Albania 2021: Here are the finalists of Festivali i Këngës 59

We are now closer of finding out who will be waving the Albanian flag in Rotterdam next year as we meet the qualifiers of this year's Festivali i Këngës.

Even though, the artists will take the stage once again tonight to perform an acoustic version of their potential Eurovision entries, RTSH has already announced the 18 artists who qualified for the final show to be aired tomorrow (23 December 2020).

The qualifiers were chosen by a professional jury that will also decide the winner of this year's Festivali i Këngës.

Festivali i Këngës 59

Unlike previous years, the 59th edition of Festivali i Këngës was pre-recorded in Tirana's Sheshi Italia, an outdoor venue to fight the spread of COVID-19. The show will consist of three shows:

• 21 December 2019: Semi-final 1
• 22 December 2019: Semi-final 2
• 23 December 2019: Final

During the first night the songs were performed in their original version while on the second night, in acoustic versions. The qualifiers were chosen by a professional group of judges.

All three shows will be hosted by Jonida Vokshi and Blendi Salaj.

Festivali i Këngës is organized by the Albanian national broadcaster Radio Televizioni Shqiptar (RTSH). Since its start in 1966, all artists have been asked to perform live, with a jury selecting the winner. Since 2003 the winner of the festival is Albania's representative to Eurovision Song Contest.

When Albania in 2004 finally applied EBU to participate in Eurovision Song Contest, they agree to let the winner of the country's most popular festival represent Albania.

Albania in Eurovision Song Contest

Since debuting in 2004, Albania has been participating in Eurovision Song Contest every year. Best result is a 5th place in 2012, where Rona Nishliu sang "Suus".

Out of the 16 times Albania has participated, they have qualified for the Grand final 9 times.