News from the Orient

The Turkish Band "MaNga", that finished second this year at the Eurovision Songcontest is going to be one of the guests at the Festivali i këngës next week. They said to be performing on the first evening, which means on the first semifinal on 23rd December. Earlier we already knew about Juliana Pasha being one of the guest appearances at FiK 2010. MaNga is therefore the second guest act to be announced.

Yesterday, it has been the 5th semifinal show in the Azeri National Final. From each semi final one candidate is voted into the final. The format first searches for voices and afterwards for the right song, just like winning country Germany did for this years ESC. The winner of yesterdays semi final heat, Aynishan Gulijeva, made it into the final with her interpretation of "Carry me into your dreams", Albania's competing song at the ESC 2009.

Whether her vocal skills and performance can reach Kejsi is discutable, but her English skills don't reach out by far. Make up your own opinion below. By the way, here you can see another participant in the Azeri NF singing Juliana Pasha's "It's all about you".

Ilira finishes third in Swiss National Final

Ilira

Ilira Gashi, the only participant in the Swiss NF with Albanian roots managed to score in the top 3 with 13,05% of all votes (1.Anna Rossinelli 23,93% ; 2. Bernarda Brunovic 13,36%). Tonight Switzerland held the first National Final of the ESC season 2011. For the last seven years it was Albania chosing both its representative and song for the Eurovision Song Ccontest. With Ilira winning this NF, it would have been the 8th year in a row an Albanian was chosen to participate in the ESC (together with the song).

Ilira can be proud of the third place and we're sure to see her back in NF again in the next years. She already told us (See the full interview with Ilira Gashi here).
Below you can see tonight's performance of Ilira and the Colours at the Swiss National Final.

Exclusive Interview with Ilira Gashi

Ilira Gashi

It's December, the traditional month of the Albanian National Final for the Eurovision Songcontest. But this year another National Final is going to kick off in December. Switzerland will choose its representant for Düsseldorf 2011 already on 11th December and in their line up of the finalists appears one Albanian singer. Ilira Gashi is competing together with "The Colours" against 12 other contestants for the ticket to the ESC. They and their song "Home" already enjoy a great feedback of fans in Switzerland and beyond. We are glad that we had the possibility for this interview, with Ilira in which we talk about her participation in the Swiss' NF and much more.

Ilira, could you first briefly introduce yourself to our readers?
I was born and grew up in Switzerland. My mother's family lives in Tirana and my father's family in Prishtina. I discovered my passion for music when I was very young. My father has always been a music freak and plays the Çifteli. I sing a lot at home and when I visit my family in Prishtina, I find Albanian music inspiring. That was where my family came up with the idea to participate in Top Fest. It was my first performance and I was 15 at the time.

I have very varied tastes in music, I listen to everything: Reggae, HipHop, Rn'B, Rock, Pop, Metal, House, Folk music. For me it's important to get to know every musical genre.

Let's come to your participation in the Swiss' National Final for the ESC 2010. Congratulations on making it into the final. How did you come to collaborate with "The Colours" and when did you decide to take part at the Swiss National Final?

Thank you! The Colours searched for a singer for the song. By coincidence they discovered my video and music teacher. They then contacted me on Facebook and I agreed immediately with their idea to take part in the Swiss National Final. The inspiration and idea for the song came from all of us.

What is the song "Home" about and where did you take the inspiration from? (Listen to the song on dow below at the end of the article)
The song is about people who are homesick and who have hard times starting a new life in another country. In the end those people find a second home and the help from the habitants of that country. We want the people out there to know that they are not alone. For us it was important to have this topic illustrated in a song once. The inspiration and experience come especially from my family.

You were successful in making it to the final of the Swiss preselection, however another Albanian singer who has a base from the start failed to. Why do you think “Home” was chosen above Genta's song?

To be honest, I don't know why she did not make the final. Personally I liked the song.

Have you listened to the other songs in the Swiss preselection? What are your hopes for the 11th December and how big do you see your winning chances?

