Albania in the Eurovision Song Contest 2014

Eurovision Song Contest 2014
Country	Albania
National selection
Selection process	Festivali i Këngës 52
Selection date(s)	Semi-finals: 26 December 2013 27 December 2013 Final: 28 December 2013
Selected entrant	Hersi
Selected song	"One Night's Anger"
Selected songwriter(s)	Genti Lako Jorgo Papingji
Finals performance
Semi-final result	Failed to qualify (15th, 22 points)
Albania in the Eurovision Song Contest
◄2013 • 2014 • 2015►

Albania participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 2014 in Copenhagen, Denmark, with the song "One Night's Anger" performed by Hersi. Its selected entry was chosen through the national selection competition Festivali i Këngës organised by Radio Televizioni Shqiptar (RTSH) in December 2013. To this point, the nation had participated in the Eurovision Song Contest ten times since its first entry in 2004.

Background[]

Prior to the 2014 contest, Albania had participated in the Eurovision Song Contest ten times since its first entry in 2004.^[1] The country's highest placing in the contest, to this point, had been the fifth place, which it achieved in 2012 with the song "Suus" performed by Rona Nishliu.^[1] The first entry was performed by Anjeza Shahini with the song "The Image of You" and finished in the seventh place, the nation's second-highest placing to date.^[1] During its tenure in the contest, Albania failed to qualify for the final four times, with the 2013 entry being the most recent non-qualifier.^[1]

Before Eurovision[]

Festivali i Këngës[]

Festivali i Këngës 52 was the 52nd annual edition of the Albanian music competition Festivali i Këngës and the eleventh time the competition was used to determine the artist and song that would represent Albania at the Eurovision Song Contest, this time selecting their 2014 contest entry. The competition consisted of two semi-finals on 26 and 27 December 2013 and a final on 28 December 2013, held at the Palace of Congresses in Tirana.^[2][3] Enkel Demi hosted all three shows with Xhesika Berberi and Marinela Meta co-hosting the two semi-finals and Klea Huta co-hosting the final.^[4]

The two semi-finals each featured eight artists performing their competing entries a duet of a past competing entry from Festivali i Këngës with another Albanian artist.^[5] In the final, the sixteen competing entries were voted upon by a jury panel in order to select the winner. The seven-person jury panel consisted of:^[6]

Competing entries[]

RTSH invited interested artists and composers to submit their entries on 8, 9 and 22 October 2013.^[7] The broadcaster received approximately 40 submissions. On 4 November 2013, RTSH announced the sixteen artists and songs selected for the competition by a special committee.^[8] One entry was later withdrawn: "Jeta në orën 4" performed by Orges Toçe. "Jehona" performed by NA was named as the replacement entry.

Key:   Withdrawn   Replacement entry

Shows[]

Semi-finals[]

The first semi-final took place on 26 December 2013. The interval acts for the first semi-final included 2013 Albanian Eurovision Song Contest entrants Adrian Lulgjuraj and Bledar Sejko. The second semi-final took place on 27 December 2013. The interval act for the second semi-final included the RTSH orchestra performing the Festivali I Këngës 1 winning song "Fëmija i parë".

Final[]

The final took place on 28 December 2013. Sixteen entries competed. At the conclusion of the show, as voted upon by a seven-member jury panel who each awarded points from 1 to 8, 10 and 12 to their top ten songs, "Zemërimi i një nate" performed by Hersiana Matmuja was selected as the winner.^[11] The interval acts for the final included Eurovision Song Contest 2013 winner Emmelie de Forest and The Voice of Italy winner Elhaida Dani.^[12]

At Eurovision[]

Hersi performing during the dress rehearsal of the first semi-final of the Eurovision Song Contest 2014.

