Back in December last year, Orgesa Zaimi was one of the fan favourites going into Festivali i Këngës 56 with her upbeat song “Ngrije zërin”. She didn’t disappoint at the Albanian song contest, however the jury selected Eugent Bushpepa as the overall winner. Now Orgesa has rewarded fans by finally releasing a music video to her FiK entry.

In the video, Orgesa has ditched the hipster librarian look and instead wears an elegant red gown. She is joined by a number of people, of different ages, sexes and cultures. They morph into each other, taking a cue from Michael Jackson’s iconic “Black or White” video. The people also join Orgesa for a group shot, where they sing along to the song and share in its positive message.

When “Ngrije zërin” (Speak Up) was released shortly before FiK 56, the song soon became a fan favourite.

It was also a favourite with the Wiwi Jury. While there was a lot of love for eventual winner Eugent Bushpepa and “Mall”, six jurors selected “Ngrije zërin” as their favourite. Jury member Luis wrote, “‘Ngrije zërin’ is catchy, memorable and uplifting, and Orgesa garnishes it with power and self-confidence. It is, by far, the most contemporary entry in FiK 56 and it’s one of the very few songs that is “Eurovision aware”.

Wiwibloggs readers also had enthusiasm for Orgesa’s song. After tallying reader scores, “Ngrije zërin” stood out as a favourite. Wiwi reader ‘Marcus (Day One)’ recognised the song’s hit potential: “It is the only radio friendly, contemporary song and as we’ve seen that goes down well at Eurovision. It has elements of The Chainsmokers, Rudimental and that can only be a good thing. With some minor tweaking and good staging sung in either English or Albanian, this could be a top 10 entry.”

In the Wiwi Poll — held after all acts had performed in the semi-finals and the 14 finalists had been selected — Orgesa was ranked third with 13.38% of the vote. Eugent Bushpepa topped the vote with 38.04%.

When it came to the grand final of Festivali i Këngës 56, the jury selected Bushpepa’s “Mall” as the winner. Orgesa placed outside the top three, so it is not known how the song was ranked.

Festivali i Këngës is usually the first national final to be held in the Eurovision season. While Albania’s participation in Eurovision 2019 has not yet been confirmed, FiK 57 has been confirmed. Entries for the song contest are currently open and will close on 10 September.

 

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Kirby
Kirby
5 years ago

Orgesa has to enter FIK again!!!

John Moynahan
John Moynahan
5 years ago

This was my personal favourite from FiK 56…………however Eugent live performance and tremendous vocal range won me over.. … he was superb..
Still would have sent Orgesa??

Henry
Henry
5 years ago

Albania should let televoters decide 50% of the results, the jury can be shady. They tend to go for te typical Albanian formula of male rock or female power ballad. Orgesa has the best song in 2017, but the orchestra ?, it’s 2018 not 1957

Jo.
Jo.
5 years ago

Also Vonë for me. Three great songs.

impressiveinstants
impressiveinstants
5 years ago

People complain about FiK but they always have strong entries. This, and Piedestal would have been great choices for Albania. Mall was SUPERB nonetheless.

Sylvia
Sylvia
5 years ago

I was trying so hard to read what is written with small letters on that tshirt I, m a virgin. Is (This is very old shirt), right?

Danni
Danni
5 years ago
Reply to  Sylvia

Yes. I’ve seen a shirt like that before.

Briekimchi
Briekimchi
5 years ago

FiK was so good this year!

Eurovisionfan12
Eurovisionfan12
5 years ago

Better late than never :p

Alex
Alex
5 years ago

YASSS