On Monday, during Night 1 of Festivali i Këngës 60, Ronela Hajati will share her “Sekret”. But the truth may already be out. If our readers have it right, then the Albanian hitmaker is a huge threat to win the festival and sing at Eurovision 2022.
Ronela finished on top of our poll with 1,230 votes — or more than 30% of all that were cast. Her energetic song has an enigmatic quality that melds the traditional with the modern. The “secret” she portrays is a relationship — she’s in deep, but no one needs to know…
Finishing in second is Alban Ramosaj with his song “Theje” (Crushed). His dramatic ballad channels intense masculine energy as he reveals the tenderness of his heart.
FiK 60 poll results: Ronela and Alban are our readers’ favourites to win
- Ronela Hajati “Sekret” 1,230 votes 30.48%
- Alban Ramosaj “Theje” 1,044 votes 25.87%
- Xhuli Pjetraj “Baladë” 647 votes 16.03%
- Mirud “Për dreq” 230 votes 5.70%
- Janex “Deluzional” 217 votes 5.38%
- Olimpia Smajlaj “Dua” 202 votes 5.01%
- Ester Zahiri “Hiena” 66 votes 1.64%
- Rezarta Smaja “E jemja nuse” 63 votes 1.56%
- Evi Reci “Më duaj” 59 votes 1.46%
- Viola Xhemali “Eja si erë” 57 votes 1.41%
- Kejsi Rustja “Vallëzoj me ty” 41 votes 1.02%
- Shega “Një” 36 votes 0.89%
- Eldis Arrnjeti “Refuzoj” 28 votes 0.69%
- Gjergj Kacinari “Në ëndërr mbete ti” 28 votes 0.69%
- Kastro Zizo “Kujë” 21 votes 0.52%
- Urban Band “Padrejtësi” 20 votes 0.50%
- Endri and Stefi Prifti “Triumfi i jetës” 15 votes 0.37%
- Kelly “Meteor” 12 votes 0.30%
- Denis Skura “Pse nuk flet, mama?” 10 votes 0.25%
- Sajmir Cili “Nën maskë” 9 votes 0.22%
FiK 60 jury includes Anxhela Peristeri
The FiK 60 jury includes last year’s winner Anxhela Peristeri. Other musical icons on judging duty include singer-songwriter Rozana Radi and lyricist Olti Curri.
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The FiK60 running order
The three nights of FiK 60 are divided by theme.
Night 1 is themed around the contestants and getting to know them.
Night 2 is themed around “nostalgia” and will feature Eurovision stars and other known singers from the past performing this year’s songs.
Night 3 will be Eurovision night.
The artists will perform in this order.
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Are you excited about Albania’s Eurovision selection? What do you think of the poll results? Let us know in the comments box below!
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Alban gave his best! Good performance
Umm… did they just eliminate half of the “newcomers”? If so, I’m glad that they picked the three stronger songs ( 🙂 ), but I’m kinda sad that these three nice young ladies will be the only ones sitting out of the finals. 🙁
That’s exactly what they did.
The problem is that none of the newcomers were actually bad or deserving of not qualifying.
I preferred the three qualifying songs, but the three that were eliminated were vocally excellent too. And even if I don’t find all of these songs exciting, they were hardly less so than some veterans who’ll be listened to in the final evening. I guess this is their version of ”Sanremo Giovani”, huh? PS. Either have 10 songs in the finals or don’t eliminate any before the big day. I was never too fond of this FiK style elimination which leaves the vast majority in the finals. Feels too underwhelming for those left aside. And it’s not like the quality… Read more »
Every year, they have the festival across three nights but never seem to stick to the exact same formula as to what exactly those three nights actually consist of.
I guess this newcomer thing is something they’re trying out this year.
But yeah, I’m guessing since so many of the established artists return in so many of the years, they try not to have more eliminations than completely necessary in order to save face. This results in a marathon of a final evening but hey…
Who were eliminated?
Kejsi Rustja with Vallezoj me ty
Xhuli Pjetraj with Ballade
Viola Xhemali with Eja si ere
Ronela was not perfect and I did not like some parts of dancing, but her performance was still on point and she broke the monotony of the night.