Ilira & The Colours

Of course I've listened to all the songs and I have to say that there are many good musicians participating. The group CH is my personal favourite. I am not stressing out much at all. It was a major achievement to make it to the top 12 and we feel honoured to be able to perform in Kreuzlingen. It is a great experience for me which I will take with me into the future. What's most important now is to deliver a good performance. We are prepared for any result in the end.

To get a bit away from the National Final questions:
-Do you have a favourite Eurovision song?

-And which Albanian entry has been your favourite?

I liked Lordi the most. They managed to win even though no one believed it. I liked Lena a lot too; she has a strong character and lots of charisma.

From Albanian my favourite was Olta Boka in 2008.

In this year’s "Kënga Magjike" you were originally to take part, but later you were not part of the Festival. Was that connected to your participation in the Swiss National Final?
I was quite busy with the ESC, yes; however it's not only because of that. The producer of the song signed the contract for the song too late and I didn’t have any chances to contact anyone by phone or mail.

Would you like to represent Albania, or potentially Kosovo at Eurovision? 

After your recent participations at the Top Fest and the Kënga Magjike we are already hoping to see you at the Festivali i këngës.
For sure I want to participate one day in the National Finals of Albania and Kosovo. One day, you'll see me at the Festivali i këngës, definitely.

Where do you see yourself in 10 years?
I haven't thought so far, because I'm not the type to plan too far ahead. However, I feel it’s important for me to continue making music.

At last, do you have anything to say to your fans on AlbaVision.tk
I would like to thank everyone who has supported The Colours and me and shared our thrill. You just are the best.

Good luck on 11th December, Ilira.
Thanks for your support. :D
Best regards 

 An interview by Arben Bacaj, translated from German into English

Ilira & the Colours - Home 

Genta blames incorrect online voting for not qualifying

Genta Ismajli's song for the Swiss Eurovision-selection, This is my night, failed to qualify for the final. According to Genta herself, the reason for this is that has been cheating in the online voting. Genta says she has a big fan base, specially in Switzerland, and her song has been relatively popular on YouTube. Combined with much promotion of her entry, this seems to be the reason for the Kosovo-Albanian singers disappointment.

7 of the 12 finalists in the upcomming Swiss national final were picked out through an online selection, consisting of 327 songs. Ilira and the Colors will perform as number 10 in the final. The final will be held December 11th, and the winner will be decided by a 100% televote.
Genta Ismajli has expressed a big wish to take part in Eurovision, so we might get to see Genta Ismajli back in an ESC selection in the future again soon.


This is my night

News on Juliana, Dorina, Ilira & Genta

This week has been a week with a lot of little news which alone would have not reached out for a single article, so we have a little compilation of news this time.

Ilira Gashi

First there is Ilira Gashi, who is competing in the Swiss National Final together with "the Colours" and the song "Home". She belongs to the first qualifiers out of the first Web-preselection phase and is therefore part of the National Final on 11th December, when the representative for Switzerland at the ESC 2011 is to be found.

To reach that very same National Final is also the aim of the Kosovo-Albanian Superstar Genta Ismajli, who still has to hope to get enough votes to reach the Final with the song "This is my night".

Genta: ESC for every prize?

There is nothing she and her managment leave out to reach that aim, tons of publicity on her facebook page and interviews with Eurovsion related sites likes Esctoday. If in the end the Swiss people vote & support her also that massively as her own fans, is questionable. We stay tuned.

Back to Albania. Dorina Garuci, who exclusively confirmed her participation at the Fesivali i këngës to Albavision weeks ago, has now given away the title of the song with which she will perform in the National Final for Albania. The song is called "Ti", which simply means You in English.

