Esctoday.com had the opportunity to talk to Hersiana Matmuja right after she won Festivali i Këngës 52.
The Albanian national music festival, Festivali i Këngës 52 took place on 26, 27 & 28 December 2013. 16 acts battled for the first prize of the festival which gives the artist automatically the golden ticket to the Eurovision Song Contest. Hersiana Matmuja won the 52nd edition of Festivali i Këngës and will fly the Albanian flag in Copenhagen with the song called Zemërimi i një nate.

In the interview below you will get to know more about Hersiana and her entry.

Congratulations Hersiana with your victory! First of all, is it Hersiana or Herciana?

Thank you very much. My official name is Hersiana Matmuja but many people call me Hersi, it’s just my short name.

You just won the 52nd edition of Festivali i Këngës which gives you the golden ticket to Copenhagen
How do you feel now?

I’m very emotional now. At the first moment I couldn’t get it, is it real or I was in a dream. For a short time I felt like I was frozen. I can’t remember how I walked to the stage because I couldn’t move. After this I sung my entry again for the audience, even this moment I remember partly. Everything went so quickly. Now, a while later, between tears and the happiness, I started to realize that I won Festivali i Këngës 52 and I’ll represent my country at Eurovision.

Hersiana, can you tell us something about yourself?

I was born in Kukës and at the age of 5 I moved to Tirana. I started singing when I was 8 years old. I have been active at many music festivals for kids,  have been part of several music shows, participant at Festivali i Shkodres and Celsi i Artë. Later, when I was 15 I took part at the talent show ‘Ethet e se premtes’ in Albania, where i finished in the top 10.  A year later, I debuted at Festivali i Këngës 45 where I won the ‘Newcomers’ category. The first prize of the festival gave me the right to participate at the festival in the ‘Big’ category. I have been part of the Festivali i Këngës also in 2010, 2011 and 2012. At the moment I study at Conservatorio di Santa Cecilia in Rome, Italy. It’s my 5th year of my studies. I have been part of several concerts and projects of the lyrical music in Italy. Officially I live in Rome, but I travel very often to Tirana, especially for the festival. Now I have another reason to come more often to Tirana and I am very happy with that.

Your song Zemërimi i një nate sounds unique. Can you tell us something about it? Do the lyrics have a special message?

Music is fused with lyrics: the intro is very strong, furious, just like Anger, and then everything calms down, turning into a ballad. The music gives message of the verses: calm down, anger destroys everything, think this night, wait for the morning because every morning is smarter than every evening! It was a collaboration between a composer with  a strong character, distinct in his art,  Genti Lako, and arrays clear, simple and understandable lyrics, written by a cult-lyricist at Festivali i Këngës, Jorgo Papingji.

When I heard the demo for the first time at the composer’s studio,  I had tears from the emotions. I felt that there was something in that song. Later we got the lyrics and everything matched perfectly with the melody. It was a song to which I have had a lot of faith, and I am very happy that my trust hast been estimated.

Just a few moments ago, your road to Copenhagen 2014 has started. Did you already think about your Eurovision performance?

In fact we did not think at all about that before. We didn’t have time for that. We were only focused  on the performance at Festivali i Këngës. We have enough time now to work on that.

Do you have a message for the Eurovision fans, especially the readers of Esctoday.com?

I would like to thank everyone very much for your attetition and for your positive comments. Of course for the Eurovision fans I have a very special love because I love everyone who loves art. I wish them all a Happy New Year.
The team of Esctoday.com thanks Hersiana for the interview and wishes her best of luck at the 2014 Eurovision Song Contest in Copenhagen.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MLc-ZxN5a68

Stay tuned to esctoday.com for the latest information on Albania and the  2014 Eurovision Song Contest.