Realistically most of those songs would struggle to qualify. If they can do something with the stageing think Alban could get Albania a decent result.
I agree – he could reach a similar placing just like Eugent did in 2018.
Ronela has top 10 potential
no tf she doesn’t!
I am not a fan of any of these songs, the problem is that the songs are traditionally boring (most times) and they should change the system and the jury. Albanian music industry is so much better with good ethnic music. Why don’t they introduce televoting?
Anyway, Alban is popular because he’s sexy and Ronela is serving the girl power/ethno Foureira vibes, plus Elvana was the 2020 fan favourite that missed the trophy (would have won if it was down to the public).
Eldis qualified! Yes!
Alban has shown a much better vocal control than in KM. 🙂
Sure, some performers shined more than others, but no one was bad. A few songs are quite monotone, though. There are a few good songs too, but nothing I find outstanding. Still, it’s overall a respectable show. I like the colorful visuals and the live orchestra. 🙂
The live orchestra is really a big bonus for FiK and Sanremo. I hope they will stick to it despite all trends.
Well after seeing the 20 songs performed, Ester, Endri and Stefi are my favourites but I can’t deny that the big favourites have killed it, there’s no flop so I assume that there will be no big surprises at the end unfortunately for my favourites.
Nothing is really exciting me. Maybe I’m just not in the right mood for this yet.
I would say Ronela passed the test with flying colors, she has the confidence to sell a song like this on the stage. But “Sekret” is not “Me tana” unfortunately.
With a better song… but maybe they will do a sophisticated revamp ?
I think Will has a point, the song has too many breaks in 3 minutes. The intro also seems too long. The chorus is good though, catchy.
Agreed.
Yeah song has a lot of potential but to me sounds a little messy, think they need a classic Albanian revamp.
The problem is that we never know what will come from a classic Albanian revamp. Recently, they kept the essence in “Mall” and “Ktheju tokës”, changed exactly what they needed for “Karma”, but “Shaj” became a totally different song and lost all the charm to me. I would say we have a “Karma” situation here, they just need a better flow.
Rezarta might just be that surprise top three act that FiK always seem to throw up every year. She did a lot of things right.
I think you are right the staging and too many dancers didn’t do her much favor. And the song needs a revamp with more vokals for her and a little more interesting verses.
Ronela was very good, what a performance, what a performer! Still not a big fan of the song but she slayed it, the audience was in fire at the end. Endri and Stefi were so good too, they got a big applause too .
A question on everyone’s minds – Has Ronela slayed on stage?
Spoiler alert – *Yes, she has!* 🙂
Too many dancers with the same function, though.
I guess Ronela will win, but I am not sure if I like the song
Ronela slayed and the audience loved it. I think there are a few too many instrumental breaks and the song doesn’t do her voice justice, but there was definite star quality exhibited.
Janex, very good performance.
Olimpia knows what she’s doing on stage! Dua is one hard song to do, as it has so many ups and downs. It easily could have been a trainwreck. However… this was well done! Bravo!
With attitude, sassy classy.
Eldis pretty much slayed on stage!
Ester was a little nervous, but I insist she has the best chorus of this FiK. Maybe even the best song.
I agree, she is my winner since the first listening, the song is too good, she seems a little bit insecure during her performance but the next time I’m sure she will be more confident and I think it will sound better with the studio version rather than with the orchestra. Everybody is sleeping on her but I see her as a big contender, and I repeat her song is very very good.
I assume she’s still unexperienced. “Hijena” is her only song both on her Spotify and Youtube pages. Maybe it was even the first time she was on a live broadcast. Hopefully she’ll feel more comfortable next time.
Yes she seems young and certainly without much experience but I can see her potential, and imo her song is brillant, fingers crossed for the next time. Without having seen the 2 big favourites performing it’s still hard to say but I hope she will get a chance to win, she would be a breathe of fresh air.
Yes, she was good, but not flawless. But she looks *so young*. It wasn’t as obvious from the drawing. And I think that Hijena just might be my favorite too. Several songs are competing for that position now, but Hijena is up there
Oh, I wish I felt I had several options this time, but this one is probably my least favorite FiK since I started watching it. Still waiting to be surprised of course. I remember “Mall” only clicked with me after witnessing what Eugent could do with it.
