Albania in the Eurovision Song Contest 2017

Albania participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 2017 in Kyiv, Ukraine, with the song "World" performed by Lindita. Its selected entry was chosen through the national selection competition Festivali i Këngës organised by Radio Televizioni Shqiptar (RTSH) in December 2016.

Eurovision Song Contest 2017
Country Albania
National selection
Selection processFestivali i Këngës 55
Selection date(s)Semi-finals:
21 December 2016
22 December 2016
Final:
23 December 2016
Selected entrantLindita
Selected song"World"
Selected songwriter(s)
  • Gerald Xhari
  • Lindita
  • Klodian Qafoku
Finals performance
Semi-final resultFailed to qualify (14th, 76 points)
Albania in the Eurovision Song Contest
◄2016 • 2017 • 2018►

Background
Main article: Albania in the Eurovision Song Contest

Prior to the 2017 Contest, Albania had participated in the Eurovision Song Contest thirteen times since its first entry in 2004.[1] The nation's best placing in the contest was fifth, which it achieved in 2012 with the song "Suus" performed by Rona Nishliu. Following the introduction of semi-finals for the 2004, Albania had, to this point, featured in seven finals. In 2016, Albania failed to qualify for the final and placed sixteenth with the song "Fairytale" performed by Eneda Tarifa.

The Albanian national broadcaster, Radio Televizioni Shqiptar (RTSH), broadcasts the event within Albania and organises the selection process for the nation's entry. The Albanian competition Festivali i Këngës has been organised every year since 1964 and has been used as Albania's Eurovision selection method since its debut in 2004. Details regarding the 55th edition of Festivali i Këngës were announced on 8 August 2016;[2] however, the Albanian broadcaster formally confirmed their participation in the Eurovision Song Contest 2017 on 24 September 2016.[3]

Before Eurovision

Festivali i Këngës

Radio Televizioni Shqiptar (RTSH) organised the 55th edition of Festivali i Këngës to determine their participant for the Eurovision Song Contest 2017 in Kyiv, Ukraine.[4] The event consisted of two semi-finals on 21 and 22 December, and the grand final on 23 December 2016. The broadcaster had previously confirmed their participation for the following edition of the Eurovision Song Contest in September 2016.[5] On 13 November 2016, it published a provisory list of 24 artists shortlisted to compete in the two semi-finals of Festivali i Këngës.[6]

Competing entries
Artist(s) Song Composer(s) Lyricist(s)
Albulena Jashari "Fjalët ia lë zemrës" Briz Musaraj, Marsela Çibukaj Gerald Xhari
Classic Boys "Dashuria për jetën" Endri Sina Saimir Braho
Dilan Reka "Mos harro" Edmond Zhulali Agim Doçi
Edea Demaliaj "Besoj në ëndrra" Fabian Asllani Edea Demaliaj
Edona Vatoci "Mirëmëngjës" Edona Vatoci
Elson Braha "Edhe një herë" Adrian Hila Pandi Laço
Erlind Zeraliu "Dhimbja e gëzimit" Vasil Tole Fatos Arapi
Agnesa Çavolli and Fabiola Agalliu "Shkon e vjen" Sokol Marsi Fabiola Agalliu
Festina Mejzini "Atje lart" Eriona Rushiti
Flaka Krelani "Osiris" Qëndrim Krelani
Franc Koruni "Macka" Franc Koruni
Genc Salihu "Këtu" Genc Salihu
Lindita Halimi "Botë" Klodian Qafoku Gerald Xhari
Linda Rukaj "Vija e lumit" Linda Rukaj
Lorela "Me ty" Alban Kondi Turjan Hyska
LYNX "Sot" LYNX
Luka Hajdani and Serxhio Hajdini "Koha plaket" Serxhio Hajdini Luka Hajdini
Neki Emra "Dashuri dhe urrejtje" Neki Emra Albatros Rexha
Orges Toçe "Shi diamantësh" Orges Toçe
Rezarta Smaja "Pse prite gjatë" Xhevdet Gashi Arsim Bujaku
Tiri "Më zgjo" Enis Mullaj Sokol Marsi
Xhejni Lito "Pritja" Indrit Lelo
Xhesika Polo "Eva jam unë" Marko Polo Alex Seitaj
XUXI "Metropol" Genti Lako Ana Gramo
Yll Limani "Shiu" Ilirjana Blakaj, Yll Limani

