Albania was represented at theEurovision Song Contest 2017 inKyiv, Ukraine, with the song "World" performed byLindita Halimi. Its selected entry was chosen through the national selection competitionFestivali i Këngës organised byRadio Televizioni Shqiptar (RTSH) in December 2016. To this point, the nation had participated in theEurovision Song Contest 13 times since its first entry in2004. Prior to the contest, the song was promoted by amusic video and live performances in Israel, the Netherlands and Spain. Albania was drawn to compete in thefirst semi-final of the Eurovision Song Contest, which took place on 9 May 2017. Performing as number fourth, the nation was not announced among the top 10 entries of the first semi-final and therefore failed to qualify for thegrand final, marking Albania's seventh non-qualification in the contest.
Prior to the 2017 contest, Albania had participated in theEurovision Song Contest 13 times since its first entry in2004.[1] The country's highest placing in the contest, to this point, had been the fifth place, which it achieved in2012 with the song "Suus" performed byRona Nishliu.[1] The first entry was performed byAnjeza Shahini with the song "The Image of You" and finished in the seventh place, the nation's second-highest placing to date.[1] During its tenure in the contest, Albania failed to qualify for the grand final six times, with the2016 entry being the most recent non-qualifier.[2] The country's national broadcaster,Radio Televizioni Shqiptar (RTSH), organisesFestivali i Këngës in order to select the nation's entry for the Eurovision Song Contest. In September 2019, the broadcaster confirmed Albania's participation in the 2017 contest inKyiv, Ukraine.[3]
The national broadcaster of Albania, Radio Televizioni Shqiptar (RTSH), organised the 55th edition ofFestivali i Këngës to determine their participant for theEurovision Song Contest 2017.[4] The competition consisted of two semi-finals on 21 and 22 December, respectively, and the grand final on 23 December 2016.[5][6][7] The three live shows were hosted by Albanian singerLedina Çelo and actor Kasem Hoxha.[8] On 13 November, RTSH published a provisory list of 24 artists and songs shortlisted to compete in the two semi-finals of Festivali i Këngës.[9] On 19 December 2016, it published the allocation draw of the participating contestants for each semi-final.[10]
The semi-finals of Festivali i Këngës took place on 21 December and 22 December 2016, and were broadcast at 20:30 and 21:00 (CET) on the respective dates.[5][6][12][13] 12 contestants participated in each semi-final, with the highlighted ones progressing to the grand final.[14]
The grand final of Festivali i Këngës took place on 23 December 2016 and was broadcast at 20:30 (CET).[7] In it, the results of the competition were determined by a combination of votes from a jury panel (12/13) and a publicinternet vote (1/13).[7][15][16] Before the end of the show,Lindita Halimi emerged as the winner and was simultaneously announced as the representative of Albania for the Eurovision Song Contest 2017.[16][17]
Amusic video for "World" was premiered on the officialYouTube channel of the Eurovision Song Contest on 13 March 2017.[19][20] For further promotional purposes, Halimi embarked on a small tour with live performances at various events related to the contest, including inAmsterdam,Madrid andTel Aviv.[21][22][23]
The Eurovision Song Contest 2017 took place at theInternational Exhibition Centre inKyiv, Ukraine, and consisted of two semi-finals held on 9 and 11 May, respectively, and the grand final on 13 May 2017.[24] According to therules, all participating countries, apart from the host nation and the "Big Five", consisting ofFrance,Germany,Italy,Spain and theUnited Kingdom, were required to qualify from one of the two semi-finals to compete for the grand final, although, the top 10 countries from the respective semi-final progress to the grand final of the contest.[25]
On 31 January 2017, a special allocation draw was held in Kyiv that placed each country into one of the two semi-finals, as well as which half of the show they would perform in.[26] Albania was placed into thefirst semi-final, to be held on 9 May, and was scheduled to perform in the first half of the show.[26] Once all the competing songs for the 2017 contest had been released, the running order for the semi-finals was decided by the producers of the contest rather than through another draw, for preventing similar songs being placed next to each other; Albania was set to perform in position four, followingAustralia and precedingBelgium.[27] At the end of the first semi-final, the country was not announced among the top 10 entries in the semi-final and therefore failed to qualify for the grand final, marking Albania's seventh non-qualification in the Eurovision Song Contest.[1][28]
The tables below visualise a breakdown of points awarded to Albania in the first semi-final of the Eurovision Song Contest 2017, as well as by the country for both the first semi-final and grand final. In the semi-final, Albania finished in 14th place with a total of 76 points, including 12 by the televoters fromMontenegro and 10 fromMoldova, and 10 points by the juries fromAzerbaijan,Greece and Montenegro.[29] In the grand final, its televoters and juries awarded their 12 points toItaly and 10 points toBulgaria.[30]
^In early December 2016,Radio Televizioni Shqiptar (RTSH) announced that Edona Vatoci would withdraw from the competition due to violation of the application rules.[11]
Albania
Montenegro
Moldova
Italy
Greece
Azerbaijan
Slovenia
Sweden
Georgia
Australia
Belgium
Finland
Portugal
Poland
Iceland
Czech Republic
Cyprus
Armenia
Latvia
Israel
Belarus
Austria
Netherlands
Hungary
Denmark
Croatia
Spain
Norway
United Kingdom
Romania
Germany
Ukraine
Bulgaria
France
