The season of festivals has started in Albania. And this Saturday, the 23rd edition of Kënga Magjike will unfold at Pallati i Kongreseve in Tirana.
This week, we’ve seen 68 artists competing in four different categories, all vying for the magic song festival trophy. And in the upcoming grand final, a number of Festivali i Këngës and Eurovision Song Contest alumni have their eyes on the prize.
France’s Alvan, Czech Republic’s We Are Domi, North Macedonia’s Andrea, Slovenia’s Omar Naber and Albania’s Anxhela Peristeri are amongst the line-up.
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Kënga Magjike sees artists compete in across categories including New Artist, New International Artist, Big Artist and Big International Artist.
In the Big Artist category we have Albanian artists including Erik Lloshi, Sara Bajraktari, Orgesa Zaimi, Sardi Strugaj, Klinti Çollaku, Inis Neziri, Mariza Ikonomi, Xhesika Polo and JANEX.
We also have Irma Libohova, a two-time Kënga Magjike winner, and Anxhela Peristeri, Kënga Magjike 2017 and Festivali i Këngës 59 winner. You’ll remember her from Eurovision 2021, where she sang “Karma” for her country.
In the category of Big International Artists, we saw big Eurovision names such as France’s Alvan (Eurovision 2022), Slovenia’s Omar Naber (Eurovision 2005 and Eurovision 2017), North Macedonia’s Andrea (Eurovision 2022), Czech Republic’s We Are Domi (Eurovision 2022) and Estonia’s Stefan (Eurovision 2022).
Alvan, We Are Domi, Omar Naber, Andrea and Anxhela Peristeri made it through to the final. Stefan unfortunately had to withdraw after being referred to hospital with pneumonia.
In the category of New artist we have Ergita Bahja, who last year competed at “Mam Po ti?” and reached the semi-finals. Xhuli Pjetraj, who last year competed at Festivali i Këngës with the song “Baladë”, and Vanesa Sono, who is bidding for the Eurovision 2023 ticket, will also appear at the spectacle.
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After three nights of spectacle, this Saturday, 23 artists will compete in the Grand final of Kënga Magjike 2022. Soon, we will know the winner of this edition, and most likely the next hit song of the Albanian music industry. Here are all the competing artists in the Grand Final:
1. Alvan “Calzone”
2. Marco Carta “Forse”
3. We Are Domi “Alive”
4. Le Deva “Giuragiuda”
5. Jason Walker “All to you”
6. Andrea “Telepatija”
7. Omar Naber “Bring Back”
8. Mamagama “Dreamer”
9. Jayoo “Itsy Bitsy”
10. Angeles Arboleda “Amnesia”
11. Irma Libohova “E jona”
12. Vesa Smolica “A po gëzohesh”
13. Mariza Ikonomi “Mama”
14. Ardit Çuni “E dije”
15. Inis Neziri “Melodi”
16. Michela Paluca “Një përqafim”
17. Xhesika Polo “Lotët e mi”
18. Sheila Haxhiraj “Mall”
19. Marsela Çibukaj “I paftuar”
20. Anxhela Peristeri “Kalimtar”
21. Sardi Strugaj “Do shihna prap”
22. Martin Pano “Një si ti”
23. Lorenc Hasrama “T’kam dasht”
Who is your favourite to win Kënga Magjike 2023? Who are you supporting? Let us know below…
Omg, I loved Alvan already but this performance was just amazing! And the song is really great too! We are Domi are awesome as usual. I’m glad that even though they didn’t score that high in Eurovision, they are still carrying on with their talents!
Great to see these artists keep their way after Eurovision. Eurovision is not a end, you can finish in the bottom of the scoreboard, whatever because it still gives so much opportunities and visiblity to these artists. The scoreboard doesn’t determine the success in fact isn’t it Rosa Linn. However We Are Domi and Alvan keep being the biggest crimes of this year period. How dared you eurofans, you really don’t deserved them.