Shows
Semi-finals

The semi-finals took place on 21 December and 22 December 2016 and were broadcast at 20:30 and 21:00 (CET), respectively.[7][8] On 19 December, Radio Televizioni Shqiptar (RTSH) published the allocation draw of the participating contestants for each semi-final.[9] Twelve contestants competed in each semi-final and fourteen qualified for the grand final.[10] The results of the semi-finals were:

Final

The final took place on 23 December 2016. The final consisted of fourteen competing acts where the winner was determined by a twelve-member jury panel. An additional set of votes were the results from an Internet public vote, which had a weighing equal to the votes of a single jury. Eventually, "Botë" performed by Lindita emerged as the winner, winning the jury vote and coming third in the Internet vote.[11]

Final – 23 December 2016
Draw Artist Song Votes Points Result
Jury Internet
1
 Franc Koruni "Macka" 12 0 12 11
2
 Lorela "Me ty" 8 0 8 12
3
 Xhesika Polo "Eva jam unë" 5 0 5 14
4
 XUXI "Metropol" 30 0 30 5
5
 Agnesa Çavolli and Fabiola Agalliu "Shkon e vjen" 7 0 7 13
6
 Dilan Reka "Mos harro" 43 7 50 3
7
 Lindita Halimi "Botë" 80 5 85 1
8
 Flaka Krelani "Osiris" 27 3 30 5
9
 Rezarta Smaja "Pse prite gjatë" 20 4 24 7
10
 Edea Demaliaj "Besoj në ëndrra" 23 0 23 9
11
 Yll Limani "Shiu" 40 10 50 3
12
 LYNX "Sot" 13 1 14 10
13
 Orges Toçe "Shi diamantësh" 24 0 24 7
14
 Genc Salihu "Këtu" 52 2 54 2

Promotion

An accompanying music video for "World" premiered on the official YouTube channel of the Eurovision Song Contest on 13 March 2017.[12][13] For further promotional purposes, the singer embarked on a small tour with live performances at various Eurovision Song Contest-related events, including in Amsterdam, Madrid and Tel Aviv.[14][15][16]

At Eurovision
Lindita during a press meet and greet

The Eurovision Song Contest 2017 took place at the International Exhibition Centre in Kyiv, Ukraine, and consisted of two semi-finals held on 9 and 11 May, and the grand final on 13 May 2017.[17] According to the rules, each participating country, apart from the host country and the "Big 5", consisting of France, Germany, Italy, Spain, and the United Kingdom, were required to qualify from one of the two semi-finals to compete for the grand final.[18] However, the top ten countries from the respective semi-final progress to the grand final of the contest.[18]

In January 2017, it was announced that Albania would be performing in the first half of the first semi-final of the contest.[19] Once all the competing entries had been released, the country was set to perform fourth, following Australia and preceding Belgium.[20] At the end of the show, Albania was not announced among the top 10 entries in the second semi-final and therefore failed to qualify to compete in the final. It was later revealed that Albania placed fourteenth in the semi-final, receiving a total of 76 points: 38 points from the televoting and also 38 points from the juries.

Voting

Voting during the three shows involved each country awarding two sets of points from 1-8, 10 and 12: one from their professional jury and the other from televoting. Each nation's jury consisted of five music industry professionals who are citizens of the country they represent, with their names published before the contest to ensure transparency. This jury judged each entry based on: vocal capacity; the stage performance; the song's composition and originality; and the overall impression by the act. In addition, no member of a national jury was permitted to be related in any way to any of the competing acts in such a way that they cannot vote impartially and independently. The individual rankings of each jury member as well as the nation's televoting results were released shortly after the grand final.

