Back in December, “Shaj” was the first Eurovision 2020 entry we heard after Arilena Ara won Festivali i Kënges. Almost three months later, Albania’s entry has been revamped into “Fall from the Sky” and it’s now available to listen to along with a lyric video.
Arilena Ara – “Fall from the Sky” lyric video – Eurovision 2020 Albania
Unlike the final version of previous Albanian entries, “Fall from the Sky” does keep the essence of “Shaj”. In fact, it feels more like a “good revamp year” for Albania. The changes are more like those in Lindita’s “World” than the ones in Eneda Tarifa’s “Fairytale”.
There are some differences with the original version, though. The first verses are more high-pitched now. While in “Shaj” Arilena began almost whispering, in “Fall from the Sky” she enters the song in a manner more consistent with what follows.
The violin has been the biggest loser in the revamp: the one at the beginning has been transformed into a piano and the song has lost the epic string interlude before the final chorus.
In exchange, there’s a little section in which Arilena sings: “You think I’m better without a way to speak my mind, you think I don’t wanna shout and that I’m terrified, screaming inside with nowhere to hide”, right before belting out the sentence “You won’t let me fly”.
After that comes a key change that leads into a powerful final chorus which becomes a wall of sound as Arilena nails one note after the other.
From “Shaj” to “Fall from the Sky”
From the very first moment, a revamp of “Shaj” was expected, as Arilena had expressed her will to sing in English at Eurovision. Minutes after winning in Tirana, she told wiwiblogger Erdi Tejeci that she was considering changing the language of her song:
In early February, Albanian media reported “Shaj” would become a “radio friendly pop ballad”. It also emerged that Arilena was working with two Grammy-winning producers in Los Angeles, where she has spent some weeks.
Some may think the wait has been too long. On Twitter, @kthejutokes wrote on Monday night
the year is 2178
the uk has not had a top 5 result in 169 years
malta has come second on 43 consecutive occasions, solidifying it’s ‘best country to never win’ status
mariette has gone dtf 76 times
the netherlands is underwater
the shaj revamp is still not released
— harry ?? (@kthejutokes) March 9, 2020
@eusouoalexandre was also impatient for it…
Me trying to look for the Shaj revamp ??pic.twitter.com/wKNEmyG6AZ
— Alexandre ?? (@eusouoalexandre) March 9, 2020
Do you like Albania’s revamp? Has this been a good transformation? How will Arilena Ara do in Rotterdam? What do you expect from staging? Tell us in the comment section below!
I know you guys don’t mean it but the way you talk about the albanian language on here sounds like you’re fetishising it. As an albanian it feels off when you put it that way – dark and mysterious??? She changed the song vibe, from a post break up sadness type where you’re still caught up between loving the person and hating them for hurting you, into a power anthem about choosing yourself over a pointless relationship limiting you and dragging you down. The theme is much ‘darker’. As for qualifying, arilena is a solid and emotional performer with a… Read more »
Ich bin Albanian myself, just super glad Arilena didn’t waste her participation with this song. She is a star which deserves a better song. When she goes back to Eurovision she should aim to be a favourite with fans and bets, not a semi-fan favourite, and shouldn’t rely only on her fanbase for votes.
Just like Poland one more english screaming song. I´m so sick of it.
From 3/10 to 1/10.
agreed
This is not true !!
She has a wonderful voice and sings perfectly !!
Good luck Albania !!!
I’ve heard worse revamps than this from Albania (Fairytale :S) but it still isn’t strong enough in my opinion.
I don’t think that this will go any further than Jonida did last year.
Arilena will certainly qualify based on her star power. She is already an established artist in eastern europe and when this show is done she will be the only artist with an international career, she just got signed to a major US label too. She’s had the song of the year in 2017 in many eastern european countries. She has a legion of young fans that will vote for her. Plus she can really sing live. I loved shaj, when I heard fall from the sky I was disappointed, it felt very synthesized and the lyrics were super cheesy, so… Read more »
That’s a good point
Something I didn’t mention earlier: The key of the song has been raised by a semitone – from F-sharp minor to G minor. I assume this is to make it sound more lively? This creates more pressure on the singer, of course, to produce the higher melody. But what I don’t understand is why change the verse’s melody entirely to effectively make everything higher in Arilena’s range? Or was THIS actually the original version, and the Albanian version had the changed-up lower melody for FiK? If the latter, then it might have been prudent to stick with the lower melody… Read more »
I don’t know why you’re getting downvoted, this is a very good question.
