| Albania in the Eurovision Song Contest | |
|---|---|
| Eurovision Song Contest | |
 | |
| Participating broadcaster | Radio Televizioni Shqiptar (RTSH) |
| Participation summary | |
| Appearances | 21 (12 finals) |
| First appearance | 2004 |
| Highest placement | 5th:2012 |
| Related articles | |
| Festivali i Këngës | |
| External links | |
Albania's page at Eurovision.tv | |
 For the most recent participation seeAlbania in the Eurovision Song Contest 2025 | |
Albania has been represented at theEurovision Song Contest 21 times since its debut in2004. The current Albanian participating broadcaster in the contest isRadio Televizioni Shqiptar (RTSH), which determines the country's entry every year through the national selection ofFestivali i Këngës, a long-standing song competition organised yearly since 1962.
Albanian debut in2004 was successful, with "The Image of You" byAnjeza Shahini, placing 7th. It remained the country's best result until2012, when "Suus" byRona Nishliu finished 5th. The country also reached the top ten in2025, finishing eighth with "Zjerm" byShkodra Elektronike. Albania has participated every year since their debut and has participated in the final 12 out of 21 times.
Radio Televizioni Shqiptar (RTSH) is a full member of theEuropean Broadcasting Union (EBU), thus eligible to participate in theEurovision Song Contest. It has participated in the contest representing Albania since its49th edition in 2004.
RTSH expressed their intention to participate in the 2002 and 2003 editions. However, they were denied participation due to the large number of countries participating.
Nevertheless, it debuted at the2004 contest inIstanbul with the song "The Image of You" performed byAnjeza Shahini.[1][2] The country received 106 points in the Grand Final and finished in 7th place, remaining the country's highest placement until 2012.
[3] In 2005, due to the country's top 11 placement the previous year, the succeeding entry "Tomorrow I Go" byLedina Çelo automatically qualified for the Grand Final inKyiv and reached 16th place.
The following year,Luiz Ejlli and his song "Zjarr e ftohtë" failed to qualify for the Grand Final inAthens, marking the first non-qualification in the country's participation history.
The 2007 entry, "Hear My Plea" byFrederik Ndoci, was performed atFestivali I Këngës 45 as "Balada e gurit" (The stone ballad). In the end, the song was finally revamped, mixing it with English and Albanian. In the Semi-Final of the2007 contest, it received 49 points, placing 17th out of 28 in the Semi-Final, thus failing to qualify for the Final.
The winner ofFestivali I Këngës 46 was "Zemrën e lamë peng" (Hearts trapped in time) byOlta Boka. However, the result of the juries that selected the winner was controversial and rumours arose that the final two judges intentionally awarded high marks to Boka in order to avoid sending the runners-up, Flaka Krelani and Doruntina Disha, to the contest. Press reactions in Albania were not happy with the decision, and RTSH announced that they would investigate into alleged cheating by the final two judges to award their points.[4][5] Despite this, Olta Boka's victory remained, and she sang for Albania at theEurovision Song Contest 2008 inBelgrade,Serbia. She qualified for the Final, coming 9th in a field of 19 in the 2nd Semi-Final, and in the Final she received 55 points, coming 17th in a field of 25.
Albania was the first country to select both their artist and publicly present their song forEurovision 2009. The winner was again selected by Festivali I Këngës. The winner ofFestivali I Këngës 47 wasKejsi Tola with the song "Më merr në ëndërr" (Take me in your dreams), composed by the same people of Albania's first entry, Edmond Zhulali and Agim Doçi.[6] The song was performed in English as "Carry Me in Your Dreams".[7] Albania finished 7th out of 19 in the 2nd Semi-Final with 73 points, thus qualifying for the Final. In the Final, Albania scored 48 points, finishing 17th in a field of 25. It placed 11th in the televoting while only 23rd in the jury vote.[8]
The winner ofFestivali I Këngës 48 was decided on 27 December, withJuliana Pasha winning over former winnerAnjeza Shahini. She represented Albania at Eurovision 2010 in Oslo with the song "It's All about You".[9][10] The song was a typical up-tempo composition, and has been compared toChristina Aguilera's "Keeps Gettin' Better"[11] andBritney Spears' "Womanizer".[12] Albania came 6th in the first semi-final with 76 points, thus qualifying for the final. In the final, Juliana finished 16th with 62 points which included 12 points from Macedonia.
The Albanian participant for the2011 Eurovision Song Contest was chosen inFestivali i Këngës 49 in December 2010. The winner of 2011's Festival of Song wasAurela Gaçe, winning for the third time after 10 years. Her song was named "Kënga ime" ("My Song") and it was translated into English with the name "Feel the Passion", published on 12 March 2011, during a show called "Historia nis këtu" ("The story begins here") inRTSH. Albania participated in Semi-Final 1 against 18 other countries, fighting for a place in the grand final in 14 May. However they missed out on qualification for the final for the first time in 4 years, coming 14th.
Albania competed in the 2012 competition with the song "Suus", which was performed by Rona Nishliu. The song got through to the final, coming in 5th place overall with 146 points. Rona Nishliu from Kosovo achieved a record result for Albania.[13]
Albania competed in the 2013 Eurovision Song Contest with the song "Identitet" which was performed byAdrian Lulgjuraj andBledar Sejko. This song was chosen as the winner through theFestivali i Këngës. The results depended on the jury voting only. Among the experts in the jury was the Italian Head of Delegation at the Eurovision Song Contest,Nicola Caligiore, who greeted and gave the points in English for all the viewers from the Eurovision.tv webcast.[14]Albania came 15th in the second semi-final of the 2013Eurovision Song Contest inMalmö and did not make it into the grand final.