Below is a breakdown of points awarded to Albania and awarded by Albania in the first semi-final and grand final of the contest, and the breakdown of the jury voting and televoting conducted during the two shows:[21][22]

Points awarded to Albania
Points awarded to Albania (Semi-final 1)
Televote
12 points 10 points 8 points 7 points 6 points
5 points 4 points 3 points 2 points 1 point
Jury
12 points 10 points 8 points 7 points 6 points
5 points 4 points 3 points 2 points 1 point

Points awarded by Albania

Split voting results

The Albanian jury was composed of the following five members: [23]

  • Haig Zacharian – Chairperson – professor
  • Olta Boka – singer, represented Albania in the 2008 contest
  • Endri Sina – composer
  • Marsela Cibukaj (only semi final) – singer
  • Orgesa Zaimi - singer, presenter, radio and show host
  • Aulon Naci (only final) - composer
Split voting results from Albania (Semi-final 1)
Draw Country Jury Televote
H. Zacharian O. Boka E. Sina M. Cibukaj O. Zaimi Average Rank Points Rank Points
01  Sweden 7 5 8 4 13 7 4 2 10
02  Georgia 4 10 16 8 8 10 1 17
03  Australia 12 2 7 5 9 6 5 10 1
04  Albania
05  Belgium 14 3 6 1 15 8 3 3 8
06  Montenegro 10 14 10 16 2 11 11
07  Finland 13 9 15 7 10 12 6 5
08  Azerbaijan 5 6 2 10 3 4 7 12
09  Portugal 8 1 11 3 11 5 6 1 12
10  Greece 1 8 1 11 4 3 8 5 6
11  Poland 9 11 3 12 6 9 2 9 2
12  Moldova 2 4 4 6 1 1 12 4 7
13  Iceland 17 17 17 13 12 17 7 4
14  Czech Republic 15 12 14 14 16 16 16
15  Cyprus 6 13 13 9 14 13 8 3
16  Armenia 3 7 5 2 5 2 10 13
17  Slovenia 11 15 9 15 17 14 15
18  Latvia 16 16 12 17 7 15 14
Split voting results from Albania (final)
Draw Country Jury Televote
H. Zacharian O. Boka E. Sina O. Zaimi A. Naci Average Rank Points Rank Points
01  Israel 15 19 17 14 11 16 15
02  Poland 19 17 18 15 12 17 25
03  Belarus 20 21 15 25 16 20 17
04  Austria 25 20 23 26 23 24 22
05  Armenia 2 6 4 5 5 4 7 24
06  Netherlands 13 15 20 18 18 18 18
07  Moldova 12 10 12 12 15 12 11
08  Hungary 26 18 21 16 20 21 5 6
09  Italy 4 1 1 1 1 1 12 1 12
10  Denmark 14 11 19 13 13 14 23
11  Portugal 10 2 5 6 2 5 6 3 8
12  Azerbaijan 17 12 9 9 10 9 2 12
13  Croatia 21 14 13 21 22 19 4 7
14  Australia 9 8 11 4 8 7 4 13
15  Greece 7 16 7 19 9 10 1 8 3
16  Spain 23 26 24 20 26 26 26
17  Norway 22 24 22 17 25 22 19
18  United Kingdom 5 3 2 2 4 3 8 14
19  Cyprus 6 22 14 11 19 15 16
20  Romania 16 13 6 8 7 8 3 7 4
21  Germany 18 23 25 22 24 23 21
22  Ukraine 24 25 26 23 21 25 20
23  Belgium 11 5 10 24 14 13 6 5
24  Sweden 8 9 16 10 17 11 9 2
25  Bulgaria 3 4 3 3 3 2 10 2 10
26  France 1 7 8 7 6 6 5 10 1

