[LMBTO] Albania supply our first complete 2016 Eurovision entry...

I know that EIGHT nations have put forward who will be performing for them in Stockholm but traditionally the first country to provide their 'complete package' of artist and (probable) song is often a race between Albania (via their Festivali i Këngës Contest - FiK) and one of the Eastern European nations.  This season it was down to the Sanremo-like competition to show the way for the rest of the entrants this year.  Last year's winner was this beautiful lady:
Ironically her winning song 'Diell' was not the one to go to Vienna (songwriting dispute) and "I'm Alive" took Elhaida into the Eurovision Final.  I prefered the original song but not much could be done about that - I also prefered the outfit...

Those of you who have read my blog from the start know that I like FiK - it is NOT a Eurovision selection process though so there are entries there that would stand no chance against the likes of Sweden and Russia.  It also shows what Albanians, or more specifically Albanian jurors like - old men crooners, soft rock and lounge singers are all there.  Have a look at my reviews of the last two years (FiK52 and FiK53) if you want to get a taste of these before we launch into what happened this year.  I had a go doing some live blogging with the SFs - SF1 was a test run, SF2 was my first real LIVE blog.  To be honest, it was a lot of work and distracted my attention away from a proper listen and review so for the moment those may be my only attempts at that side of blogging - nothing ventured...

Thirty entries competed in the SFs and originally only eighteen were to qualify for the Final - no idea why but RTSH, the Albanian broadcaster, allowed four more entries in so there were 22 to go for the Eurovision prize.  All warmed up and ready to go, I watched the Final, hoping that one of these four would make it as they got my top marks in the semis:
Erga, Dilan, Jozefina and Enxhi were my picks - would they sing as well in the Final?

And so we were off:
A slight gasp moment occurred as the live stream on eurovision.tv asked me to update their app - luckily I had given myself lots of time and the upload did not take too long.  At least it wouldn't keep interrupting my viewing pleasure as had happened in the SFs, with adverts on Ustream every four or so songs.  A bit of Tirana in Christmas lights preceded the night's events - all very pretty but maintaining the impression that nothing is ever on time in Albania!  It was almost as if Maltese tv producers were running the ad-laden schedule before FiK started...
Only 25 minutes later than planned but we got there - the hosts (Pandi Laço and Blerta Tafani) got us going, although the female host had been given a hideous dress to wear (again) that made her look like the Martian Girl in the film 'Mars Attacks':
And yes, that is a drone he has in his hand - saves Conchita flying in again, doesn't it?

Onto the songs (my scores out of 10):

Sigi Bastri - Engjëll i lirë
Bit quiet at the beginning but the vocals quickly picked up, a heartfelt ballad sung very well with plenty of emotion, and it got better as the song went on.  A great start to the show - 7.5




Rezarta Smaja & Klodian Kaçani - Dashuri në përjetësi
This is as good as SF2, if not better.  Rezarta is amazing vocally and very good looking and Klodian gives his operatic vocals as perfectly as he has done before. Loads of chemistry and good stage presence here - so dramatic and such a great entry, I could imagine this as Stockholm's 'Grande Amore'.  The pair got a lot of applause from the audience and were called back - 8.5




Dilan Reka - Buzëqesh
Another of my favourites from the SFs, a nice catchy ballad that picks up the tempo into a superb chorus, his vocals were not as spot on as in SF2 though.  Maybe he's pushing it too much as this had lost something, good interaction with camera though - 6.5




Adrian Lulgjuraj - Jeto dhe ëndërro
Now this has the same kick to it that it had in SF2 but it's still a bit AOR, it just needs a bit more dynamism to the staging or to his voice.  It's good but not brilliant and air guitar in a smart suit doesn't work!  Neither does one brown driving glove - 6.5




Erga Halilaj - Monolog
I loved this one in SF2 - superb vocals, lots of emotion in the voice and a good performance.  Erga is stunning but now this is put up against the first two songs, I'm not so sure it's a winner.  There is a great range in her voice but the song itself is a bit slow and plodding - 7.0




