While many may be taking a well deserved rest in the last week of December, it’s been all go in Albania with Festivali i Këngës 60 taking place over the past three days. And following the final night of the contest, the jury ultimately declared Ronela Hajati as the winner. She will sing “Sekret” at Eurovision 2022.
Ronela Hajati wins Festivali i Këngës 60 with “Sekret”
Following the first two nights of FiK 60, 17 acts remained in the competition. They all performed their songs again for the third and final evening. Since this was denoted as the ‘Eurovision night’, contestants were permitted to add lyrics in English, or any language, should they intend to do so if they were selected for Eurovision 2022.
After all 17 performers had sung, it was up to the jury to decide on the winner. In the meantime, viewers were treated to an interval act that included a medley of Eurovision winning songs, sung by past Albanian Eurovision representatives Eneda Tarifa, Juliana Pasha and Jonida Maliqi.
Eventually, the jury made their decision and announced the top results as follows:
- Ronela Hajati
- Alban Ramosaj
- Eldis Arrnjeti and Rezarta Smaja (joint third)
Festivali i Këngës and Eurovision
Festivali i Këngës has been held annually since 1962 and is the longest-running TV show in Albania. In 2003, the festival began double duty as Albania’s national selection, with the FiK winner going on to represent Albania at Eurovision.
Festivali i Këngës entries are typically performed in Albanian. In some years, the song has been translated to English for the Eurovision version. However, in recent years Albania has done best with songs left in Albanian. In 2018, Eugent Bushpepa placed 11th with his rock anthem “Mall”. Earlier this year, Anxhela Peristeri placed 21st in the grand final with her song “Karma”.
What do you make of the results of Festivali i Këngës 60? How do you think Ronela Hajati will fair at Eurovision 2022? Let us know all your thoughts in the comments below!
Not my cup of tea…..But good luck Albania…!
This is a track with a good potential. I like the ethnic part and the singing part. But the spoken/low key part is clearly lowering the quality of the song. Also I don’t understand why she needs to dance, if this causes her to be out of breath. That’s why I think that Alban’s track was a more solid choice (despite the fact his lower notes are not perfect).
I have just listened to some of her songs and watched videos. She does have a great potential but this song is too repetitive. Revamp will make it much, much better.
It’s a cool song, good choice! She’s going to have to up her game for Eurovision though, cause the live vocals are not great (she’s either just speaking or shouting off key).
Still a cool song, and depending on what the competition is I can see this qualifying and achieving decent placing.
Unlike the majority (?) here i can’t say I strongly dislike the choppiness of Sekret’s composition. Yes, it can use a bit of smoothing out but the drops do pack a punch. Ronela’s vocals are consistent and the dance routine is quite effective. Hopefully a revamp will give this track a deserved glow up.
It’s also way longer than 3 minutes. They’ll fix it.
She looks like Keiino
All three of them combined??
I’m very glad Albania went for something else than another ‘big ballad’. Alot is going on both musically and on stage and after the first hearing I’m abit confused about what I have just witnessed. But there are some really good elements and beautiful melody-lines here so I hope Albania will go for a rewamp and think we can see the best result for Albania for many years if this is done right! 🙂
I wouldn’t mind the Albanians sending another ballad because they seem to be good at making ballads.
And it’s what represents them the most. I know some Albanians out of the ESC bubble and they said people are extremely disappointed by this choice and hope Albania won’t qualify
the more i listen to sekret the more i love it… it’s like a combination of russian woman and loco loco but with an albanian twist. ronela is gonna surprise all of you haters on the big stage, she is ready to serve
This is gonna be a Eurofan fave like Mata Hari or all the last songs from Cyprus. You just put a potential dance-able pop song sung by a sassy lady, loud production and potential ethnic elements, and Eurofans will hype it lol. In the end I think it will end up in the right side of the scoreboard, if it does qualify (it gives me strong Samantha Tina vibes, which is quite worrying)
This is 100% gonna qualify
See you in May
see you in Tirana next year
For now, I don’t see this qualifying.
It’s too early to make those kind of predictions with only three songs selected. Let’s wait until more songs are out, shall we?