The Eurovision Song Contest 2014 took place at B&W Hallerne in Copenhagen, Denmark, and consisted of two semi-finals held on 6 and 8 May, respectively, and the grand final on 10 May 2014.^[13] According to the Eurovision rules, all participating countries, apart from the host nation and the "Big Five", consisting of France, Germany, Italy, Spain and the United Kingdom, were required to qualify from one of the two semi-finals to compete for the final, although the top 10 countries from the respective semi-final progress to the grand final.^[14]

On 20 January 2014, a special allocation draw was held at the Copenhagen City Hall in Copenhagen that placed each country into one of the two semi-finals, as well as which half of the show they would perform in.^[15] Albania was placed into the first semi-final, to be held on 6 May, and was scheduled to perform in the first half of the show.^[15] Once all the competing songs for the contest had been released, the running order for the semi-finals was decided by the producers of the contest rather than through another draw, for preventing similar songs being placed next to each other; Albania was set to perform in position 6, following Iceland and preceding Russia.^[16] At the end of the first semi-final, the country was not announced among the top 10 entries and therefore failed to qualify for the final, marking Albania's fifth non-qualification in the Eurovision Song Contest.^[1][17]

Voting[]

The tables below visualise a breakdown of points awarded to Albania in the first semi-final of the Eurovision Song Contest 2014, as well as by the country for both the first semi-final and grand final. The points awarded by Albania in both the first semi-final and the final were based on 100% jury voting due to either technical issues with the televoting or an insufficient number of valid votes cast during the televote period.

Points awarded to Albania[]

