ALBANIA

Anxhela Peristeri ‘Karma’

Whilst the sudden and unexpected throbbing rock guitar during the opening of the national final performance may have had some wondering if either Eugent Bushpepa was sound checking on an adjacent stage, or Albania had decided to move away from its recent penchant for sending power ballads to Eurovision, they needn’t have worried because after that one energetic outburst,  things quickly return to business as usual

For the third year in a row, Albania has chosen a powerful female voice to represent them at the contest, on this occasion with an ethnically tinged Balkan Ballad reminiscent of  2018’s offering,  Jonida Maliqi – ‘Ktheju Tokës’ .

As immensely vocally  talented as Albania’s last three choices may be, ultimately that talent has to be paired with a song that  stands out from a field of 41 entries and in this respect Albania seems to be stuck in somewhat of a rut of selecting (albeit very decent) songs that have more appeal at home, than with a wider audience.

UPDATE:

With the  release of the official music video, out is the jarring rock guitar intro and in is a much more consistent orchestral musical score that enhances the flow and feel of the whole song immeasurably. 

Roy

ALBANIA almost always select female singers to represent them at the Eurovision song contest, some with more success than others. I do not expect them to qualify with this song.

Barry 5/10
Ian 7/10
Roy 5/10

National Final Performance

OFFICIAL MUSIC VIDEO