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.
Orgesa has to enter FIK again!!!
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??
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
Also Vonë for me. Three great songs.
People complain about FiK but they always have strong entries. This, and Piedestal would have been great choices for Albania. Mall was SUPERB nonetheless.
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?
Yes. I’ve seen a shirt like that before.
FiK was so good this year!
Better late than never :p
YASSS