Since Hersiana Matmuja won the 52nd Festivali i Këngës, Albania has changed the language from Albanian to English. Albania is known for its outstanding revamps, so we weren’t surprised when “Zemërimi i një nate” morphed into “One Night’s Anger” ahead of ESC.
But was that the right decision?
In the past Albanian artists have said that English is an international language and that they want people to understand the message of their song. But some Albanian contestants decided to keep their entries in Albanian. One of them was Rona Nishliu, who said back in 2012 that “it’s all about the feelings.” She went on to finish in 5th place.
Hersi believes a literal understanding of the lyrics is quite important. Here’s what she told us at Eurovision in Concert 2014:
We decided to [change the lyrics] because we had good lyrics in English and we wanted the song to be more international and people to learn these words
Opinion about the move is divided. Many fans love the Albanian language and wanted it kept in Hersi’s native tongue. But quite a few thought the revamp improved the song. We asked the Twittersphere what it thought, and here are some of the responses:
This is the final product of the 2014 Albanian entry for Eurovision in the English language.
What do YOU think about the language switch? Can Hersi make the final in English? Or were her chances better in Albanian? Comment below now!
RELATED LINKS
- VISIT: Hersiana Matmuja’s official Facebook page
- VISIT: Hersiana Matmuja’s profile on Eurovision.tv
- VISIT: Hersiana Matmuja’s official Twitter
- READ: Hersiana Matmuja reveals One Night’s Anger
- READ: Go behind the scenes with Hersiana Matmuja
- WATCH: Hersiana Matmuja at Santa Cecila Music Conservatory
- READ: Hersiana Matmuja Interview – I like Lady Gaga, Rihanna, Mozart
Ramadan is an Albanian-Australian correspondent for WiwiBloggs.com. You can follow him on Twitter @ESCRamadan. You can also keep up-to-date with the latest Eurovision news and gossip by following the team on Twitter @wiwibloggs and by liking our Facebook page.
Albanian!
The Albanian version was far superior. Including the music which had a fiery, strong sound. It was literally personifying anger. And the way hersi shifted and shaped her voice was impressive. In English they brought it down to a whimper and hersi doesn’t use her voice as effectively. The sound of music is what matters, not so much the lyrics. I loved suus because it sounded literally like she was crying (with passion) it was beautiful. I don’t speak Albanian (I’m american) but I loved that song anyway. Suzy and despina said it themselves, it’s the sound that the lyrics… Read more »
To add another thought, maybe she should have tested out an Italian version also? I know that Italian is a big language in Albania and since Italy does well, maybe in the coming years, Albania might find success with Italian, rather than Albanian or English.
This will do well with the juries. I think its a brilliant song. It will be like Hungary 2013 and Albania 2012. Might finish in the Top 10 too even with a simplistic staging.
The lyrics don’t really matter in this song, I can barely make out the English when she sings because I’m listening to the melody and her sound. Therefore, I would’ve preferred the Albanian as well.
Is not the fact that she doesn’t know English very well but the matter is that she lives in Italy and she has a more sounding Italian accent whatever languages she speaks.Also her voice that’s a bit like oper-istic makes it a little hard to be understood.
I agree with Thiefo about the Albanian language sounding more mystic. I also miss the moving piano vibe and the arrangement. The original was a little darker which I liked. But I still love the song! I’m hoping for a good result for them this year.
shes so amazing live that i think she will surprise everyone by qualifying. a genuine talent.
I prefered the albanian language because for me it sounded more beautiful, more… mystic if you like, I don’t exactly know how to describe it, but the bottom line is that I loved how it sounded, but that’s just personal taste. I don’t mind that is now in english, not even that now it sounds a lot more Shakira-like now, I can live with that, what I don’t like is the new musical arrangement, as others have said, they wanted to make it sound more pop-friendly but it lost some of its essence in the process, and by making it… Read more »
The question may be as to whether it was too much of a change: the song remains enticing, but it somehow lost some of its “anger” and slightly dark sound. Together with that, the pluses and minuses are that the English lyrics make the message understandable (if not completely, according to some listeners) but a little distracting due to Hersiana’s less than perfect command of the language.
Still a darling, and still a wonderful song IMO 🙂
In simpler language, they should have kept the lyrics Albanian and (most definitely) kept the music the way it was, and come up with a better video to go with the song.
It is not only that Hersi and her delegation decided to go English with this song, but they also tweaked the music to make is sound more “pop-friendly”. Both items, I think, will cost her very big with the public and juries. Add to that a video which hardly adds any relevance to the lyrics (in either language), and you turn a almost-certain qualifier into a probable Wednesday morning departure from Copenhagen.
It’s better in Albanian.
If she did a good performance in English on stage, why not?
The Albanian language sounds beautiful, but this song is better with the English lyrics. Good luck Hersi!
I agree with Sopon and I don’t agree with Liam (sorry Liam). The reason is that one is distracted by trying to understand what words she’s singing in English, particularly at the start of the second verse. I have the same problem this year also with Azerbaijan, Belarus and Switzerland (among others). Of course I can’t understand the Albanian at all, but then I don’t expect to and I can instead concentrate on the feeling of the song, as Rona remarked.
Albanian, no doubt about it. It could have been the new “Molitva”, and it coukd have stood out among the numerous English songs.
I like the English version more 🙂
Albanian was better. Should have stayed in Albanian
I honestly don’t think it should make any difference. I mean it’s not like it changes the whole song, the melody is the same, the guitar solo still there and Hersi’s voice is still angelic. I don’t think people should think lower of the song because of the language. It’s still as beautiful as it was in Albanian.
It was better in Albanian tbh…