Tonight: Albanian final

The four day Festivali i Këngës comes to an end tonight when the 20 songs that made it through the semifinals will battle out to take the 5oth trophy and as a bonus a trip to Baku 2012. Very interesting line up I must say from rap to rock, pop and of course many ballads with ethnic flavour. It is hard to predict what the Albanians will go for and it is good to keep in mind usually the winning song will be completely reworked for Eurovision: cut to 3 minutes, changed into English and re-arranged so much sometimes it's hard to recognize the song anymore. But all this works to make it easier on the ear to most Europeans as Albanian language may not be amongst the easiest to digest (mind you, I like the sound of it even if the melody often gets lost with it...)

This blogger's favourites in general include Rona Nishliu who gave the most outstanding performance with some vocal acrobatics in the semifinal. The song isn't easy and may turn into a disaster if the performance isn't perfect, and I doubt common televoters all over Europe would give it their votes but Albania could be proud of their entry. Gerta Mahmutaj has a greatly old fashioned pop song that could turn into something great for Baku. Altin Goci is also playing the retro card with his 70's style pop song but this time instead of strings in Gerta's song we have horns. Elton Deda seems to be the main favourite and his Italian style pop-rock song is quite nice indeed. Easy to remember (even in Albanese) and professionally performed. Dr.Fiori raps with nice strings and if Albania would like to try something new this could be the one. The chorus sounds almost Italian and reminds me of those Italian pop-rappers. If they want to choose a power ballad instead then Kamela Islamaj could be the one.  Last but not least there's Saimir Braho with his hypnotic song that takes time to build but if you cut it into 3 minutes...  I guess we can't rule out Frederik Ndoci either. Good solid song. Pre-contest favourite Samanta Karavello didn't quite convince me but then there's still Endri & Stefi with a song that could be sung by Umberto Tozzi and Enrico Ruggeri in Sanremo in the 1990's... Mariza Ikonomi is a huge disappointment this year ... Anyways, late tonight we will know! Watch the show on line here from 20.30 CET.

* Bojken Lako & Sam – Te zakonshem (B. Lako)
* Saimir Braho – Ajer (I. Dangellia / I. Kurti & S. Braho)
* Marjeta Billo – Vlen sa nje jete (K. Qafoku / A. Duka)
* Hercina Matmuja – Aty ku me le (Sh. Kushta / A. Tufa)
* Xhensila Myrtezaj – Lulet mbledh per henen (G. Lako / P. Papingji)
* Toni Mehmetaj – Endrra e pare (E. Zhulali / A. Doçi)
* Iris Hoxha – Pa ty .. asnje sekond (E. Rrapi / L. Shqiponja)
* Gerta Mahmutaj – Pyete Zemren (F. Shehu / R. Radi)
* Bashkim Alibali – Kengen time merr vehte (B. Alibali / J. Papingji)
* Altin Goci – Kthehem prap (A. Goci / K. Shehu)
* Elton Deda – Kristal (E. Deda / S. Marsi)
* Endri dhe Stefi Prifti – Mbi çdo iluzion (V. Prodani / T. Flloko)
* Rona Nishliu – Suus (F. Boshnjaku / R. Nishliu)
* Kamela Islamaj – Mbi yje (A. Male / I. Sojli)
* Frederik Ndoci – Oh.. jeta ime (L. Agolli / F. Ndoci)
* Mariza Ikonomi – Me ler te te dua (S. Marsi / J. Papingji)
* Elhaida Dani – Mijra vjet (E. Sina / S. Marsi)
* Rudina Delia – Me kerko (L. Zhegu / R. Delia)
* Samanta Karavello – Zgjome nje tjeter enderr (G. Myftaraj / P. Laço)
* Dr. Flori – Personale (Dr. Flori)