It has become a tradition that Albania is the first of all participating countries in The Eurovision Song Contest to select its song. The exact dates of this years Festivali i Këngës aren�t known yet, but preparations have started already.
Albanian broadcaster RTSH has asked Pirro Cako to become the artisitic leader of the 47th edition of the Festivali i Këngës. Pirro cako is a well-known Albanian singer/songwriter and was responsible for the winning song of the 1988 festival, E duam Lumturinë, performed by Parashqevi Simaku. In 2006 he wrote the song that finished in second place, Pa ty, pa mua performed by Rosela Gjylbegu. Besides that, he hosted the festival last year together with singer Elsa Lila.
Cako stated in a recent interview with Albanian newspaper Panorama: 'It’s a big honour for me to become the new artisitic leader of this fantastic event. The broadcaster gave me the free hand to organise the festival the way I want it and the way I like it'.
Another thing that has become clear already is that the young talented singer Greta Koçi won’t participate in the forthcoming Festivali i Këngës. Koçi has shown interest to represent her country in The Eurovision Song Contest several times already. She took part in the Festivali i Këngës in 2006 and 2007, which resulted both times in a disappointing 5th place. ‘I will never take part again as long as there’s a 100% jury vote in the festival’, the singer said in an interview.
In recent years the Festivali i Këngës has received huge criticism for its selection system. A lot of participants and fans seem to prefer a televoting to pick the winner, or at least a 50-50 system of jury and televoting.
Many thanks to Gafurr Sahiti for his contribution to this article.
