song in the first semi-final on 19 December and qualified for the grand final on 21 December 2019.[18][19][20] Despite being the favourite to win, the song eventually reached the second place in a field of twelve participants in the grand final.[21][22] The three members of the international jury, consisting of Christer Björkman, Dimitris Kontopoulos and Felix Bergsson, ranked the song first, whereas the two Albanian jury members ranked it lower.[23][24]

Personnel

Credits adapted from Tidal.[1]

  • Elvana Gjata – composing, songwriting, vocals
  • UNIK – producing

Track listing
  • Digital download[3]
  1. "Me tana" – 3:40

Release history
Region Date Format Label Ref.
Various
 10 December 2019
East Music Matters [3]
gollark: Shut up you idiot.
gollark: It's bloated and verbose.
gollark: Why Java? WHY?
gollark: I'm just adding lorem ipsum support to potatOS.
gollark: Yo.

References
  1. "Me Tana / Elvana Gjata Tidal". Tidal. Retrieved 11 December 2019. Note: Open description for credits.
  2. ""E këndoja dhe qaja, Elvana Gjata zbulon si lindi kënga "Me tana"" (in Albanian). Insajderi. December 2019. Retrieved 8 April 2020.
  3. Citations regarding the digital release of "Me tana" by Elvana Gjata in various selected countries:
  4. "Albania: Elvana Gjata expresses her loved-up emotions in "Me tana" lyrics". Wiwibloggs. 14 December 2019. Retrieved 28 December 2019.
  5. "Team Wiwi's Top NF Songs of ESC 2020 (10-1)". Wiwibloggs. 20 March 2020. Retrieved 21 March 2020.
  6. "Albania: Do YouTube views predict a win for Elvana Gjata at Festivali i Këngës 58?". Wiwibloggs. 14 December 2019. Retrieved 28 December 2019.
  7. "Albania: Elvana Gjata–"Me tana"". Sounds European. 7 January 2020. Retrieved 3 April 2020.
  8. "Arilena Ara singt 2020 für Albanien" (in German). ARD. 23 December 2019. Retrieved 28 December 2019. Elvana Gjata mit dem "Fuego"-Gedächtnis-Song "Me tana"
  9. "Aurela pëlqen këngën e Elvanës për "Eurovision", kështu ia kthen ajo" (in Albanian). Gazeta Blic. 18 December 2019. Retrieved 5 January 2020.
  10. "Besa pëlqen këngën e Elvanës" (in Albanian). RTV21. 9 December 2019. Retrieved 5 January 2020.
  11. "Capital T për Elvana Gjatën: Fituesja e vërtetë" (in Albanian). Lajmi. 24 December 2019. Retrieved 5 January 2020.
  12. "Ledri Vula mbështet Elvana Gjatën për në Eurovision" (in Albanian). Lajmi. 11 December 2019. Retrieved 5 January 2020.
  13. "Eleni Foureira favorizon këtë këngë për "Eurovision"" (in Albanian). Lajmi. 19 December 2019. Retrieved 5 January 2020.
  14. "Vendi i parë vs Vendi i dytë: Si reaguan VIP-at shqiptarë për 'Festivalin e Këngës'" (in Albanian). Anabel Magazine. 23 December 2019. Retrieved 5 January 2020.
  15. "Albania: Elvana Gjata and "Me tana" sweeps on YouTube trends in Europe". Eurovisionfun. 11 December 2019. Retrieved 16 December 2019.
  16. "Festivali i 58-të i Këngës në RTSH, juria përzgjedh 20 këngëtarët pjesëmarrës" (in Albanian). RTSH. 24 October 2019. Retrieved 11 December 2019.
  17. "Kjo është kënga e Elvana Gjatës që po pretendohet se do të zgjedhet fituese të "Festivalin e Këngës"" (in Albanian). Gazeta Express. 10 December 2019. Retrieved 11 December 2019.
  18. "Elvana Gjata me një performancë tipike shqiptare në Festivalin e Këngës" (in Albanian). RTSH. 15 December 2019. Retrieved 17 December 2019.
  19. "Listen: Albania's RTSH reveals all 20 competing songs of Festivali i Këngës 58". Wiwibloggs. 9 December 2019. Retrieved 11 December 2019.
  20. "Albania: Semi-final allocations and running order confirmed for Festivali i Këngës 58". Wiwibloggs. 16 December 2019. Retrieved 16 December 2019.
  21. "It's Arilena Ara for Albania!". European Broadcasting Union. 23 December 2019. Retrieved 29 December 2019.
  22. "Festivali i 58-të i Këngës, Arilena Ara do të përfaqësojë Shqipërinë në Eurovizion" (in Albanian). Euronews Albania. 23 December 2019. Retrieved 4 January 2020.
  23. "Festivali i Këngës 58 results: International jury vote for Elvana Gjata… but Albanian jurors mark her down". Wiwibloggs. 23 December 2019. Retrieved 26 December 2019.
  24. Mazoyer, Vincent (December 2019). "FiK 58 full results out : Shaj won with a three-point margin". ESCXtra. Retrieved 23 December 2019.
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