After debuting back in 2004, Albania is yet to take the trophy home. The nation has mixed results at the contest, with their best placing in 2012 with Rona Nishliu. Hoping to achieve their first win is Ronela Hajati with her song, Sekret.
Anita
Song and Vocals
We come to expect Albania to send strong ballads to Eurovision, however this year, there is a break in the pattern. Ronela is bringing energy to the first semi-final with her song Sekret, but will it be enough to break into the Top 10 this year?
Festivali i Këngës provided my first love and loss of the Eurovision season. Like many others, I was hugely into Theje by Alban Ramosaj, but after hearing the live performance, I knew that it was not the right choice for Albania. Ronela seemed like the next best choice, but as time goes on, this is a song that I want to like more than I actually like. This is amplified further by the revamp of the song.
Sekret is a powerful ethno track which has many of the elements which would normally tick my boxes. The main critique of the original version was that the song seemed disjointed between the verses, pre-choruses and choruses. The revamp has led to an even more confusing song structure to the point that it’s just so difficult to follow along. The mixture of languages adds to the confusion. The elements singularly are great, but together aren’t creating a cohesive song. The melody of the chorus is super catchy and using it as the intro of the song works well, but from that point, it’s just too jumpy.
We’ve seen Ronela perform this live, and we know she can easily slay this live. She is emotive through her lyrics, and this could add real appeal for televoters.
Performance and Act
Festivali i Këngës gave an insight into the potential of this track, however unlike Festivali i Këngës, her Eurovision performance will feature no more than 6 people on stage. I think we can expect that same level of slick choreography at Eurovision, but hopefully even more elevated. Perhaps the live performance will really change how I feel about the song, but only time will tell.
Conclusions
Despite my reservations about the song itself, I think Albania could have a decent televote, at least in the semi-final. There is always a place for an upbeat ethno banger, and this stands out from the semi-final as a female led track in that style.
Rating
6.5/10
Dennis
Song and Vocals
Albania is known for their ethnic and thus unique entries in the field of each Eurovision. They also do so this year, albeit a bit more mainstream perhaps. As mainstream as an Albanian entry can get though. The vocals are always in order with Albanian singers, and this is the case again in 2022 with Ronela.
Performance and Act
Just like Anita I am curious to see how Albania will stage this song, since they clearly cannot just copy/paste their act in Turin. In 2021 we saw them make a big change because of this, going from an act with multiple dancers to a female leading lady all by herself. I don’t think this will work out as well for them with this song as it did last year, I think Albania will bring a bigger team to Italy in May.
Conclusions
It’s always the question what counts most for Albania, the strong vocals or the nature of the song. It can always go both ways with the jury. I expect the televote to be good enough as it was in recent years for their entries, since there clearly is a market for these Albanian ethnic songs.
Rating
6.5/10
Team Scores
Steef: 7/10
Erik: 5/10
Josh: 6/10
Heath: 3/10
Kaitlin: 4/10
Selim: 5/10
Morena: 6/10
Average Score: 5.4/10
What do you think of Sekret? Follow our Eurovision 2022 reviews here. You can support your favourite acts in our Eurovision 2022 poll, which you can find here.