Albania: RTSH kicks off the submission period for the 59th Festivali i Kenges
Friday, 14 August 2020
The Albanian national broadcaster, RTSH, has kicked off the submission period for the 59th edition of Festivali i Kenges, the show through which the country has determined each year its Eurovision act and entry.
RTSH has opened the submission window for the next edition of Festivali i Kenges 59 , inviting artists and composers to send in their entries by October 2. Submissions can be send to RTSH via email at the address: [email protected] or be delivered to RTSH's office in Tirana.
Although the music event has been the format through which Albania selects traditionally its Eurovision act, RTSH has not yet either confirmed its 2020 Eurovision participation or if it will follow the same selection recipe as in the previous years.
The Albanian broadcaster though, hasn't cleared out what will happen with last year's winner Arilena Ara who was the country's hopeful for this year's cancelled Eurovision Song Contest. Thus it remains a question whether Festival i Kenges will select a new hopeful for next year or Arilena will be internally selected.
Albania in Eurovision
In 2004 Albania participated for the first time in the contest with Anjeza Shahini and the entry “The Image of You”, which came 7th . The country hasn’t scored a victory yet in its 16 participations up to date. Its best result was achieved in 2012 with Rona Nishliu and her 5th placing in Baku with her song “Suus”.
In 2019 Jonida Maliqi won the Festivali i Kenges 2018 and became the 16th Albanian representative in Eurovision. Her song Ktheju Tokes ended in the 17th place of the Grand final.
This year Arilena Ara was set to perform her song Fall From Skyon the Eurovision stage in Rotterdam, but saw her journey ending due to the coronavirus outbreak as the contest was cancelled .