Based on the average song quality of the last editions, I’d say it’s legit to have certain expectations regarding the other entries.
Just say you hate pop girlies
In fact most of them give me nothing, but I really don’t see her as one. To me she’s more like a karaoke Manizha and definitely rather hip hop than pop.
she is 100% gonna qualify stop hating on succesfull women
Why would I be hating on successful women? Are you alright, pal?
because you always ike boring ballads
you must be mistaking me for someone else.
I’m not usually all that hyped about Albanian entries but something tells me it will qualify
It’s a nice song but I feel it could be a grower, let’s see how I feel in a couple of months
Worst festival in history, sad that this trash was actually the best song.
it will have the same faith as loco loco x
I really hope they can get a good revamp, the song feels a little unstructured atm
I’m… not entirely sure what my opinion is on this one – I’ll probably reserve opinion until the “revamp” comes. It’s nice to see Albania sending an entry slightly different to the norm, but at the moment I feel indifferent. I’m hoping the revamp does it justice.
Same – it’s a good song, but a bad revamp can harm it.
Interesting to say the least, but one wonders how they’ll manage to scale it down for ESC.
It´s a well-deserved winner but I liked more Albania´s entries in the last four years (with the exception of 2020), I´m sorry….
My ranking list so far
Czech Republic 7/10
Albania 5/10
Bulgaria 2,5/10
2020? Arilena was the best except mall, shaj to me was wow, so, so good. The English revamp was terrible.
I agree
Czech Republic 7/10 lol. That radio friendly trash doesn’t deserve anything more than 4
The Fik Version of me tana is 10 times better than Sekret…. The song needs a lot of work to become what it has the potential to be
Not a screaming lady? I’m shook..
That said I don’t think she will do better than Albania usually does But who knows, we will have to see
Alban 🙁
so glad 4 Eldis; sad 4 Olimpia~
This is giving me “yass queen” gay fave that will flop, Samanta Tina style.
if 2022 esc-edition gonna be average, she will have some chance ^)
This is 100% gonna qualify homophobe
What you’ll not gonna do is lie on me, nothing in my comment was homophobic, and how on earth a gay person can be homophobic?! gtfo.
Very bad decision for Albania. Sort of Ruslana, but wayyyy worse. Unfortunately, Albania won’t survive the semi final.
Alban would have been the right choice
In 2004. This is 2022.
Alban was the best choose to end last Ronela is going to bring us to Tirana next year
Janex would like to tell a specific word to you
Some parts of the song remind me of Russia 2021.
Sekret really grew on me after seeing the live performace. The only downside is that the song compliments the choreography and not the other way around so the song when listened to by itself doesn’t make as big of an impact. But of course in eurovision we are getting the whole thing on stage so I think Albania made a good decision.
well i can’t say im happy about Sekret getting 1st. think its way too messy overall and of low quality. maybe it’s more cuz of my taste in music rather than the production. it needs a big revamp but Anxhela showed how it’s done last year so im not worrying about that. hope i’ll appreciate it more as time passes by. good luck to Albania and Ronela!
P.S. Rezarta Smaja and Janex’s performances were just incredible. hope they’re coming back next year!
Huh, just as expected, Ronela won! I’m so happy! But, like so many others have said, this song needs a HUGE revamp. I wouldn’t necessarily call Sekret messy, but chorus is way different from the verses, and it’s a tad repetitive. I am yet to listen to the version with English verses, so my opinion might vary a bit. Hope the revamp will improve the song. I keep my fingers crossed that Albania will get a top ten result!
All these articles about Alban and the build up and this wins. Wiwibloggs with their fingers on the pulse.
I was so expecting alban to win due to Past precedent of Jury picking ballads, that I was genuinely shocked Ronela won Because I didn’t think it would happen. Glad to see Albania finally doing a different genre for eurovision for once. I hope it goes well for them at Eurovision and they get a good result, if they do a good revamp.