"Do jetë një tokë një qytet, një qiell i ri"

At last, we can report from the "Kënga magjike 2010". The first heats are over now and the winners of each heat divided into the Semifinals. Juliana Pasha and Luiz Ejlli, who are competing together with a duet of Pirro Çako (Lyricist of Nuk mundem pa ty) will start in Semi two. More about the Kënga Magjike later.
But that is not every news of Juliana. Last week she was part of the Albanian show "Me and you", where two stars who are well befriended have a complete show for themselves to host, sing their best hits and talk to and about each other. In the last edition Juliana running the series, together with Sidrit Bejleri. In the show she sang also her hits like the wonderful "Një qjell i ri" (A new heaven), with that she got 3rd place in the FiK 2007 and "It's all about you" (ESC '10) played of a live band, sung half in Albanian half in English, I can advise to listen to both. you can watch the show again HERE.

Genta and Ilira both in Swiss Final?

The open voting phase of the Swiss Web-Preselection for the National Final started this week and the two Albanian acts in this round are doing more than well:

First there is 16 years old Ilira and the swiss band The Colours. The song gets a nice resonance by not only Albanians, but also the Swiss in Switzerland. The radio channel DRS3, which had the right to pick 10 of the competing songs for an own selection, of which 3 qualify for the finals, picked the song "Home" into that selection. At the moment Ilira and The Colours own the second place, which would result in a direct qualification for the grand National Final on 11th December.

Then there is Genta, who spoke out to Telegrafi.com. According to her, she is amongst the Top 10 in the Web Selection of the channel SF and has qualified for the final. With the song "This is my night" she hopes to represent Switzerland in Düsseldorf and at the same time simplify a debut of Kosovo in the ESC with her participation for Switzerland.

Not long now until we see whether both managed to qualify for the National Final.

The Kosovo 2011 question

The question of a debut of Kosovo at the ESC is a highly debatted topic ever since Kosovo's independency in 2008.
Regarding 2011 as the debut year, we found this article from koha.net:

The decision about a possible return of the music festival "Akordet e Kosovës" will not be made this year, even though the Ministry of Culture, Youth & Sports promised a decision already for 2010.
The "Akordet e Kosovës" has been on hiatus for over 15 years now and since the independency of Kosovo a revival of the format was planned for Eurovision purposes, as the new 'AeK' should have been the National Final of Kosovo for the Eurovision Songcontest.
Now, the official reason for postponing the comeback of the Festival is that he channel has not enough budget this year.

Former minister Valton Beqiri sees another reason in the postponement of the festival.
He stated that an organization of that festival shouldn't be influenced by the status of Kosovo at the EBU and the pressure of entering Eurovision as soon as possible. "We don't have to wait for Kosovo to have a full membership at the EBU. It's better to start off now and by the time we enter the ESC, we are ready and have a professionally organized National Final."

Teuta Kurti

Also Teuta Kurti, regular participant at the Festivali i këngës, the National Final for Albania, spoke out for a revival of the "Akordet": " We don't have to wait  for the ESC. What we need is a festival with 'live' acts competing (in Kosovo) amongst each other and on the day we gain the membership for the EBU, we already have the preselection and chosen song."
She added that she would take part herself in the "Akordet" if it was about to take place again.

A debut of Kosovo at ESC is doubtable once again, as the RTK seems more to wait  than acting for a membership of the channel at the EBU, unfortunately.

Breaking News: Genta Ismajli participating in Swiss National Final!

Breaking news: Genta Ismajli just contributed a song to the Swiss Web Selection for the National Final of Switzerland in December for Düsseldorf.
The song "This is my night" was just uploaded to the Online Preselction Songs.

Genta Ismajli is hugely known singer from Kosovo and to many sites and channels she said she would love to represent Kosovo at ESC when it enters. Until then it seems she is taking part in other National Finals now.
A great group of Kosovo-Albanian immigrants live in Switzerland.

10 songs of the Internet preselection will preoceed to the Swiss NF "Schweizer Repräsentant beim Song Contest 2011" on 11th December, maybe Genta will belong to them. It is to be decided by a jury, Internetusers and local Radio followers.

 Listen to the song "This is my night" here!

The song is written by C. Cakim and S.Leugenberger, produced by N. Kings and has been recorded in Sweden.

