Tonight at 21:00, the final evening of “Festivali i Këngës 63” will take place, determining the Albanian representative and song for Eurovision 2025. Watch the live broadcast online.
Tonight at 21:00 (Central European Time), the final evening of Albania’s Eurovision national selection “Festivali i Këngës 63” will commence! The festival, which has served as Albania’s Eurovision selection process since 2003, will span four evenings this year. Today marks the grand final, in the end of which we will know who will wave the Albanian flag in Basel!
To watch the broadcast starting at 21:00 CET, click here!
Format of the Festival, Venue and Hosts
The festival will once again take place at the Palace of Congresses in Tirana. Three hosts will guide the event: Enkel Demi, Ornela Bregu, and Dalina Buzi, who will host from the green room. For the first time, Albania’s Eurovision representative will be chosen through a combination of jury voting and public voting, split equally 50%-50%, with the public vote split 25% for local Albanians and 25% international online voting. This change comes after the jury’s favorite was crowned the festival winner in the past two years, while the public’s favorite was chosen to represent Albania in the competition.
Who to Watch Out for Tonight?
According to the YouTube views metric, Elvana Gjata leads by a large margin over the other contestants with about 100,000 views. In second place for the number of views is Ardit Çuni with about 76,000 views, and in third place for the number of views is the duo Shkodra Elektronike with 52,000 views.
Elvana Gjata is a 37-year-old Albanian singer-songwriter-actress, considered the diva of Albanian music. She studied at the University of Arts in Tirana, the capital of Albania. She began her career by competing in the Albanian talent show “Ethet e së premtes mbrëma” in 2001. In 2003, she already competed in the Albanian festival “Festivali i Këngës” which served as the Albanian Eurovision national selection for Eurovision 2004, though she did not make it past the semi-final stage. For Eurovision 2020, she returned to compete in the Albanian festival with the song “Me tana” which was considered the big favorite that year – but ultimately she only reached second place. Throughout her career, the singer has released five albums, dozens of songs, and even acted in three series.
List of contestants in the National Final:
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- Jet – Gjallë
- Kejsi Jazxhzi – Kur Bora Hesht
- Vesa Smolica – Lutem
- Stine – E Kishim Nis
- Djemtë e Detit – Larg
- Nita Latifi – Zemrës
- Gjergj Kaçinari – Larg Jetës pa Ty
- Orgesa Zaimi – I Parë
- Ardit Çuni – Amane
- Algert Sala – Bosh
- Shkodra Elektronike – Zjerm
- Lorenc Hasrama – Frymë
- Elvana Gjata – Karnaval
- Mal Retkoceri – Antihero
- Alis Kallacej – Mjegull
Click on the song title to listen!
Albania in Eurovision 2024
“Titan” is the title of the song performed by singer Besa Kokëdhima, representing Albania in the second semi-final of Eurovision 2024 held in Malmö, Sweden. Albania failed to qualify for the final, finishing 15th in the second semi-final with 14 points received from Greece, Italy, Switzerland, and San Marino.
The last time Albania sent an English-language song and successfully qualified for the grand final was in 2015, with Elhaida Dani’s performance of “I’m Alive.” Since then, every time Albania has submitted an English-language entry, they have failed to advance to the final.
Eurovision 2025: This will be Albania’s 21st participation in the Eurovision Song Contest. Albania joined the competition in 2004 and achieved its best result in Eurovision 2012 when singer Rona Nishliu reached fifth place with the song “Suus.”