I don’t think this song will do to well if the competition has been at the standard it has over the last couple years. This song seems to be something that the fans have been begging for since me tana. Mirud had a shot last year but this year the ‘ethnic bop’ makes it to Turin. To be completely honest, this was the weakest of the ethnic bops. Make no mistake – it’s good, but I feel like it’s not going to be memorable unless there are no standout songs. If we look at every song at face value and… Read more »
Nese Vdes was messy live, although given that it was the only ethnic bop under 3 minutes I’m now a bit concerned for Sekret’s revamp for Turin.
albania has choosen good.
🙂
This is a weird one for me. Love the Balkan instrumentation in the verses and (post?)chorus, but the (pre?)chorus interrupts the flow too much and to me, doesn’t fit in correctly. Feels a little 2 songs in one, like “Icebreaker” from Norway a few years back, and I didn’t enjoy that one either.
Hopefully the revamp can improve the transitions and flow a bit more, otherwise, I do like the song still but don’t love it…yet!
The majority of this I enjoy a lot, though there are some parts in the song I don’t really like, but the revamp can fix it. Glad Albania decided to switch things up a bit though, I can imagine this qualifying already.
This is a fan-flop made in heaven, we’ll see if this mess of a song will be any better after a revamp.
the only flop is your country Azerbaijan
Great choice from Albania. Coming into the festival hearing the studio versions I wanted Alban to win, but Ronela had the better performances during the festival and won me over. Rezarta is a fantastic third place finisher, she definitely surprised everybody and was one of, if not the best performer of the festival. I would love to see her at Eurovision in the future. I imagine Ronela’s win will be very well received by Eurofans because I think many had given up on Albania sending uptempo entries (especially after Elvana was snubbed). Glad to see the jury has finally broken… Read more »
Really good. Her performance was excellent tonight. Definately needs to be revamped but that will only make it stronger. Great song for Albania.
I am so happy that she won! The song has been stuck in my head since I first heard it. Of course it needs to be revamped because it is too long, but it will hopefully make it even better – they can keep the best elements and make it more impactful. It has great potential!
I am happy for Ronela and I like the winning song but my favorite was Alban Ramosaj with his beautiful song “Theje”.
Same
Ok, I didn’t see this coming but I’m glad she was chosen. It’s great to see Albania choosing a different tune this year and I hope she gets a nice result at the contest.
There will be no mass dancers effect in Italy. Lucky to still bring 5 of them with the recorded back vocals.
My favourite was Theje but i’m extremely happy for Ronela. I know almost all of her songs and i’ve been following her since i can remember. She’s a virgo – a true perfectionist and a very versatile artist and i’m sure she’ll do the right thing. “Sekret” though ..it’s not her best song, a revamp is a must at this point. I’m not a huge fan of the english verses we’ve heard tonight, however as i’ve mentioned her team is amazing and she’s a person who responds well to critics so yeah she’ll manage to create something good. Aaanyway 24… Read more »
This is the perfect choice. This song actually shows the current kind of albanian music people listen to.
Ronela will do so well!
Same as Hurricane last year. Balkan bops are what Balkan people listen to, and not many other people. Sekret might go to the final, but right side of the scoreboard is max it can get
This song is a mess, unless the re-vamp is a different song, it won’t qualify.
it wil 100% gonna qualify
I think Albania will definitely qualify because it’s a stronger song than its three previous entries (which all qualified). As for how it’ll do in the grand final, I don’t know.
This for sure is not stronger, she cannot sing, she’ll lose a bunch of points on that alone.
he can sing are you deaf?
I think they’re going to get a strong Eurovision result with this choice but as someone who usually puts the FiK winner as their pre-contest Eurovision #1 almost every year (Arilena, Lindita, Eugent, Elhaida etc.) and keeps it there, I’m sad that I can’t do that, this time. Alban and Eldis would’ve definitely mean more to my personal taste.
Again though, like with Blind Channel in Finland last year, even though this isn’t for me personally, I think it’s the *right* choice for Albania at Eurovision. Good luck!
i don’t think this will do much better than the typical albanian lower top 20 result, but it’s a great choice to end the meme about albania only selecting screamy ballads
“Carry Me in Your Dreams”
“The Image Of You”
“Zjarr E Ftohtë”
“Hear My Plea”
“Zemrën E Lanë Peng”
“It’s All About You”
“Identitet”
“One Night’s Anger”
“Mall”
“Ktheju Tokës”
Yeah quite a few
how are hear my plea and zemren e lame peng not screamy ballads
The latter fits as pop alternative.