On 28 December 2013,Herciana Matmuja wonFestivali i Këngës 52 (the 52nd national final of Albania) and was therefore chosen to represent Albania inEurovision 2014 with her song 'Zemërimi i një nate'.[15] In the time before Eurovision 2014 she recorded both English and Albanian versions of this song.[16] On 16 March she released the final version of 'One Night's anger' for Eurovision 2014.[17] Albania failed to qualify for the second year in a row.
On 28 December 2014,Elhaida Dani wonFestivali i Këngës 53 with the song "Diell", and this would've represented Albania at theEurovision Song Contest 2015.[18] On 23 February 2015 it was announced that the songwriters had decided to withdraw the song due to "personal and irrevocable reasons", and Dani would perform something else at Eurovision.[19] The following day it was revealed that Dani would perform "I'm Alive".[20]
On 27 December 2015Eneda Tarifa won Festivali i Këngës 54 with her song "Përrallë" which meant she would represent Albania in theEurovision Song Contest 2016. It was later translated into English and called "Fairytale", and the music video premiered on the evening news on TVSH. Albania failed to qualify, coming only 16th out of 18 in the second semi-final.
After failing to qualify once again in 2017 withLindita and the song "World", Albania returned to the grand final in 2018 with the song "Mall" byEugent Bushpepa. It finished 11th of 26 in the final receiving 184 points, giving Albania its fourth best result in the contest since their debut.
In 2019, Albania selectedJonida Maliqi to represent them with the song "Ktheju tokës". Albania succeeded in qualifying from the second semi-final, making it the first time Albania had qualified twice in a row since 2009 and 2010. In the final, she placed 17th with 90 points.
For the2020 contest, Albania selectedArilena Ara to represent their country after she wonFestivali i Këngës 58 with the song "Shaj" on 22 December 2019. On 9 March 2020, a revamped version of the song named "Fall from the Sky" was released in English. However, the 2020 contest was cancelled on 18 March 2020 due to theCOVID-19 pandemic in Europe.
For the2021 contest, RTSH announced that Arilena Ara would not be internally re-selected to represent Albania, and thatFestivali i Këngës 59 would go ahead as planned. The national final took place on 23 December 2020 and was won byAnxhela Peristeri with the song "Karma". Anxhela managed to qualify for the final, making it the first time since 2008-2010 that Albania qualified three times in a row. In the final, she placed 21st with 57 points.
For the2022 contest,Ronela Hajati wonFestivali i Këngës 60 and was selected to represent the country with the song "Sekret". It underwent a revamp ahead of Eurovision which saw lines in English and Spanish being added. However, it failed to qualify for the final, coming 12th out of 17 in the first semi-final.
For the2023 contest,Albina Kelmendi and her family finished second inFestivali i Këngës 61, but were selected to represent the country with the song "Duje" by the public. They managed to qualify for the final, finishing 9th with 83 points. In the final, they placed 22nd with 76 points.
For the2024 contest, the selection method used in 2023 was retained, withBesa and the song "Zemrën n'dorë" coming first in the televoting ofFestivali i Këngës 62. For Eurovision, the song was revamped and renamed "Titan". Performed in the second semi-final, the song failed to qualify for the final, placing 15th out of 16th countries.
For the2025 contest,Festivali i Këngës 63 was organised with a revamped format, in which the winner would represent Albania at the 2025 contest inBasel,Switzerland. Diaspora voting was also introduced alongside a new presentation of results. Ultimately,Shkodra Elektronike won the festival with "Zjerm". The duo went on to become the highest scoring Albanian entrants since 2012, securing 218 points in the 2025 final and finishing in 8th place.
| 2 | Second place |
| ◁ | Last place |
| X | Entry selected but did not compete |
| Year | Head of delegation | Ref. |
|---|---|---|
| 2025 | Edvin Shvarc | [23] |
For the contest's broadcast onRadio Televizioni Shqiptar (RTSH), various commentators and spokespersons have been hired throughout the years, with Leon Menkshi andAndri Xhahu notably having done the job on eight and thirteen occasions respectively. At Eurovision, after all points are calculated, the presenters of the show call upon each voting country to invite their respective spokesperson to announce the results of their vote on-screen.
| Year | Commentator | Spokesperson | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2003 | Unknown | Did not participate | [24] |
| 2004 | Leon Menkshi | Zhani Ciko | [25] |
| 2005 | [26] | ||
| 2006 | Leon Menkshi | ||
| 2007 | |||
| 2008 | |||
| 2009 | |||
| 2010 | |||
| 2011 | |||
| 2012 | Andri Xhahu | [27] | |
| 2013 | [28] | ||
| 2014 | [29] | ||
| 2015 | [30] | ||
| 2016 | [31] | ||
| 2017 | [32] | ||
| 2018 | [33] | ||
| 2019 | [34] | ||
| 2021 | |||
| 2022 | [38][39] | ||
| 2023 | [40][41] | ||
| 2024 | [42][43] | ||
| 2025 | [44][45][46] | ||
| Year | Performer(s) | Ref. |
|---|---|---|
| 2012 | Rona Nishliu | [47] |
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