First song selected for Eurovision 2017: Lindita from Albania

After three days of music, the 55th Festivali i Këngës ended tonight with Lindita as the winner. She will represent Albania at Eurovision Song Contest 2017 in Kyiv with the song "Botë", meaning "World" (the song may be changed or translated before Eurovision), written by Klodian Qafoku and Gerald Xhari.

Lindita was competing with 13 other finalists, and her victory was decided by a professional jury (60% of the votes) and a public jury (40% of the votes).

Festivali i Këngës #55 – Results

1. Lindita Halimi – "Botë" (85 points)
2. Genc Salihu – "Këtu" (54 points)
3. Dilan Reka – "Mos harro" (50 points)
4. Yll Limani – "Shiu" (50 points)
5. Flaka Krelani – "Osiris" (30 points)
6. XUXI – "Metropol" (30 points)
7. Orges Toçe – "Shi diamantësh" (24 points)
8. Rezarta Smaja – "Pse prite gjatë" (24 points)
9. Edea Demaliaj – "Besoj në ëndrra" (23 points)
10. LYNX – "Sot" (14 points)
11. Franc Koruni – "Macka" (12 points)
12. Lorela – "Me ty" (8 points)
13. Fabiola Agalliu & Agnesa Çavolli – "Shkon e vjen" (7 points)
14. Xhesika Polo – "Eva jam unë" (5 points)

Lindita

Lindita Halimi (also known as Linda Halimi) is an Albanian Kosovar singer-songwriter born in Viti, Kosovo 27 years ago. Her career began in 2003 (when she was 14), where she enrolled in music school. In 2007 she was one of the finalists in Albanian Idol, and after that she joined the band "Ngroba" ("Global Warming").

In 2009 she won "Top Fest" festival in Albania, and later was awarded "Best Rock" in "Kenga Magjike Music Festival", and also won the "Kosovo Sings" festival same year.

In 2014 she finished third in Festivali i Këngës, and in 2016 she participated in American Idol, finished in the top 51.

Festivali i Këngës #55

This year's Festivali i Këngës was again held in December, with two semi-finals and one final:

• 21 December 2016: Semi-final 1
• 22 December 2016: Semi-final 2
• 23 December 2016: Final

Three juries have selected 14 songs to proceed to the final. There were three juries with different weight:

• Professional jury: Selects 8 finalists
• Public jury: Selects 3 finalists
• Media jury: Selects 3 finalists

The winner of Festivali i Këngës #55 – and the Albanian representative at Eurovision Song Contest 2017 in Kyiv, Ukraine was decided by the professional jury (60% of the votes) and the public jury (40% of the votes).

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 13 times Albania has participated, they have qualified for the Grand final 7 times.