🇦🇱 Changes to how Festivali i Këngës 62 winner is selected is revealed

With less than a day to go until submissions close for the 62nd edition of Festivali i Këngës closed, further information about the upcoming edition of the competition has been revealed.

Changes to how the winner is selected and number of participants revealed

The festival’s artistic director Bojken Lako has revealed that the winner of this year’s festival will be selected via a mixture of Jury and Televote on an equal split (50% each), with this year’s festival consisting of 27 entries (14 New Artists & 13 Established Artists).

At the time of writing, RTSH is yet to confirm if the country will once again be using the selection to select Albania’s representative for Malmö, but in previous years this has been the case. If the broadcaster does proceed to use the festival, it is yet to be confirmed if the winner of the festival will go to Eurovision. Last year, RTSH implemented televoting in order to select the country’s representative, with the jury selecting the winner of the festival.

Albania’s Eurovision Journey

In 2004, Albania made their debut into the Eurovision Song Contest with Anjeza Shahini with “Image of You”, which placed 7th in the final. Since their debut, Albania has participated 19 times, and made the final 10 times, with their best result in 2012 where Rona Nishliu placed 5th with “Suus”.

In 2023, Albina Kelmendi and her family represented Albania at the Contest in Liverpool with their song “Duje”. Performing in the second semi-final, the six-piece group qualified for the final. At the close of the voting in the final, Albania finished in 22nd place with a total of 76 points. Of these, 16 points came from the juries, whilst 59 came from the televote.

What do you think of the latest developments in Albania? Who would you like to see represent Albania next year? As always, let us know what you think by commenting below. Also, be sure to follow ‘That Eurovision Site’ on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter TikTok, Threads and Bluesky for all things Albania at Eurovision 2024!

News Source: Eurovision Albania

Photo Credit: Corinne Cumming/EBU