Albania: Ledina Celo and Olta Boka win awards

by Gafurr Sahiti 762 views

While the preparations of Festivali i Këngës 52 are underway in Tirana, the other big song festival in the country called Kënga Magjike has just ended. Ledina Celo and Olta Boka were the Albanian Eurovision stars who participated at this year’s edition of Kënga Magjike 2013.

The festival Kënga Magjike  is the major musical event in Albania. It attracts many famous Albanian artists from over the world and international composers.

The fifteenth edition of Kënga Magjike was a spectacular show held over 3 nights. Many great names returned to the festival after many years. Ledina Celo, the singer who represented Albania at the 2005 Eurovision Song Contest was one of them. With a powerful ballad called Gaboja she made a comeback at the festival after seven years. Ledina finished second in the final and won the ‘Best ballad’ award. Also Olta Boka, the young and talented singer who represented Albania at the 2008 Eurovision Song Contest participated at this festival. Olta won the award for the ‘Best performance’ with her song E fundit tango and finished high in the top 10 ranking in the final.

Gaboja and E fundit tango were both composed by  Adrian Hila, the songwriter behind their Eurovision entries.

Another participant who made a comeback at the festival was Manjola Nallbani, the established singer who won several times Festivali i Këngës at RTSH. Manjola participated at Kënga Magjike with a very interesting operatic entry. The most commented act at the festival was the performance of the commercial singer Nora Istrefi. No doubt if she had a great song but her dress got much more attention from the public.

Besa Kokëdhima won the first prize of the 15 edition of Kënga Magjike. She also got the award for the ‘Best dance’ . Her up-tempo entry Tatuazh në zemër was composed by the FYR Macedonian songwriter Darko Dimitrov, the man behind the FYRM Macedonian Eurovision entries in 2006 and in 2013.

Ledina Celo – Gaboja

Olta Boka – E fundit tango

Manjola Nallbani – Vetëm unë

Besa Kokëdhima – Tatuazh në zemër

Nora Istrefi – I jemi je

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