Points awarded to Albania (Semi-final 1)[18] Score Country 12 points  Montenegro 10 points 8 points 7 points 6 points 5 points  San Marino 4 points 3 points 2 points  Belgium  Denmark 1 point  Netherlands Points awarded by Albania[] Points awarded by Albania (Semi-final 1)[18] Score Country 12 points  Montenegro 10 points  Hungary 8 points  San Marino 7 points  Azerbaijan 6 points  Sweden 5 points  Armenia 4 points  Moldova 3 points  Ukraine 2 points  Netherlands 1 point  Portugal Points awarded by Albania (Final)[19] Score Country 12 points  Spain 10 points  Italy 8 points  Hungary 7 points  Sweden 6 points  Montenegro 5 points  Austria 4 points  Germany 3 points  San Marino 2 points  Greece 1 point  Malta Detailed voting results[] The following members comprised the Albanian jury:[20]  [de] (jury chairperson) – composer/producer Alfred Kacinari – composer/producer Jetmir Barbullushi – composer, conductor, musician Mira Tuci – journalist for art and culture  [sq] – journalist, producer, director Detailed voting results from Albania (Semi-final 1)[21] Draw Country E. Zhulali A. Kacinari J. Barbullushi M. Tuci E. Ndocaj Average Jury Rank Points 01  Armenia 4 5 11 1 14 6 5 02  Latvia 12 10 10 15 10 13 03  Estonia 14 12 7 13 9 12 04  Sweden 3 4 5 5 7 5 6 05  Iceland 13 15 13 14 11 15 06  Albania 07  Russia 15 13 15 7 13 14 08  Azerbaijan 7 6 4 2 3 4 7 09  Ukraine 8 8 12 10 6 8 3 10  Belgium 10 14 8 9 12 11 11  Moldova 9 7 6 12 8 7 4 12  San Marino 6 3 3 8 2 3 8 13  Portugal 11 11 14 11 5 10 1 14  Netherlands 5 9 9 6 15 9 2 15  Montenegro 2 2 1 4 1 1 12 16  Hungary 1 1 2 3 4 2 10 Detailed voting results from Albania (Final)[22] Draw Country E. Zhulali A. Kacinari J. Barbullushi M. Tuci E. Ndocaj Average Jury Rank Points 01  Ukraine 15 17 17 24 13 19 02  Belarus 18 8 26 25 22 23 03  Azerbaijan 12 14 16 7 26 15 04  Iceland 24 26 18 26 14 24 05  Norway 23 19 19 18 15 20 06  Romania 22 16 9 14 16 16 07  Armenia 9 13 20 6 25 13 08  Montenegro 6 10 5 5 3 5 6 09  Poland 14 18 21 23 23 22 10  Greece 3 22 15 15 2 9 2 11  Austria 11 6 4 4 6 6 5 12  Germany 7 2 8 8 17 7 4 13  Sweden 1 12 1 1 9 4 7 14  France 17 5 22 22 7 12 15  Russia 26 25 25 16 18 25 16  Italy 2 3 3 9 1 2 10 17  Slovenia 13 15 14 13 19 14 18  Finland 16 9 13 19 24 17 19  Spain 4 1 6 2 4 1 12 20   Switzerland 25 24 23 20 20 26 21  Hungary 5 4 2 3 5 3 8 22  Malta 8 23 7 17 8 10 1 23  Denmark 20 21 24 21 11 21 24  Netherlands 19 20 12 11 21 18 25  San Marino 10 11 10 10 10 8 3 26  United Kingdom 21 7 11 12 12 11 References[] ^ a b c d e "Countries: Albania". European Broadcasting Union (EBU). Archived from the original on 26 October 2020. Retrieved 10 January 2021. ^ Brey, Marco (4 November 2013). "Albania: Dates and line-up for national selection confirmed". Eurovision.tv. Retrieved 5 November 2013. ^ "Festivali i Këngës në RTSH, edicionin e 52-të vetëm 16 këngë konkurente" (in Albanian). Agjencia Kombëtare e Lajmeve NOA. 7 November 2013. Archived from the original on 15 December 2013. Retrieved 7 November 2013. ^ Sahiti, Gafurr (19 December 2013). "Albania: 3 new Festivali i Këngës hosts announced". Esctoday.com. Retrieved 19 December 2013. ^ Qendro, Helio (4 November 2013). "Albania: Dates change and 16 competing acts revealed". Esctoday.com. Retrieved 5 November 2013. ^ "Zbulohet juria dhe drejtuesit e festivalit të Këngës në RTSH" (in Albanian). Agjencia Kombëtare e Lajmeve NOA. 21 December 2013. Archived from the original on 23 December 2013. Retrieved 21 December 2013. ^ Sahiti, Gafurr (14 September 2013). "Albania: RTSH calls for songs, deadline 9th of October". Esctoday. Retrieved 19 November 2020. ^ "Krijimet në konkurim" (in Albanian). Radio Televizioni Shqiptar. 2013. Archived from the original on 13 December 2013. Retrieved 25 November 2013. ^ "Nis edicioni i 52 i Festivalit të Këngës në RTSH, të gjitha këngët në garë!" (in Albanian). 77news.al. 26 December 2013. Archived from the original on 27 December 2013. Retrieved 26 December 2013. ^ "Sonte nata e parë e Festivalit në RTSH. Këngët dhe konkurrentët pjesëmarrës" (in Albanian). Republika. 26 December 2013. Retrieved 26 December 2013. ^ Omelyanchuk, Olena (28 December 2013). "Hersi Matmuja wins Festivali i Këngës!". Eurovision.tv. Retrieved 28 December 2013. ^ Mile, Alma (13 December 2013). "Fituesja e Eurosong 2013, kumbarja e Festivalit në RTSH" (in Albanian). Gazeta Panorama ONLINE. Archived from the original on 14 December 2013. Retrieved 14 December 2013. ^ "Eurovision Song Contest–Copenhagen 2014". European Broadcasting Union (EBU). Archived from the original on 18 May 2019. Retrieved 10 January 2021. ^ "Eurovision Song Contest–Rules". European Broadcasting Union (EBU). Archived from the original on 8 April 2020. Retrieved 10 January 2021. ^ a b Escudero, Victor M. (20 January 2014). "Allocation Draw results: Who's in which Semi-Final?". European Broadcasting Union (EBU). Archived from the original on 22 January 2014. Retrieved 10 January 2021. ^ Siim, Jarmo (24 March 2014). "Running order for Eurovision Semi-Finals decided". European Broadcasting Union (EBU). Archived from the original on 2 January 2015. Retrieved 10 January 2021. ^ "First Semi-Final of Copenhagen 2014". European Broadcasting Union (EBU). Archived from the original on 4 May 2021. Retrieved 4 May 2021. ^ a b "Results of the First Semi-Final of Copenhagen 2014". European Broadcasting Union (EBU). Archived from the original on 5 May 2021. Retrieved 5 May 2021. ^ "Results of the Grand Final of Copenhagen 2014". European Broadcasting Union (EBU). Archived from the original on 5 May 2021. Retrieved 5 May 2021. ^ Brey, Marco (1 May 2014). "Who will be in the expert juries?". Eurovision.tv. Retrieved 1 May 2014. ^ "Full Split Results | First Semi-Final of Copenhagen 2014". European Broadcasting Union (EBU). Archived from the original on 12 May 2014. Retrieved 5 May 2021. ^ "Full Split Results | Grand Final of Copenhagen 2014". European Broadcasting Union (EBU). Archived from the original on 12 May 2014. Retrieved 5 May 2021. External links[] Wikimedia Commons has media related to Albania in the Eurovision Song Contest 2014. Festivali i Këngës Official Website