Because that is an unnecessary “analysis” about something as obvious as that!
I stand by my analysis. If you don’t like it, fine. Write your own analysis. My question still stands, and has yet to be answered.
She will kill it , in the stage !!
I cant wait !! 😉
The winner !!
I just love it !!
I love this song !!! *_*
It’s a shame that Albania have stopped singing in Albanian considering their recent results, but this isn’t a terrible revamp, like in 2014 or 2016. Borderline qualifier.
Well let’s hope for better next year. Feel like we dodged a bullet with this one.
I prefer it in Albania. The verses are good in English but the chorus is too damn wordy. I miss her singing SHAAAAAAAAJJJJJJJJJJJJ!!!!
Now we have , Flyyyyyyyyyyyyy !!! 😉
Much better !!
I just love it !! ^_^
I do not think singing in English improves a good song – or in any way is an advantage when it comes to the voting. Let’s bring the national languages back – it was tremendous fun and exotic! Loved Albania and Mall two years ago – in Albanian!
We lost Me Tana for this.
Epic fail
Much better….it’ll get through now.
Danny
The best song
For me it’s still pretty much the same, just in another language. I think it can qualify, but I wouldn’t be very confident…
Albania revamp of March 10 – what a shame. Great melody, wonderful voice and banal English lyrics. Why did they remove the dramatic crescendo of the strings which really made this song stand out? The only way to save this is to sing it mostly in Albanian .
I love Arilena but not her song
This is what I like:
Dashni me fal askush nuk mund me ma nal
Ti kam fal ty me tana me tana me tana
Na na na na na
ELVANA
Albania why will you never learn? What a massive downrade. It was perfect the way it was, this version is awful. Well done Albania, you just guarenteed yourself a NQ
People reacting after hearing only once the revamp and 100 times the version before so funny! The revamp is better for sure
This is irrelevant now but anyway. The majority of voters would have listened the song for the first time in the live shows, so first listen impact is very important.
I prefer the Albanian version. Personally, I think it had more soul and depth. But I’m sure Arilena will deliver an outstanding performance. She always elevates her songs live.
Yeah thats bc you have hear a live performance of it but the revamp is 100 times better
I really thought that Albania would have learnt to keep their songs in Albanian after their qualifications in the past two years…
I am not a fan of Albanian revamps either, but is it so bad for you, dears? I honestly expected far worse. And… Why do people always complain about Albania singing English while other Non-English speaking countries do the same? Is it because Albania usually have better results without the language switch from Albanian to English? I am just curious, because I think the song itself is really well-made. While I do understand your disapointment & rage (because Albanians songs stood out bc of the rich ethnic sound & Albanian language , a deep & linguistic structured, melodic one), we… Read more »
Guys calm down! I prefer “Shaj” over the revamp, but it’s not terrible. Do I also miss the violin, yes but I’m not complaining about it. Her vocals are perfect and has one of the best, if not the best vocals of this year. She also mentioned that in her staging, she is going to fly in the air and levitate! Now that’s cool, isn’t it? Please stop bashing her for the change, it’s her choice not yours, period!
No clue what people are hearing. It’s awesome.
This broke my heart. I was team Albania but idk anymore. They got rid of the violin solo and its now just silent. I started to low-key tear up.
I was gonna go for the “it has been sanitised” play on words, but Sabrina beat me to it. 🙂
Actually it’s not too bad; all things considered, the new version is better suited to Eurovision in instrumentation. However, I do miss the lower melody line of the verses – why was that changed?
I miss so much the lower melody on the verses. It was the perfect contrast for Arilena to wow us when the chorus starts.
Still a weak song that won’t qualify. If it wasn’t bad enough now they made it worse (Just like Enada Tarifa and Lindita ruining their songs, adding English lyrics and revamping a.k.a destroying them). Albania, haven’t you learn? You keep it in English, you qualify (2018, 2019)….
The last thing doesn’t make sense 😀
Andi, it’s called irony 🙂
And your opinion is very childish
Send Elvana !!
Thanks from Germany
It’s just not better than the original. Her voice sounds better in ALBANIAN, in English you hear the accent and it’s just another bad choice for the song.
.
And this is going down on my personal top… Really down.
Albania’s song was always pleasant but unremarkable. Now it’s even more pleasant but unremarkable. Unless she delivers an amazing performance, Albania is going to learn the hard way that they should’ve stuck with what worked the last two years. Yes, even if it was originally in English.