I don’t have a *big instant favorite* like I had Klinti, Xhesika, and Wendi last year or Wendi and Tiri a year before that. But I do have several entries I find solid to good. Similarly solid to good. Songs in FiK are way more similar in quality compared to other selections so far. Which makes it interesting, but also complicated.
Musically, I find Kuje too repetitive and shouty in an unsettling way. However… I’d be lying if I said that Kastro didn’t hold my attention with this performance. With a right song, I could see him at ESC.
This was artistic and emotional. He is a performer!
He’s a strong candidate to the traditional “runner-up the Eurovision fandom didn’t see coming” position. But yeah, musically it’s a little too harsh to my ears.
To be fair, everyone has been really good so far, even Urban Band, which I didn’t care for before the show at all.
Having said that, Kastro Zizo has stolen this show so far. Just captivating!
Won’t they broadcast in Youtube this time? The streaming on their site keeps freezing for me, as it happens every single year.
Can you post the youtube link, please
Thanks, it works better on youtube
It seems the best option is to watch it on RTSH’s Facebook, it hasn’t freezed here yet: https://pt-br.facebook.com/rtshradiotelevizionishqiptar/videos/340085237955093/
Not even the best beauty salon can help RTSH’s site during FiK nights.
I think it will be something like what was done in 2018. On the first night, the singers will perform with the orchestra, and on the Eurovision night, they will sing to the backing track.
Been doing a lot of learning of how certain distinctive letters written in Latin as well courtesy of Portuguese and most Slavic languages all sound like by listening to NF and ESC songs.
It certainly helps when you try to singalong to lyrics written in a language you don’t necessarily speak. hehe
I always try to read the lyrics of every song, as understanding the subject is pretty important too. I applaud NFs which provide the lyrics translations. For instance, UMK last year had embedded English lyrics under every song in Finnish on their official YT channel. I also tend to pick-up the pronunciations more as I hear more songs in a certain language. You just need to adjust to copy-pasting the pronunciation in other, new words. 🙂
I never knew Gj made a soft g/j sound in Albanian! I thought Xh was the only sound like that in Albanian.
I also only realised it when I saw an interview with Gjon’s Tears
Yeah, and “C” and “J” are pronounced like in Croatian, but totally different than in English.
C = ts / zz (as in Patsy or bits; or as in Mezzo in Italian)
J = a consonant Y (as in yard or yellow)
Yeah, ç being different in Portuguese and Albanian is a really interesting thing. It’s ”Evi Rechi”, but also ”Pedro Gonsalves”. In Croatian, we actually have two letters for ”ch”, but even native speakers often pronounce them almost the same. Unless you are of a Chakavian dialect, then it’s very distinct. They aren’t interchangeable in written form though, which makes grammar quite difficult. About half of the adults I know sometimes mistake them in a casual Facebook messaging. 😉
That’s right, those are the two! In most cases, when appearing in last names, ”c” with a ”v” on top is third from the ending, then comes ”i” and then comes ”c” with a ”/” on top. It’s pronounced ”chich”. However, this doesn’t apply to all words. There are words that start and end with either of them. But in general, more words have the one with ”v” on top as the first letter than the other one. The ”c” with a ”v” is prounouced like a ”hard ch”, while the other one is softer. Still, in a heat of… Read more »
Ya’ll rooting for Ronela are crazy! She’s great, I agree, but her song is mediocre. Do you think it can do better than “Mata Hari” ? Those arguing about Alban’s vocals, he can easily improve. How about the song? It’s a masterpiece compared to “Sekret”. Let’s be realistic for a second and yeaah I know we’re all tired of them sending ballads but this one’s the one to be…like coome on…
Have you heard Alban trying to sing live during the rehearsals? His voice is genuinely cracking and shouting off key. Even if you don’t like Ronela, you have to admit that Alban’s vocal ability isn’t on par
If you want to state mata hari as a reason that albania can’t send an ethnic bop then I could just name all melodramatic ballads like Roko’s ‘the dream’ and sergey’ s scream as a valid reason not to send Alban this year to esc.
Sergey did pretty decent both times
Ronela all the way! I really feel she will win it and break the tradition of Albania sending ballads.