References
  1. "Albania Country Profile". EBU. Retrieved 1 November 2014.
  2. "Albania: Festivali i Këngës 55 submissions to open 10 October". esctoday.com. Esctoday. 22 September 2016. Retrieved 8 December 2016.
  3. "Albania: RTSH confirms participation in Eurovision 2017". Esctoday. 21 September 2016. Retrieved 8 December 2016.
  4. "Mbyllet me sukses edicioni i 55-të i Festivalit të Këngës në RTSH" (in Albanian). RTSH. 24 December 2016. Archived from the original on 10 May 2020. Retrieved 10 May 2020.
  5. Jiandani, Sanjay (Sergio) (21 September 2016). "Albania: RTSH confirms participation in Eurovision 2017". ESCToday. Retrieved 10 May 2020.
  6. "Fest '55, publikohen emrat e konkurrentëve". RTSH. 1 November 2016. Archived from the original on 10 May 2020. Retrieved 10 May 2020.
  7. Granger, Anthony (21 December 2016). "Tonight: Festivali i Këngës 55 Semi-Final One". Eurovoix. Retrieved 10 May 2020.
  8. Granger, Anthony (22 December 2016). "Tonight: Festivali i Këngës 55 Semi-Final Two". Eurovoix. Retrieved 10 May 2020.
  9. Granger, Anthony (19 December 2016). "Albania: Festivali i Semi-Final Allocation Draw Complete". Eurovoix. Retrieved 10 May 2020.
  10. Weaver, Jessica (22 December 2016). "Albania: Here are the Festivali i Këngës 55 finalists!". ESCToday. Retrieved 10 May 2020.
  11. M. Escudero, Victor (24 December 2016). "Albania: Lindita wins Festivali i Këngës!". eurovision.tv. European Broadcasting Union. Retrieved 8 May 2017.
  12. "Lindita - World (Albania) Eurovision 2017 - Official Music Video". European Broadcasting Union. 13 March 2017. Archived from the original on 30 December 2019. Retrieved 10 May 2020.
  13. "Lindita - World (Albania) Eurovision 2017 | Official Music Video". YouTube. 13 March 2017. Retrieved 10 May 2020.
  14. Jordan, Paul (29 March 2017). "Eurovision in Concert sets a new record with 33 acts". European Broadcasting Union. Archived from the original on 30 December 2019. Retrieved 10 May 2020.
  15. Fuster, Luis (1 April 2017). "Madrid calling! 19 acts will take part in Eurovision Spain Pre-Party". Wiwibloggs. Retrieved 10 May 2020.
  16. Laufer, Gil (5 April 2017). "Tonight: Israel Calling 2017 to be held with 28 participating countries". ESCtoday. Retrieved 10 May 2020.
  17. "Eurovision Song Contest–Kyiv 2017". European Broadcasting Union. Archived from the original on 12 August 2019. Retrieved 10 May 2020.
  18. "Eurovision Song Contest–Rules". European Broadcasting Union. Archived from the original on 8 April 2020. Retrieved 10 May 2020.
  19. Zwart, Josianne; Jordan, Paul (29 January 2018). "Which countries will perform in which Semi-Final at Eurovision 2018?". European Broadcasting Union. Archived from the original on 16 February 2020. Retrieved 24 April 2020.
  20. Jordan, Paul (31 March 2017). "Semi-Final running order for Eurovision 2017 revealed". European Broadcasting Union. Archived from the original on 30 December 2019. Retrieved 17 April 2020.
  21. "Albania in the Eurovision Song Contest 2017 First Semi-Final". eurovision.tv. European Broadcasting Union. Retrieved 14 May 2017.
  22. "Albania in the Eurovision Song Contest 2017 Grand Final". eurovision.tv. European Broadcasting Union. Retrieved 14 May 2017.
  23. Jordan, Paul (29 April 2017). "Who will be the expert jurors for Eurovision 2017?". eurovision.tv. European Broadcasting Union. Retrieved 3 May 2017.
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