Evans Rama - Flakë
I have no idea how this got through as this was a very poor soft rock performance.  As I said in my live blog, it's as if Linkin Park have said "Let's give our roadie a go" and he's dressed for it with his MASH overalls and Jeep cap on.  Albanians obviously like it but for me, the professional musicians aside, this is dire - 4.0




Jozefina Simoni - Një det me ty
Jozefina is stunningly attractive, she has a great voice and portrays the emotion of the song superbly.  For me, this was better than SF2 if that was possible and it kept me watching and listening her.  Drop the needless guitar solo and this would have been perfect, the best entry so far - 9.0




Egert Pano - Mos ik
Ah, it's the lounge singer form SF2, it's all very mellow, the sort of end of the night music to wind down before going to sleep. For me, it was all a bit meh, not bad but not good either, a poor man's Harry Connick Jr tribute act.  I also disliked the corny trick with the flowers - 5.0




Genc Tukiçi - Sa të dashuroj
The opera singer from SF2 - all very cultural but he has no connection with anything other than his closed eyelids. Some good vocals here but this works for the FiK, not for Eurovision.  Okay, not Eurovision 2016, maybe 1956 - 5.5




Kozma Dushi - Një kafe
He hardly moved at all and the screen grab still blurred him!  Now I have no idea how this guy got through SF2 - I suppose he sung it okay and the music is quite catchy but come on, he's like a good singer at a karaoke!  Kozma's really into it but it was all rather repetitive.  This actually needs the guitar solo which Kozma just stands through smiling - 5.0



At this stage it appeared we got another host - some might say a younger, more attractive one?  This was Klea Huta, who co-presented FiK52 in 2014 - her beauty was obviously missed by someone on stage...
After that pleasant distraction, more songs:

Luiz Ejilli - Pa mbarim
A pleasant ballad with a slight soft rock undertone, Luis produced some good emoting and sung it well but it's all really on one level, no high points, no climax.  All just nice, nothing outstanding - 6.5




Teuta Kurti - Në sytë e mi
I am not sure what it is about Teuta but her appearance scares me slightly.  She has a superb voice though and the song has a discernable chorus that is quite catchy.  I'm not keen on her vocal gymnastics towards the end and that spoilt the whole thing for me - 6.5




Besa Krasniqi - Liroje zemrën
I loved this lady's hippy chic look and this could have so much potential as a Eurovision song, all the right rise and fall, chorus and verse but her voice was disappointingly weak live.  If she could have matched the studio version, this could have been up there as one of the tips for the win.  This reminded me of 'Unbroken' - even down to the comparison between studio and live performances.  Such a shame - 6.5




Nilsa Hysi - Asaj
The music is superb but as in SF2, her vocals are pretty poor for all of the quiet parts of this entry.  It goes slightly better in the chorus but her superb camera work and moodiness she brought to the song cannot make up for the poor singing or the repetitive nature of the lyrics.  Her reaction at the end of the song looked like she knew she had sung poorly too - 5.5




Kristi Popa - Ajo çfarë ndjej
How this hideous mess got to the Final, I never know!  And he had a kid on stage, that's not going to happen at Eurovision!  Having a telescope prop would be ironic in the Globen though, seeing it already looks like an observatory!  To be fair to him, he was singing this a lot better than in the SF but that is not saying much - it still all went to pot when he tried to put more into it - 3.5



Flaka Krelani - S'je për mu
I was loving how the two orchestral keyboard players were getting their moment here.  Flaka had toned down the makeup and her outfit suited her much better than in SF2.  This was far better balanced between music and vocal and she was not drowned out at all. I was not sure that a mix of electro and gospel was going to work, nor that the odd spoken bit in it was needed.  Great attitude and stage presence though and Flaka was clearly enjoying herself.  This could now have been a contender for the win - 7.5




Enxhi Nasufi - Infinit
Almost a disco/euro dance anthem right here - I felt this was a clear contender for the win.  Enxhi looked amazing, gave it everything, sang superbly and the music/lyric combination was very catchy.  I could easily have seen this in Stockholm -  it was the first toe tapper of the evening for me!  A great performance - 9.0