I do not see why everyone is saying she will be successful. Have you already forgotten about “Mata Hari” flopping in May?
Depending on your definition of a flop, I guess. For me, the flop is a NQ song for most countries, and a bottom 5 result for the big five and the host. Other results can be called underperformances, but not flops. Remember, Mata Hari wasn’t 20th out of 26 songs, but out of 39. It was an okay result. Admittedly, could have been better.
How was Mata Hari qualifying for the final “flopping”? Before the contest, many were talking about it as a potential NQ so qualifying was a good result, no?
Considering Albania usually finish in the bottom 5-10 of the grand final at Eurovision (when they *do) qualify, I think Sekret has the potential to at least equal that or do even better.
Maybe cause it was “just like Cleopatra”? Though Loco Loco didn’t fare too well either
Another thing to note is that Efendi was never hyped for her vocal skills. Ronela, like pretty much every Albanian entrant, has a stellar voice which puts her above the usual acts associated with bops. A strong voice is always an asset for Eurovision, since it’s the one quality that both jurors and televoters gravitate towards.
Does she have a stellar voice? These were the worse vocals from Albania in recent history.
As did San Marino, Cyprus, Israel, Malta (on the televote side), Serbia (jury flop), And Croatia ( which didn’t even qualify). Excluding Croatia and counting in Greece and Moldova, there were seven dance bops in The grand final, and only two of them the made the top ten. The reason most of them flopped in 2021 what was that they were just too many of them to vote for in the final, and so The votes for many fan favorite Bops got scattered all over the place. This is what I don’t wanna see happen in 2022 if we have… Read more »
But it sounds more just like “Russian Woman” than “Mata Hari”.
Exactly, and mata hari was first, so even if this was on Mata Hari’s level, which it certainly isn’t (worse). The fact of it succeeding it makes it feel already done and old. Giving it less chances of making it on the final.
it is gonna qualify stop with hating on succesfull women
So…
Bulgaria – pop/rock
Czechia – club pop
Albania – ethno-bop
Can I just ask everyone, pretty please with a cherry on top, that whenever the first country actually picks a ballad (or anything remotely slow) that you don’t throw a tantrum over it? Thank you in advance. :/
it’ll largely depends on the ballad. if it’s a strong one no one will complain. if it’s a bland/cliché’d one people will rightfully seethe.
I agree, but there is certainly a different level of quality most people here look for in ballads vs bops. For instance, a ballad has to be great to be received well, while a bop only has to be okay to be received overall well.
Sure, if a bad ballad gets picked, I’ll place it low myself, but I’m talking about some people rioting whenever there’s anything slower in the mix.
Mmm not interested at all. I preferred Alban Ramosaj tbh but it was this or that. Not much to choose from. “Sekret” do have potential for staging though judging by Ronela’s first night performance she may need to improve her vocals before talking about the staging.
IT’S A LATE CHRISTMAS MIRACLE HAHA AND ABOUT TIME. I LOVE YOU RONELA!!!!!!!
It’s still. Christmas until Feast of the Three Kings (if you’re Catholic).
I was a fan of Theje, but I am really glad that Albania got out of its comfort zone and is sending something different on what we ‘re used to. I believe it has the potential to bring the country a very good result. Congrats Albania! Good luck!
First of all, congrats to Ronela Hajati for her victory, to Alban Ramosaj to his second place, to Eldis Arrnjeti and Rezarta Smaja for their third place, and to all of RTSH for three great shows! They really outdid themselves in terms to creative presentation of the entries (The Songvakeppnin style of national language in the semi and whatever is the idea in the finals is a good idea, and I’m happy that most of the artists kept it in Albanian. The three who didn’t knew what they’re doing, as these songs sounded good in English / bilingual). Surprisingly, Sekret… Read more »