Anticipation is building for Albania’s Festivali i Këngës 58, the first national final of the 2020 season. The competing acts have already been revealed and very soon fans will be able to hear the entries. The 20 songs for FiK58 will be released this Monday, 9 December.
Eurovision Albania — the local OGAE fan club — shared the news. Wiwibloggs has also confirmed the dates with broadcaster RTSH.
Festivali i 58. i këngës në RTSH – Song release this Monday #FiK58 #RTSH #Eurovision #Tirana #Albania #Rotterdam #TheNetherlands pic.twitter.com/r5jgLKeDqq
— Eurovision Albania (@ESCAlbania) December 6, 2019
The 9 December release date means that fans will have one and a half weeks to familiarise themselves with the Festivali i Këngës 58 songs before the first show begins on 19 December.
As well as the best of Albanian talent, FiK58 will feature a star-studded line-up of visiting artists. The Albanian-born Greek diva Eleni Foureira will make an appearance, serving some fuego.
Italy’s Eurovision 2019 star Mahmood has also been confirmed for the event. Rounding out the bill will be Sanremo star Giusy Ferreri. These two acts reflect the close cultural bonds between Albania and Italy, as well as the influence of the Sanremo Music Festival on Festivali i Këngës.
Festivali i Këngës 58 – Competing acts
The 20 competing acts for Festivali i Këngës 58 were revealed in October. The lineup includes big names such as Albanian megastar Elvana Gjata, X Factor winner Arilena Ara, FiK46 winner Olta Boka, and festivali veterans Bojken Lako, Era Rusi and Kamela Islamaj.
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The winner of Festivali i Këngës 58 will go on to represent Albania at Eurovision 2020 in Rotterdam.
Festivali i Këngës 58 will consist of three shows. The first two will be held on 19 and 20 December, there’ll be a break on the Saturday, before the grand final on Sunday 22 December. The show’s proximity to Christmas has earned it the nickname “FiKmas”.
What do you think? Are you excited to hear the FiK58 entries? Who should represent Albania at Eurovision 2020? Tell us your thoughts below!
Šiptarija
North Macedonia finally last year nailed the staging. Now its time for Albania. They always send great vocalists, time to nail the staging.
Their staging was pretty good last year in Lisbon.
the camera work could be better
There is a show on RTSH at 19:00 called Aperi Fest that invites hosts, competing singers, and others to talk about this year’s festival. RTSH is also uploading it in full on YouTube. The host Alketa was invited last night and she said the choosing method is 3 European jurors. That’s it, just 3 well-chosen Europeans will decide this year’s winner.
Mahmood, Eleni & Guisy as International Jurors???
Maybe that’s the big twist, would be funny if it actually did happen. She just said it would be 3 European jurors and she didn’t know who they were.
In the past, I wasn’t that excited for FiK, but since Lindita, Eugent & Jonida, I’m always looking forward to Albania’s next entry. Last year, Soni Malaj & Mirud were my favourites.
Gotta be honest and I seem to be the only one. I didn’t like FiK that much in the past, I don’t think it was bad but it was far from my favourite national finals (mello, UMK, Eesti Laul, DE, EMA…) But I have a feeling this year will be better. They are having modern internal acts, another HoD(I think), big superstars like Elvana and Arilena and a internation jury – everything is more modern than it was, so I have high hopes for them!
I am excited! I have high hopes for FiK, although it’s still unknown if the method of selection will remain the same.
Can we all take a moment to acknowledge how agreeable FiK is? Like, most national finals seem to be an even mix of hope and dread, but there’s such a sense of unmitigated delight and excitement about FiK. Maybe it’s because it’ll confirm the first selected song of the new year, maybe it’s because Albania might be one of the most drama-free countries in the game (as far as I know), but I don’t see nearly as many people complain about it as other NFs. Them, EMA, and Sanremo seem to only make people happy around these parts, and I… Read more »
They could have made some drama, but they can avoid it pretty quickly. If Rona Nishliu voted between the two highest number of points for Lidia Lufi, we could have a rage of fans coming for FiK last year. Although, the songs of Fik never disappoints (at least that’s for me) and it’s one of the most anticipated and high-class song contest ever held in Europe.
It’s the first national final, it has an orchestra (and now, also a “Eurovision style show” to make everybody happey, always bring fantastic vocalists, the level of the songs has been pretty high on the last couple of years, FiK is definitely one of the highlights of my Eurovision pre-season. Even better now with these announced guest acts. By the way, just got an email from Spotify saying that Mahmood was the artist I’ve listened the most in 2019.
While i don’t think FIK has no problems at all (like c’mon, power to the people!) and it’s still quite behind its younger sibling Kenga Magjike, what FIK and Sanremo have in common, is that they’re festivals first, national finals second, having been created without Eurovision in mind. I think this fact has left a footprint on the acts taking part – they’re so often out of left field, surprising, unique, almost alien. And don’t get me wrong, I love me some Mello, Melodi Grand Prix, Unser Lied and so on, yet with this Adriatic pair you get the feeling… Read more »
FiK is #blessed. The winner is usually chosen by 100% jury vote and it’s like everyone *knows* who it’s going to be in advance. But it’s always the right act.
they have televote making up 8-12% of the total vote from time to time!
They only did internet voting in 2017 (which was like 1/12 of the whole voting), and the rest of the years were always 100% jury voting (since 2007 iirc)
omg at first i thot there were 58 songs from how the title is put sksjssks
FiK 58: MOST SPECTACULAR FikMas ever to be held! The first with 58 songs!
I wished they release mini video clips like 2 years ago but it seems we will only get the audio.
https://www.instagram.com/p/B5sMNAFgTzm/
They’re shooting a promo shot with all the artist available, so there’s a possibility of getting mini videos.
It seems Stresi (who was supposed to sing with Eli Fara) will replace Sara Bajraktari if you look the FiK website…
when the pelican meets the pharaoh, pyramids will roll…
Albania should get the top 3 they deserve after their dedication. Their last two entries were phenomenal and FiK managed to get among the best of Albania to participate. I’m super excited for Olta Bokas song.
terribly underrated country at ESC
With these interval acts I think that Albania will give us something big! A surprise is coming I can feel it! Happy Fikmas everyone!
ughh, eleni foureira is going back to her motherland ?
Yes! Awesome! Thanks Albania! 🙂
Yess!! Can’t wait for the songs, especially Elvana’s and Arilena’s ones.
The King and the Queen
Yeah yeah FIRE!!