Rafaela Prifti/
The new singing family in Europe are the Kelmendis. Selected to represent Albania at Eurovision 2023, Albina & Familja Kelmendi performed the song Duje on stage after wining the public vote at Festivali i Këngës. The gifted vocalist Albina grew up in a house of professional musicians in Peja, where she was born. The love of music was passed down from her parents Albana and Bujar to the children Albin, Vesa, Sidorela and Albina. At 16, she reached the finals of “The Voice of Albania” in 2014 and has been winning in song contests across Europe. Albina has performed with her family in their own band. She has released her debut album “Nana loke” in April 2022.
Albina performed alongside her parents and siblings in the second semi-final on May 11 in Liverpool. The song written by Eriona Rushiti and composed by Enis Mullak, the duo that collaborated previously in the song “Ktheju tokës”, the Albanian entry for Eurovision 2019.
Albania made its debut at the Eurovision Song Contest back in 2004. Anjeza Shahini’s “The Image of You” reached 4th place in the semifinals and landed in a respectable 7th place at the grand final. Since then Albania has reached the grand final nine times. In 2012 Rona Nishliu’s song “Suus” finished the contest in fifth place reaching the top 5 for the first time.
This year’s 37 entrants were narrowed down to the finalist field in Liverpool, the city hosting the event for Ukraine, which won the contest last year but is still fighting Russia’s invasion. Inside the arena the contest had gathered about 6,000 fans inside the arena and tens of thousands more at a Eurovision fan zone at Liverpool’s docks and at big-screen events across the U.K. The global television audience has been estimated at 160 million. Some of the favorites included Swedish singer Loreen, winner of 2012 Eurovision, Finland’s performer and other standout acts.
Eurovision’s famously complex system of jury and public votes determine the winner. The finale was shown Saturday on members of the European Broadcasting Union and on the Eurovision YouTube channel while in the United States, it was on NBC’s Peacock streaming service.
Founded in 1956, Eurovision is regarded as a European cultural institution.