Tonight, the first semi-final of Festivali i Këngës 56 was held, in which 11 acts took part and performed their entries live for the very first time.

This evening saw the first semi-final of the Albanian music festival, Festivali i Këngës (FiK) 56, take place live from the Pallati i Kongreseve in Tirana.

Riccardo Cocciante opened the show this evening; his opening of the show lasted an hour, featuring a number of performances including a duet with 2015 artist, Elhaida Dani, with a performance of Notre Dame de Paris.

Cocciante was interviewed by the host after his initial performance.

Dani later went on to sing her Eurovision 2015 entry I’m alive in Albanian; the native-language version of the song is called Në jetë.

Tonight’s participants

Tonight the 11 performing acts were:

1. Elton Deda – Fjalët
2. Mariza Ikonomi – Unë
3. Stefi & Endri Prifti – Mesazh
4. Evans Rama – Gjurmët
5. David & Genc Tukiqi – Të pandarë
6. Voltan Prodani – E pamundur
7. Eugent Bushpepa – Mall
8. Rezarta Smaja & Luis Ejlli – Ra një yll
9. Bojken Lako – Sytë e shpirtit
10. Manjola Nallbani – I njëjti qiell
11. Redon Makashi – Egziston

Whilst tonight’s show took place in order to debut the live performances of the competing entries, the finalists will in fact be determined tomorrow after the second semi-final.

The qualifiers will be decided via an internal jury vote.

Your semi-final 1 favourites!

According to a poll ran here at ESCToday, these are your favourite artists from the first semi-final, as well as the overall results:

1. Eugent Bushpepa – Mall (31,79%)
2. Mariza Ikonomi – Unë (18,21%)
3. Manjola Nallbani – I njëjti qiell (13,57%)
4. Rezarta Smaja & Luis Ejlli – Ra një yll (11,43%)
5. Redon Makashi – Egziston (7,14%)
6. Elton Deda – Fjalët (5,36%)
7. Stefi & Endri Prifti – Mesazh (2,86%)
8. Bojken Lako – Sytë e shpirtit (2,86%)
9. David & Genc Tukiqi – Të pandarë (2,5%)
10. Voltan Prodani – E pamundur (2,5%)
11. Evans Rama – Gjurmët (1,78%)

Orange indicates the artists who qualified to Saturday’s grand final.

Second semi-final on Friday

Tomorrow there will be another set of 11 songs competing in the second semi-final of the festival, with the finalists set to be determined at the end of the show.

The finalists will attempt to represent Albania in the 2018 Eurovision Song Contest in the host city of Lisbon. These 11 acts are:

1. Orgesa Zaimi – Ngrije zërin
2. Denisa Gjezo – Zemër ku je
3. Grupi Na & Festina Mezini – Tjetër jetë
4. Lorela – Pritëm edhe pak
5. Artemisa Mithi – E dua botën
6. Ergi Bregu-Latifllari – Bum bum
7. Grupi AkullthyesIit – Divorc
8. Xhesika Polo – Përjetë
9. Inis Neziri – Piedestal
10. Tiri – Orë e ndalur
11. Grupi Lynx – Vonë

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