Albania ALBANIA 2024 - Besa - Titan

[ESC United Mod Team]

 

[KazNew]

Regarding Albania's actual Eurovision entry:
It's good. Safe and somewhat uninspired, but solid. I think with a slight revamp it has the potential to be a very modern-sounding and accessible ballad. In the final her hair and makeup also made her look like the Queen of Albania aka Jonida Maliqi which is a big plus to me personally.
Not sure about the rap/spoken word part - it certainly won't do any favours with the jury, and I'm skeptical about whether it will actually entice any televoters either.
I know it is quite early to say this, but to me this is seeming like another typical year for Albania - qualifying around 9th place and then ending 17th-22nd in the final.

 

[CPV4931]

Quite random FiK winner, but there could have been worse choices for their Eurovision entry.
Like every year, I hope they won´t switch to English

 

[jatojo]

I failed to grasp the idea of the melody at the first listen. That's normally a bad sign. But I'll give it one more try before giving a real assessment. (And when do we see a non-ballad from Albania - in this century or the next?)

 

[bazinga]

Just send the actual winner of the festival. The eurovision pick is meh

 

[PollyWantsACracker]

I can't believe a wailing woman won the Albanian wailing woman competition

That's what I said about ESC 2023 Grand Final:

I can't believe a wailing Swedish woman won the jury vote.

 

[Mainshow]

And when do we see a non-ballad from Albania - in this century or the next?

 

[MopManMoss]

Now post what it was like at FiK

 

[Mainshow]

So much better and less cringe-worthy.
And it wasn't a ballad in Tirana, either...

Ronela Hajati - Sekret - Albania ð¦ð± - National Final Performance - Eurovision 2022

Ronela Hajati will represent Albania at the 2022 Eurovision Song Contest in Turin with the song Sekret. -The Eurovision Song Contest celebrates diversity thr...

youtu.be

 

[MAD20]

Well this song has an actual potential for a good revamp, otherwise this will NQ in May. points so far...

 

[JChan]

the audience booing and making confused noises while mal saunteers to the stage is an ICONIC way to end a NF

 

[jatojo]

Well, yeah - but that's the only one since at least 2016. (I went back year by year, only finding ballads, until my ears fell off when listening to the utterly dreadful "Fairytale").

 

[ayzelto]

I think it’s too early to judge, and we still need the revamp, but I like this. Some parts are better than others but I pretty like the overall package. 7 points.

 

[RainyWoods]

I enjoyed Mal in a so bad it's good sort of way. His live vocals were a disaster. He couldn't sing a single note to save his life. It was funny. The song was catchy... but how did it win Fik? It makes zero sense. Never mind though.

I enjoyed Zemrën n'dorë on the first night. Being honest, I was feeling it less on subsequent listens. It's a very comfy Albanian entry. We know what's happening. Sneaks through to the ESC final and ends up 17th-22nd with points from the same countries as usual. Melodically I can't ever dislike this entry. It's just carries too much Albanian charm and heart. My one bigger complaint with the entry (and I hate to say it) is Besa herself. She's giving it her all but the vocals get incredibly strained at times. It needs to be worked on. This isn't the immediate slam dunk of a powerhouse vocal we're used to from Albania but the passion as always is there, 110%.

I can't argue myself below points for this. I feel sad though we didn't get Elsa Lila or Shpat Deda. Both would have taken easy 12s from me and I believe could have been risks worth taking, especially the latter. S'mund t'fitoj pa ty was being slept on like crazy. If Albania want to experience the highs of Suus or even Mall again, they need to step out of this particular mid-tempo diva ballad zone occasionally whilst still staying true to themselves.

 

[mauve]

It is really hard for me to give points ... Besa was my third favorite song .... but after the injustice to not have Luan in the final, my disappointment was huge ... and the musical gap between Luan and the rest was even bigger. So let me give a 6 for now as the song is okay.
But hey let's imagine that Mal would have won ... this is the lesser evil.

 

[lavieenrose]

Now what the hell she wearing

It’s solid! Unspectacular but really nice. I think either the start needs to be smaller or the end needs to be bigger; it stays at the same energy/drama level all the way through. points!

 

[BorisBubbles]

I don't think "suspencion of disbelief" covers the news of waking up to Mal Retkoceri winning FiK and going to Eurovision under the old system. WHAT?! (honestly it's making me stan him unironically although he was Not Very Good HELP ME)

Besa with the Breastplate was very much like "Hi, i'm the albanian entry for eurovision" in feel so she's a fine pick. Song sounds like it would improve drastically under a revamp as well.

I'm giving a in the poll, with potential for more post-revamp.

 

[Sim]

Although I don't dislike the song, it's nothing special for Albania.
I'm really waiting an entry from them that is out of their comfort zone...

But as we know Albania, a revamp can do a lot.

6 points for now

 

[Sammy]

You know when you‘ve seen a real bad action movie and after minutes of silence someone says: „But the special effects were really good!“?

Well…

„But she‘s a really good singer.“

 

[Sabrewulf238]

I think Albania is my new "I don't understand the choices they make and we're clearly not on the same wavelength at all" country at Eurovision.

For a time I felt like Estonia filled that kind of role but really I think Albania is a better fit.

 

[aef]

At this point I feel like is just sending the same song to Eurovision again and again. I wonder if they will ever surprise me. points from me.