Continuing from tradition, this year Albania chose their representative through their own song festival, Festivali I Kenges. The winner was Elhaida Dani with the song Diell. Diell was my early favourite to win, so when I heard that the song was to be changed completely, I was shattered. Diell still would have been my favourite in this years’ contest, so my expectations were pretty high for I’m Alive.
Luckily, Albania didn’t completely ruin their chances! Their new song ‘I’m Alive’ is still one of my favourites of this year, if not the favourite for me personally. I really love everything about it, the melody, the backing music, the lyrics, and the star performer. This song has huge potential for Eurovision, and huge commercial potential. I really do think this could bring Albania their best result, but it really does rely on how they choose to present it, and how Elhaida performs on the night. We’ve seen her perform the song at Eurovision in Concert, and I was slightly underwhelmed by the vocal performance, however once she warms up, it sounds fantastic.
In the midst of the other semi-final 1 participants, I can quite confidently say that Albania will qualify, but I’m not sure if this will live up to all the hype, or if it will be forgotten on the night. I really do love this song, so I’m going to be generous and give it a 10/10. I would be quite happy to see it win!
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