The Swiss National final ends the 7 year old Albanian tradition of choosing its song + artist first in the ESC season.
Will an Albanian artist be chosen nevertheless as the first representative of a country for ESC this year again?
Genta Ismajli belongs to one of the most famous singers in the Albanian Music scene and will receive big support from many Albanian immigrants in Switzerland, so it's not unthinkable. We will stay tuned on the outcome and of course keep informing you!

Shemsi Mushkolaj tries luck in the Netherlands

In 2002, an young woman from Kosovo took part in the German National Final as a part of the duo "Unity 2" in 2002. Shemsi Mushkolaj was a little star in Germany in the 2000s and even landed a hit in the US with the single "Say you will be mine". She is the first Kosovo-Albanian to appear in both VIVA and MTV  music channels. It was after the fail to represent Germany, where she grew up in Dortmund, that she stopped her musical career and chose "normal" life.
Some years ago she moved to the Netherlands where she works as a German teacher until today.


Shemsi at the German National Final 2002

Now, at an age of 28 years, she showed up in a talent show in Netherlands and experiences a great comeback in the dutch show "Voice of Holland", the dutch equivalent to X-Factor where she seems to be one great favourite.
Maybe we will see her on the ESC-scene again for the Netherlands one day. Her career at least is on a good way at the moment.

Shemsi's appearance in "Voice of Holland"

No Albanian for Italy's possible return

Dorina Leka, who was born on 4th February 1986 in Tirana and currently lives with her family in Trieste in Italy and works as a Webdesigner, had to leave the Italian X-Factor show after the 7th show on Tuesday. She was competing in the category "Female 16-24". The X-Factor winner is said to be the representative of Italy at the ESC 2011 in Germany, IF Italy returns.

Dorina Leka

Whether Italy makes a comeback at the Eurovision Songcontest in Düsseldorf is more likely than ever, yet not sure. The only Albanian in the Italian X-Factor finals is out of the race and won't represent Italy for sure.
Let's see whether we hear news of her in some time.

Dorina Leka performs "Simply the best" at X-Factor

Albanian Song in Swiss Preselction

Thius year's Swiss National Final is to be held even before the Albanian Festivali i këngës in December. Still the possibility of an Albanian song being chosen as the first ESC song in the National Final season is still possible.
A group called "The Colors & Ilira" send in a song to the Swiss Online preselection. The languages in the song "Home" are Albanian and 'Bern German'.

The Cover

10 songs of the Internet preselection will preoceed to the Swiss NF "Schweizer Repräsentant beim Song Contest 2011" on 11th December, maybe Ilira and the Colors belong to them. We will stay tuned on the outcome. It is to be decided by a jury, Internetusers and local Radio followers.

Listen to the song "Home" below. The song and the girl do reminds us a bit of Olta. Best of luck from our side.

Back from the summer break!

Hello, back in Germany, Albavision.tk enters a new phase, be prepared for more articles and features in the next weeks.

But for now, i shall show you a new Albanian cover version of "Dum Tek Tek", the Turkish Eurovision Songcontest song in 2009. The song was covered by famous Montenegrin-Albanian singer Nikolle Nikprelaj, who is known to sing traditional albanian folk music.
His style of singing might sound strangely to non-Albanians, but it's pretty popular on the home market.
Make your own idea of the Albanian version of "Dum tek tek"!



Exclusively on Albavision.tk for you: The lyrics and translation of the refrain

Albanian:
Së bashku t'a kalojmë sonte për gëzuar me përqafim
Une jam zemra jote e ti je shpirti im.
Së bashku të vallzojmë sonte me këtë rritëm dum tek tek
Më djeg kjo buza jote, sa herë që më puth e më prek.

English:

Together we'll spend this night for fun with embracement

I am your heart and you are my soul.

Together we'll dance tonight to this 'dum tek tek' rhythm

Your lips burn me, everytime you kiss and touch me.

Btw, that is Montenegrin Albanian :) which differs in some parts from original Albanian, f.e. that in Montenegro the Albanians use 'e' instead of 'dhe' for the word and.


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