Albania’s prestigious Festivali i Këngës kicks off tonight with the first semi-final at the Pallati i Kongreseve in Tirana. The director of the show Martin Leka has promised that it will be a spectacular show, while hosts Liberta Spahiu, Turjan Hyska and Floriana Garo are busy perfecting their lines. And as ever the artists and RTSH orchestra will do their best to make it a night to remember. Alexander Rybak, winner of the 2009 Eurovision Song Contest, will be the interval act during the Grand Final. 

How to watch FiK53 Semi-Final 1

The first semi-final of Festivali i Këngës 53 will begin at 20:30 CET. You’ll be able to watch it live on RTSH’s official website. Click here for RTSH’s stream.

Semi-Final 1 running order:

1. Enver PetrovciTë vranë bukuri (Destroyed your beauty)
2. Revolt Klan – Më mungon (I miss you)
3. Julian Gjojdeshi – Himn jetës (Anthem of life)
4. Sigi Bastri & Florent Abrashi Eklips mbi oqean (Eclipse over the ocean)
5. Marsela Çibukaj –S’muj (I can’t)
6. Saimir Braho Kristal (Crystal)
7. Klajdi Musabelliu – Vetëm te ti besoj (I only believe in you)
8. Erga HalilajTi s’më njeh (You don’t know me)
9. Besiana Mehmeti & Shkodran Tolaj – Kështjella (The castle)
10. Estela Brahimllari – Kjo natë (This night)
11. Lindita Halimi – S’të fal (I don’t forgive)
12. Grupi Offchestra – Bajram (Eid festival)
13. Venera Lumani – Dua të jetoj (I want to live)

Albanian actor Enver Petrovci will open the 53rd edition of Festivali i Këngës, while The Voice of Albania 2 winner Venera Lumani will close the show. Thirteen contestants will compete tonight and nine songs will advance to the Festivali i Këngës 53 Grand Final.

Besiana Mehmeti and Shkodran Tolaj, Rezarta Smaja, Saimir Braho, Venera Lumani, Xhejn & Enxhi Kumrija have all decided to return to Festivali i Këngës after failing to represent Albania in 2014.

The very first winner of The Voice of Italy Elhaida Dani is also back after a three-year break. She is the hot favourite to win the whole competition. But there’s loads more returnees to make sure she doesn’t have an easy run, including Lindita Halimi from 48, Agim Poshka and Emi Bogdo from 49, Klajdi Musabelliu from 43 and Altin Goci from 50. And there’s more! Kelly, Marsela Çibukaj & Bojken Lako all took part in Festivali i Këngës 51.

GET TO KNOW THE FiK 53 HOSTS

Floriana Garo

Floriana Garo is not new to the viewers of Festivali i Këngës as she co-hosted FiK 51 with Enkel Demi. Born in Durrës, Garo is a television presenter and model. But you probably guessed that from her fierce look. She is the presenter of the entertainment show Jo Vetem Mode on Klan and a weather presenter on ABC News. In addition, she has also been the brand ambassador for Albania’s Cortefiel clothing since 2011. She also represented Albania in the Miss World 2012 beauty pageant.

Turjan Hyska

Turjan Hyska is an Albanian singer, songwriter, and producer. He is most famous for the TV shows that he created, which include Tale with King (later known as Tale with Pirates), Mos u nxeh, Family Challenge, Sketch Show and Apartment 2XL (his most popular show which has had six seasons). He is currently hosting Vizion Plus’ talk show Oktapod.

Liberta Spahiu

Born in Pristhina, Liberta Spahiu is a known TV presenter on Kosovo Klan’s shows Prive and Supermodel. Prive is an entertainment show popular both in Kosovo and Albania. She is known for her great fashion sense. Love the bangs…

Who are you looking forward to hear tonight and will you be watching FiK53? We wanna hear your opinions, so comment below! 

YOU CAN FOLLOW ALL OF OUR ALBANIA EUROVISION 2015 NEWS HERE.

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Deven O'Kearney
Deven O'Kearney
9 years ago

I think that it is kind of stupid how Albania doesn’t let us listen to any of the songs or even snippets before the show. So you literally have no clue as to what to expect. This is particularly risky business in a country with a poorly developed music scene like Albania. If you look at other countries in the same league, such as Belarus, have let us listen to the songs in Eurofest. That obviously doesn’t help their results. But it does give us an insight into the standard of songs in the national final.

D
D
9 years ago

Deven – Many countries have a rule in their national selection where only the native language can be performed.

I don’t understand how Elhaida is the favourite even though we haven’t heard any songs yet. I mean, sure she might be the most famous but fame means nothing if your song is terrible.

Deven O'Kearney
Deven O'Kearney
9 years ago

To be honest, I won’t watch the semi final because I will be watching Eurofest tonight. But I will try to watch the final of Festival I Kenges on Sunday night. But to be honest, I think Albania should really do away with the Festival I Kenges as their Eurovision selection process. It is not doing them any big favours, even though they came 5th in 2012 and 7th in 2004 and have qualified 6 out of 11 attempts. But they have failed to qualify in recent years and the Eurovision Song Contest is so unpopular amongst the viewers that… Read more »