More countries are continuing to confirm their participation at this year’s Junior Eurovision Song Contest, which will take place in Nice. The next country to reveal their participation is Albania, which will be participating for the 9th time since their debut.
Junior Fest to select Albania’s representative
Albania’s participation in this year’s competition was confirmed in the news channel, with the broadcaster taking advantage of the “Talent” initiative of the broadcaster, where the young people in Albania have a space to create music.
RTSH is yet to open the submissions for Junior Fest. However, it seems that in this year’s edition of the competition, we may see entries that were produced through the initiative might be included as detailed in the news confirming their participation.
About Junior Eurovision 2023
Junior Eurovision 2023 landed in ‘Nice’ after France won the competition for a second time in Yerevan, where its 2022 representative Lissandro won the competition with “Oh Maman”. This year’s competition will take place on the 26th of November at 16:00CET in Nice, at the Palais Nikaïa in Nice, which can accomodate up to 9,000 spectators.
At the time of writing the following countries have been confirmed for this year’s contest:
- 🇦🇱 Albania
- 🇦🇲 Armenia
- 🇫🇷 France (Host Country)
- 🇬🇪 Georgia – Anastasia Vasadze
- 🇩🇪 Germany
- 🇮🇪 Ireland
- 🇮🇹 Italy
- 🇲🇹 Malta
- 🇳🇱 Netherlands
- 🇲🇰 North Macedonia – Tamara Grujeska
- 🇵🇱 Poland
- 🇵🇹 Portugal – Júlia Machado
- 🇪🇸 Spain
- 🇺🇦 Ukraine
Albania’s Junior Eurovision Journey
Albania first made its debut to Junior Eurovision in 2012, represented by Igzidora Gjeta, singing her song “Kam një këngë vetëm për ju”. Their first participation was not initially successful, as Albania finished 12th of 12, receiving 35 points. Albania then withdrew for two years, before returning in 2015, achieving their current best result to date. In 2015, Albania finished in fifth place with “Dambaje” by Mishela Rapo.
Albania’s most recent participation came in 2022, when the Balkan nation was represented by Kejtlin Gjata. Her song “Pakëz Diell” was performed in Yerevan, as part of the 20th edition of the Contest. At the close of voting, Kejtlin finished in 12th place in a field of 16. In total, Albania finished with 94 points, of which 43 points came from the online vote. The remaining 51 points came from professional juries.
Are you happy that Albania will be participating at this year’s Junior Eurovision? Who Would you like to see them represent in Nice? Let us know in the comments or on social media! Be sure to follow “That Eurovision Site” on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and Tik-Tok for the latest Eurovision news.
News Source: RTSH
Photo Credit: Corinne Cumming/EBU
The EBU should require children in all participating countries to be involved in songwriting, and the winner of Albania’s national final should be decided by a mix of jury and televoting.