We dudged a bullet there. But I’m afraid we’ll do the same thing again next year cause RTSH never learns.
The verses now sound so cold an generic, they sound pretty unmemorable!
I will always sing “DUA TA SHAAAAAAAAAJ” when I hear that song, no matter which language it is. That was legendary. Shame on you Albania! 😉
They butchered it. This song has lost all its soul and personality 🙁
Same story almost every year. The winner of Fik Is a a great female vocalist with a ballad in Albanian, then they revamp the song, then it ends up not qualifying. They never learn. This year was their chance to go beyond cliches and send Elvana.
she will qualify for sure, she’s already a star in half of europe, do you even realize that she had the song of the year in Greece, Russia, Poland, Romania, Ukraine etc in 2017? In Romania she was like 12 weeks number one.
Also, no matter how crappy the song is in your opinion she can truly sing live, she’s a better singer than Destiny.
I am greek, and before her participation in the contest I didn’t even knew her…
And from what I see, her famous “songs” are not English ballads but something with more traditional ethnic sound!
I was in greece that summer and ut was played in every radio?
Really? 2018? 2019?
This doesn’t feel as raw and emotional as the original version and the string part was something that shouldn’t have been removed from the song in the revamp. This honestly feels like an entirely different song from Shaj.
Arilena is a fantastic singer. She always sounds better live. I love the albanian version and still prefere it, but I think with a nice staging and Arilena powerfull vocals Albania can make it great!
I’m sorry, but I hated what they did to this track. They got rid of all the personality it had in order to make it completely sanitized. The lyrics were about someone on internal doubts and you could feel her pain. Now they’re a amount of clichés about someone with a broken heart blaming other person for “holding her wings”. The powerful strings are gone, they were the best part. The only good element remaining is Arilena, who’s great. But even her voice is different now. Maybe because of a key change.
It’s not bad but I feel like they’ve ruined the song…
This one was super hyped by her and the team …well it shouldn’t have because it is soooo bland. I feel like semi 2 is very strong and this wont do well possibly. I can say original had better chance by adding smth else.
I don’t get the fact that it’s not appreciated that much. Personally I love this version so much but I have to admit that in Albanian it was more original. Although it lost the violins I think this will qualify ??
I don’t dislike this song anymore than before… but I don’t love it anymore than before either. Albania just isn’t doing it for me this year I’m afraid… which sucks as it was my winner in 2018 and top 5 last year…. oh well… good luck to her nonetheless
This version to me sounds very cold.. dry… :/ Too much is edited and sustained, it lost it’s emotion in translation.
I agree.
That final minute gives me winner vibes, I am so surprised no one likes the revamp! My only concern is that the raised key will make it harder for Arilena to sing, but otherwise this is a fantastic revamp and Albania will pull another high finish it this is staged well. Y’all need to embrace change!!
Arilena is a fantastic singer live. Just watch any of her live performances on youtube. She will make it sound even better live!
I don’t understand it eather. They were many who didn’t like the song when she won and now they like the previous one. So funny
Is it me or the verses sound musically different? It’s like a different song now…
Ya the verses are completely different. Not a fan
they should stay with the albanian version.. it sounds compatible, magical and mystical.. i wouldn’t understand a word, but i’d feel it.. If they like they can put the lyrics back on the screen while she sings in albanian, like an interesting animation popping up..
In an alternative universe somewhere, Elvana’s winning FIK song ‘Me Tana’ has just been released in English having undergone a revamp and is now in midtempo ballad form
Me Tana was actually way over the time limit so it would’ve needed a revamp. Perhaps in that universe we would be lamenting Arilena’s loss and how beautiful Shaj was as a runner up!
On a serious note, Shaj wasn’t an ethnic song whereas Me Tana was- so an English revamp would’ve damaged Me Tana even more than Shaj
Similar to the original version. But as it usually happens with these revamps this is now more generic. It sounds like Moldova last year or those female really generic ballads with impressive vocals that somehow manage to place 11th-14th in their SFs. I don’t see it qualifying but I do see it placing from 11th to 14th.
It is also too similar to Poland’s Empire. And the later being just another bond–themed ballad with fire, I think it wins the duel on this one. People will likely vote more for Poland instead of Albania.
the wording is weird.. there are too many words, she rushes to says them all.. it’s not smooth.. i decided to approach it as a completely new song and not be stuck with the old version, but no.. it’s just weird.. not pleasant for the ear, even though the instrumental is good..
it is the best song by far.I think that this is the winner.Go Arilena