In a recent interview with Albanian Panorama, Olta Boka, the country's representative in the 2008 Eurovision Song Contest, opens her heart and expresses her disillusionment about the complete lack of funding from the Albanian broadcaster TVSH for the support of Zemren e lame peng with a promo tour.

Eurovision viewers must be prepared to see a different Olta to the shy little girl who won the Festivali I Kenges back in December. Barely the minimum age to enter the Eurovision Song Contest at 16, Olta has undergone a transformation, now looking more mature and more feminine, something that was obvious in the video clip of Zemren e lame peng.

How does the young singer feel with less than a month to go before she departs for Belgrade? Well, Olta feels ready but insecure as there has been no international promotion of her song to the European audiences, apart from the dispatch of some 1.000 promo CDs to radio stations. "I feel good", Olta tells Panorama, "I am preparing myself emotionally and working with the song. We are waiting for the day of departure and although there has been no promotion, we hope for something to come across at the last minute. Either way, I am going there to give the maximum possible. But we shouldn't expect too much. We haven't been promoted in any country. A song must be heard, in order for the ear to get used to it, because although it might be beautiful, it would not create the right effect with just one listen." The composers of the song share Olta's feelings and also fear that they cannot expect a great outcome in Belgrade without sufficient support from the broadcaster.

Olta states that she understands there are not sufficient funds available thus she did not insist on a promotional campaign for her song but at the same time she cannot but feel disappointed: "When you're talking about international events you must spend and invest more." she says. "Every time we discussed this matter (with TVSH officials), our concerns were sidetracked, despite the fact that we have been promised many meetings concerning the promotion of the song."

The singer seems also not entirely satisfied with the outcome of the song's video clip: "There's a saying that there's no limit to good things. There's the possibility to do even better. I like the clip, but I cannot deny the fact that better things could have been done with it. I don't know if the message that the clip envisions has been transmitted, but I hope that it has."

What frustrates Olta the most is that she believes she will be the one to be held responsible for a potential bad result in the contest: "I am not the type of person that likes to talk about the bad stuff, but let's not forget that when I come back from Belgrade, everything will fall on me." she states. The lack of promotion will have a bad effect on the song's placing she feels and concludes: "To achieve success you need a lot of work, and publicity."

A very special thank you to Black Magic for the submission of the article.