Good evening Tirana — Bushpepa is calling! Recently our very own Deban had a catch-up with Festivali i Kenges winner and Eurovision 2018 finalist Eugent Bushpepa in the Albanian capital. Sitting in the back seat of his car, they discussed life after Eurovision and his latest projects.

The Albanian brought us the emotional and vocally-perfect ‘Mall’ in Lisbon this year, defying the odds to qualify from arguably the toughest semi final ever. While he finished eighth in the semi, he managed to climb to an impressive 11th in the Grand Final. This certainly wasn’t predicted pre-contest. This made him a local hero back home, where he received the Keys to Tirana.

New work incoming!

As he prepares to hand over the FiK crown, Eugent is focusing on getting new music out there for the fans. He discussed the struggles of getting sponsorship to record. “You have to find the right people who would like to sponsor you,” he says. “And in Albania it’s a bit difficult in this period of time so maybe I will find someone who is going to like my CD and sponsor it for me”.

He is aiming for Summer 2019. Eugent & Co hope to record abroad as in Albania the recording facilities are limited, and he wants the most authentic sound possible.

Tattoos and THAT China debacle

When discussing tattoos, the inevitable subject of Mango TV’s decision to censor Eugent’s performance. That was over Chinese laws disallowing tattoos to be shown on TV. “It’s OK,” he says. “They have their own policies, not a problem – but even Ryan…so it’s a bit…” — cue a big hmm face!

Eugent also showed us some of the best art on his arms, including his skull tattoo on his right forearm. He then discussed his ink of his musical legends Jim Morrison and Elvis Presley who he pays tribute to in his latest projects.

Headliner shows and avoiding social media

Eugent has been headlining a slot at Diesis Music Hall in the Albanian capital, Tirana. The line-up features his own shows as well as other Albanian artists in the rock genre.

Surely he must log on to social media to gage fan reaction? Haha, no! In fact, he didn’t dare look at social media during the build up to the contest, and even afterwards, as he couldn’t absorb the praise for “Mall”.

It was a surprise for me, as soon as I got back here in Tirana, I got all that positive feedback from the people. Because I was not even opening my social media — I was only hearing by other people! I didn’t want to check on my social media, even after. When I came here, I got all the positive feedback and I was like what the…you know? What happened? I was very happy!

Moving forwards, we can’t wait to hear more from Eugent Bushpepa. Until then we have more from the Albanian delegation coming up! FiKmas is here and we’re already pumped for the National Final season to start.

What do you want to hear from Eugent’s upcoming album? Sound off below and let us know what you think!

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Javier
Javier
5 years ago

So excited about the new EP. By the way, I’m Chinese, and Albania, Cyprus and Ireland are my favorite entries in ESC 2018.

#UKlogic
#UKlogic
5 years ago

Albanian entry comes 11th: (returns as a national hero, is give the key to the capital city)
UK entry comes 11th: (ridiculed, a disappointment, put in a “Hall of Shame” alongside Jemini and Scooch)
?

Purple Mask
Purple Mask
5 years ago
Reply to  #UKlogic

Blue “I Can” finished 11th in 2011. Are they in a “hall of shame”?

Marcelo
Marcelo
5 years ago
Reply to  Purple Mask

Although debatable, some could say the Eurovision performance was the start of the debacle in Blue’s career…

Jack
Jack
5 years ago
Reply to  #UKlogic

Albania have only been participating for 16 years compared to UK’s 62 years in the contest, Albania only finished on left-hand side in the final twice before Eugent and usually struggle to score points from all corners of Europe so ofc he’d return home as a national hero, even if he still came last on televoting after coming 7th with juries. Many Brits were hoping Blue would win or finish Top 5 as bookies and eurofans were hyping them like mad, their over-confidence let them down and performance could’ve been better, the juries were still rather too harsh on them… Read more »

aaron
aaron
5 years ago

who cares jonida for eurovision !

aaron
aaron
5 years ago
Reply to  aaron

well…i was right

Purple Mask
Purple Mask
5 years ago
Reply to  aaron

Rude, but right. 😉

aaron
aaron
5 years ago

girl where did you pluck that number from…