RTSH, the Albanian national broadcaster, has confirmed to ESCToday that Albania will compete at the 2018 Eurovision Song Contest in Lisbon.

Albania will once again select its Eurovision act and entry via its traditional national selection Festivali i Këngës. In 2017, Lindita Halimi represented Albania at the Eurovision Song Contest in Kyiv with World. Despite an extraordinary performance, she failed to qualify to the Grand Final.

Albania in Eurovision

Albania debuted in the Eurovision Song Contest in 2004 and is yet to win the competition. The country achieved its best result in the contest in 2012, when Rona Nishliu placed 5th with Suus in Baku.

Eurovision 2018

The 2018 Eurovision Song Contest is scheduled to be held on 8, 10 and 12 May in Lisbon, Portugal.

The deadline for broadcasters to officially apply for Eurovision 2018 concluded on 15 September. Hereafter, countries have a grace period until 10 October to confirm their participation or withdraw their application without a penalty.

The final list of the 2018 Eurovision participating countries is expected to be released by the EBU later during the year.


Sanjay (Sergio) joined esctoday.com in December 2006 as an editor. He was appointed as the Head of Press of ESCToday.com in 2011. Hereafter in 2016 he was promoted as the Head of International Relations & Communications at ESCToday. Sergio has covered the Eurovision Song Contest live 22 times since 2000, having worked for several international magazines and media outlets.