Albania in the 2018 Grand Final?
A Merry late Christmas to all readers! If you do happen to be digesting this, you are probably not particularly one for the festive season of fun and frivolity and all I can say is "you're not alone". What I can excite you about however is that on December 23rd 2017 in Tirana, Albania, a jury decided that the winner of Albania's Festivali i Kenges 56 would be Eugent Bushpepa and 'Mall' ('Yearning' in Albanian). For all those who haven't listened to the song, I have included the youtube link below and it's definitely worth a listen.
Now, everybody will have their own impressions and opinions on the song, so I am just going to start with some facts that put this song as one of the recent stand-out Albanian entries.
1) It's not a power ballad sung by a woman giving everything she has to a song that was initially written in Albanian and then translated (awkwardly into English). I am not alone in viewing the mess that was both 2016's 'Fairytale' and 2017's 'World' and thinking how it was typical Albania to send work like this. In fairness, I am sure there are still people at Albania's national broadcaster pining after their best finish at a contest ever in 2012 when Rona Nishliu made sure everybody was staring at their screens with the very memorable 'Suus'. Still forget? I've attached a picture below.
As any of you who watched the 2012 contest will remember, this was a power ballad shining through in all its might and glory and many of the songs that have followed since have been power ballads. The biggest favour that anybody for an Albanian entry was when the writer of the originally selected 2015 song 'Diell' withdrew the song for personal reasons leading to Elhaida Dani and her team to prepare 'I'm Alive' for the final contest (placing 10th in the Semis to scrape through to the Grand Final). This story does give some credence to the idea that Festivali i Kenges should only be used as a method of picking the artist.
However, we're discussing Eugent and the 2018 entry so let's move on to the next positive thing in 'Mall's corner.
2) It's a lovable rock song that is uplifting and positive. Hearing the song for the first time immediately brought me back to the sentiments of Romania's 2015 song 'De La Capat' with the vibes of Armenia's 2013 song 'Lonely Planet' but performed solo, it has the innocence and vulnerability of Finland's 2011 song 'Da Da Dam'. This combines many successful Eurovision traits together and therefore from a logical perspective it's a well selected entry. Most countries don't tend to go for rock at Eurovision and so this should stand out whilst not being too outlandish that nobody gets it (go look for Finland's 2015 song 'Aina Mun Pitaa' if you'd like to know what that sounds like).
3) It's not been immediately confirmed if the song will be translated. Normally, it is announced very quickly that the Festivali i Kenges winner will sing the song in English on the Eurovision stage. However, that has not been the case this time around, leading some purists to hope that the song will be sung in Albanian for the first time since 2013. Now, to Eurovision fans following the patterns amongst the National Finals, it's quite clear that we will have many national language songs in Lisbon next May. Whilst it's not clear exactly what the ratio will be of English songs to Non English songs, I will say that if the song is kept in Albanian, it will give the song a character and class of its own.
Now, let's not welcome Albania back to the Grand Final yet. Once they sort out their strategy with the language, they have to sort out their plan for cutting the song down to 3 minutes (it's currently 4 minutes 30 seconds). The Albanians are also not particularly renowned on their staging ability although I will at least say that Eugent looks fit for purpose in the National Final performance. The most important thing that I believe is holding Albania back however, is Festivali i Kenges itself. Now, I will not go judging National Final formats when I believe that here in the United Kingdom, there is a lot that we can do to improve the format of our own National Final. However, what I will say is that the show is not a proper preparation for Eurovision as it is stuck in the orchestra-based traditions of yesteryear with very little technological resources. Similarly to Italy's Sanremo, a country without a National Final that is adequately similar to the Eurovision experience will have a very hard time winning Eurovision. It's also the reason that Sweden could send any of the 28 songs in Melodifestivalen and it would immediately be a favourite to win.
For now though, I am celebrating. We have our first song that will be performed on stage in Lisbon next May, we have National Final season beginning to kick off and for the first time ever, I have the Albanian entry on my playlist of songs to get excited about! Happy new year to all!
Now, everybody will have their own impressions and opinions on the song, so I am just going to start with some facts that put this song as one of the recent stand-out Albanian entries.
1) It's not a power ballad sung by a woman giving everything she has to a song that was initially written in Albanian and then translated (awkwardly into English). I am not alone in viewing the mess that was both 2016's 'Fairytale' and 2017's 'World' and thinking how it was typical Albania to send work like this. In fairness, I am sure there are still people at Albania's national broadcaster pining after their best finish at a contest ever in 2012 when Rona Nishliu made sure everybody was staring at their screens with the very memorable 'Suus'. Still forget? I've attached a picture below.
As any of you who watched the 2012 contest will remember, this was a power ballad shining through in all its might and glory and many of the songs that have followed since have been power ballads. The biggest favour that anybody for an Albanian entry was when the writer of the originally selected 2015 song 'Diell' withdrew the song for personal reasons leading to Elhaida Dani and her team to prepare 'I'm Alive' for the final contest (placing 10th in the Semis to scrape through to the Grand Final). This story does give some credence to the idea that Festivali i Kenges should only be used as a method of picking the artist.
However, we're discussing Eugent and the 2018 entry so let's move on to the next positive thing in 'Mall's corner.
2) It's a lovable rock song that is uplifting and positive. Hearing the song for the first time immediately brought me back to the sentiments of Romania's 2015 song 'De La Capat' with the vibes of Armenia's 2013 song 'Lonely Planet' but performed solo, it has the innocence and vulnerability of Finland's 2011 song 'Da Da Dam'. This combines many successful Eurovision traits together and therefore from a logical perspective it's a well selected entry. Most countries don't tend to go for rock at Eurovision and so this should stand out whilst not being too outlandish that nobody gets it (go look for Finland's 2015 song 'Aina Mun Pitaa' if you'd like to know what that sounds like).
3) It's not been immediately confirmed if the song will be translated. Normally, it is announced very quickly that the Festivali i Kenges winner will sing the song in English on the Eurovision stage. However, that has not been the case this time around, leading some purists to hope that the song will be sung in Albanian for the first time since 2013. Now, to Eurovision fans following the patterns amongst the National Finals, it's quite clear that we will have many national language songs in Lisbon next May. Whilst it's not clear exactly what the ratio will be of English songs to Non English songs, I will say that if the song is kept in Albanian, it will give the song a character and class of its own.
Now, let's not welcome Albania back to the Grand Final yet. Once they sort out their strategy with the language, they have to sort out their plan for cutting the song down to 3 minutes (it's currently 4 minutes 30 seconds). The Albanians are also not particularly renowned on their staging ability although I will at least say that Eugent looks fit for purpose in the National Final performance. The most important thing that I believe is holding Albania back however, is Festivali i Kenges itself. Now, I will not go judging National Final formats when I believe that here in the United Kingdom, there is a lot that we can do to improve the format of our own National Final. However, what I will say is that the show is not a proper preparation for Eurovision as it is stuck in the orchestra-based traditions of yesteryear with very little technological resources. Similarly to Italy's Sanremo, a country without a National Final that is adequately similar to the Eurovision experience will have a very hard time winning Eurovision. It's also the reason that Sweden could send any of the 28 songs in Melodifestivalen and it would immediately be a favourite to win.
For now though, I am celebrating. We have our first song that will be performed on stage in Lisbon next May, we have National Final season beginning to kick off and for the first time ever, I have the Albanian entry on my playlist of songs to get excited about! Happy new year to all!
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