Albania in the Eurovision Song Contest 2009

Eurovision Song Contest 2009
Country	Albania
National selection
Selection process	Festivali i Këngës 47
Selection date(s)	Semi-finals 19 December 2008 20 December 2008 Final 21 December 2008
Selected entrant	Kejsi Tola
Selected song	"Më merr në ëndërr"
Finals performance
Semi-final result	Qualified (7th, 73 points)
Final result	17th, 48 points
Albania in the Eurovision Song Contest
◄2008 • 2009 • 2010►

Albania and Radio Televizioni Shqiptar (RTSH) were present at the Eurovision Song Contest 2009 in Moscow, marking their sixth performance at the contest.^[1] They used the Festivali i Këngës competition to select the Albanian entrant and this year's contest was fronted by a new artistic director, Albanian composer and singer Pirro Çako.^[1] The winner of Festivali i Këngës 47 was Kejsi Tola, with the song "Më merr në ëndërr", which was performed at Eurovision in English as "Carry Me in Your Dreams".^[2]

Festivali i Këngës 47

RTSH set the provisional dates for the final of the 47th Festivali i Këngës at 21 December 2008, again being the first country to select their entry for Eurovision. Two semi-finals were held before the final on 19 and 20 December 2008. The contest was hosted by Elsa Lila, Julian Deda and Gentian Zenelaj.^[3]

Semi-finals

The two semi-finals of Festivali i Këngës 47 were held on 19 and 20 December 2008. Due to criticism of last year's contest, changes have been made to the format of Festivali i Këngës. Firstly, 20 artists performed their selected songs in the first semi-final on 19 December 2008. The songs were then repeated on 20 December, this time with other famous Albanian artists. All 20 songs were in the final on 21 December, performed by their original artists. The winner was again selected by the votes of seven jury members, as in last year.^[3][4] The song titles and running order for both the semi-finals and final were released on 18 December 2008.^[5][6]

Presentation Evening 1

All of the songs were presented on 19 December 2008 by their original artists in advance to the final of the contest on 21 December 2008.^[7][8]

Presentation Evening 2

The second presentation evening of Festivali i Këngës 47 was held on 20 December 2008. The same 20 songs that were presented on 19 December 2008, this time as duets with other famous Albanian artists.^[9][10]

Final

The final of Festivali i Këngës 47 was held on 21 December 2008 The winner was decided here, through the votes of seven jury members. Each jury member gave 1 to 20 points to each song, with 20 points for their favourite song and 1 point for their least favourite song.

Kejsi Tola was the winner of Festivali i Këngës 47, winning with 126 points. The runners-up were Juliana Pasha and Luiz Ejlli with 119 points, with West Side Family coming third with 118 points. Tola's song was "Më merr në ëndërr" (Take me in your dreams), composed by Edmond Zhulali and Agim Doçi, the composer's of Albania's first Eurovision entry, "The Image of You" by Anjeza Shahini, which came 7th at the Eurovision Song Contest 2004, Albania's best placing to date.^[11]

Before Eurovision

Before her performance at Eurovision Kejsi Tola completed a promotional tour of a number of European countries, between daily work on her performance and vocals, with choreography planned by Greek choreographer Julian Bulku, known for planning the 2008 Greek entry, performed by Kalomoira, as well as collaborating with 2005 winner Elena Paparizou.^[12]

In April Tola was invited by Greek broadcaster ANT1 to perform on their morning program, as well as performing in Montenegro, on RTCG. She also traveled to Macedonia, performing on national TV as well as in a concert organised by RTSH for her fans in Skopje. Finally she travelled to the Eurovision Promo Concert in Amsterdam, the Netherlands, where she performed alongside over 20 other Eurovision contestants.^[13][14]

At Eurovision

Tola at a press conference.

Since Albania was not one of the "Big Four" nor the host of the 2009 contest, it had to compete in one of the two semi-finals.The song competed in the second semi-final on 14 May, where it performed sixteenth in the running order, following Moldova and preceding Ukraine. It qualified to the final where it finished 17th.

"Më merr në ëndërr" was performed in English at Eurovision, under the title of "Carry Me in Your Dreams". The new, 3 minute version of the song, and its promotional video clip, was released on 15 March.^[2]

Points Awarded by Albania^[15]

Semi final 12 points  Greece 10 points  Netherlands 8 points  Norway 7 points  Ireland 6 points  Poland 5 points  Denmark 4 points  Slovakia 3 points  Hungary 2 points  Slovenia 1 point  Croatia

Final 12 points  Greece 10 points  Turkey 8 points  United Kingdom 7 points  Norway 6 points  Iceland 5 points  Bosnia and Herzegovina 4 points  Azerbaijan 3 points  Germany 2 points  France 1 point  Sweden

Televoting Points Awarded by Albania 12 points  Turkey 10 points  Greece 8 points  Norway 7 points  Azerbaijan 6 points  Germany 5 points  United Kingdom 4 points  Sweden 3 points  France 2 points  Iceland 1 point  Israel

Jury Points Awarded by Albania 12 points  United Kingdom 10 points  Greece 8 points  Bosnia and Herzegovina 7 points  Turkey 6 points  Iceland 5 points  Norway 4 points  Croatia 3 points  France 2 points  Spain 1 point  Malta

See also

• Albania in the Eurovision Song Contest
• Eurovision Song Contest 2009

References

Albania in the Eurovision Song Contest
Participation 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017
Artists 2000s Anjeza Shahini Ledina Çelo Luiz Ejlli Frederik Ndoci Olta Boka Kejsi Tola 2010s Juliana Pasha Aurela Gaçe Rona Nishliu Adrian Lulgjuraj & Bledar Sejko Hersi Elhaida Dani Eneda Tarifa
Songs 2000s "The Image of You" "Tomorrow I Go" "Zjarr e ftohtë" "Hear My Plea" "Zemrën e lamë peng" "Carry Me in Your Dreams" 2010s "It's All About You" "Feel the Passion" "Suus" "Identitet" "One Night's Anger" "I'm Alive" "Fairytale"
(Note: Entries scored out are when Albania did not compete)