Lindi Islami - Për një mrekulli
A very pleasant ballad sung in a very authentic manner, just a man with his guitar, a total change to everything else this evening. His vocals weren't too bad, nothing amazing but he put a lot of emotion into it all.  There was not a lot of drama but it seemed as though this all meant something personal to him - 7.5




Florent Abrashi - Të ndjek çdo hap
This was the soft rock anthem with the guy who has the touch of Axl Rose's vocals about him.  It was a bit quiet at times but he has a powerful tone in the right key.  The chorus has a bit of life about it but that was about it - 6.5




Eneda Tarifa - Përrallë
A stunning blonde female vocalist singing an entry that sounds like an Albanian Bond theme!  Superb vocals and a nice guitar break for a change, Eneda gives a great facial performance and emoted well, sounding a little bit like Bjork at times  for me.  This power ballad suited the orchestra backing well and this was definitely one of the better entries of the second half of the Final - 8.0



Renis Gjoka - Ato që s'ti them dot
Only The Blues Brothers can get away with shades indoors!  This was another low key, unimpressive AOR copy - his voice was droning, his look dated and I just couldn't wait for the end of the song.  The song was just a whole lot of nothing - 4.0




Aslajdon Zaimaj - Merrmë që sot
Ah, the soft rock/rap combination, this was wrong in so many ways, especially as his voice could barely cope with either style. The chorus wasn't too bad but for me,  Aslajdon didn't have the vocals or stage presence to pull this off - 5.0



A bit of a damp squib ending to FiK in my opinion - my scores based on the entries in the Final?
The actual voting was 100% jury - seven members in total, so my scoring was irrelevant.  Whilst they were deciding upon the winner, we got to watch the interval acts - lots of old singers filling in time...a violinist with some children singing...and some 'slavic girls':
All of a sudden Rezarta and Klodian came on the stage - had they won?  No, they got an award from the sponsors Eurosig.

Eventually the actual results were announced by the hosts - and three hours of music and chat was completed in less than a minute!



Not an amazing response by any of the competitors there.  In case you didn't catch any of that, here was the top ten:
So my fourth choice, the 'Bond Theme', won FiK54 - my main surprise was that my second favourite, Jozefina, wasn't even in the top 10, being kept out by the likes of Renis and Evans.  They do like their soft rock in Albania!  Once on the stage, gold confetti covered the winner as she picked up her trophy:
The way the win was announced and the fact that FiK had overrun so much meant that there was no reprise and this all added to the total anti climax of the show's ending.  The audience got up and left as though it was the end of a movie in the Cineplexx Tirana!  Such a non-classy way to end one of the most stylish Eurovision selection processes...

Eneda was pounced upon by Eurovision media, all trying to get the first interview.  The main question seemed to be whether her song would stay sung in Albanian or go the way most FiK entries do and swap to English?  She revealed this decision immediately post-show, as if she had already decided in case she had won:



It all makes perfect sense but already we have lost Albanian from the possible languages we might have heard in Stockholm.  It does sound as though Eneda is not going to Eurovision to make up the numbers - she seems to be aiming for a top five in the Final!  A bold statement from the singer of the first song out of 43 that will be sung in May - it does mean however that we will be hearing another 'Fairytale' at Eurovision...
What are Albania's chances at Eurovision?  Far too early to say realistically but Përrallë is a good choice of song to go to Stockholm.  Eneda is a talented singer, has a superb voice and great stage presence.  Judging from the interview, she also knows what she wants from the song.  Power ballads of this type have 'done the business' at Eurovision over the last couple of years - this sounds similar in style to 'Rise Like A Phoenix' and 'One Last Breath' and those gave their countries varying degrees of success.  Albania would probably be happy with a Final slot and not to be embarrassed on Saturday night - Eneda could possibly supply a lot more.  Hearing this entry in English and cut to three minutes might lead us towards which end of the spectrum her nation will finish.  We will also have a better idea of how well Albania will do when we know more of the competition - at least there seems to be less female soloists this season, so far...

When all's said and done, there were a few other entries that I got more excited about in FiK54 but the Albanian jurors probably got their selection spot on and we have a solid first selection for Eurovision 2016.