Albania has Chosen: It’s Eneda Tarifa to Stockholm!

After a marathon selection process, Albania has chosen their Eurovision 2016 participant out of 22 diverse songs. Festivali I Kenges has long been used as the Albanian selection process for Eurovision, and this year was no exception. 22 acts competed in the final, those which qualified from the 2 previous semi-finals.

The acts competing were:

1. Sigi Bastri – Engjëll i lirë

2. Rezarta Smaja & Klodian Kaçani – Dashuri në përjetësi

3. Dilan Reka – Buzëqesh

4. Adrian Lulgjuraj– Jeto dhe ëndërro

5. Erga Halilaj – Monolog

6. Evans Rama – Flakë

7. Jozefina Simoni – Një det me ty

8. Egert Pano – Mos ik

9. Genc Tukiçi – Sa të dashuroj

10. Kozma Dushi – Një kafe

11. Luiz Ejlli – Pa mbarim

12. Teuta Kurti – Në sytë e mi

13. Besa Krasniqi – Liroje zemrën

14. Nilsa Hysi – Asaj

15. Kristi Popa – Ajo çfarë ndjej

16. Flaka Krelani – S’je për mu

17. Enxhi Nasufi – Infinit

18. Lindi Islami – Për një mrekulli

19. Florent Abrashi – Të ndjek çdo hap

20. Eneda Tarifa – Përrallë

21. Renis Gjoka – Ato që s’ti them dot

22. Aslajdon Zaimaj – Merrmë që sot

After all 22 acts performed their competing songs, the acts were ranked and the top 10 revealed. These were:

1. Eneda Tarifa

2. Aslajdon Zaimaj

3. Flaka Krelani

4. Rezarta Smaja & Klodian Kaçani

5. Enxhi Nasufi

6. Nilsa Hysi

7. Dilan Reka

8. Teuta Kurti

9. Renis Gjoka

10. Evans Rama

Eneda Tarifa was therefore the winner of the night, with the song Përrallë, which translates to Fairytale. However, it was then announced that the song will be translated into English for Eurovision in 2016.

The presenters of the show were Pandi Laço who was also the screenwriter of the festival and Blerta Tafani, a journalist at TVSH. If you missed the show, you can watch it again on Eurovision.tv, on the Web Player TV. You can also listen to all the songs on the official Festivali I Kenges website.

Listen to the winning song here: