ALBANIA

The Albanian Final was held on December 22nd at the Palace of Congress in Tirana, hosted by Alketa Vejsiu. Before the final there were 2 semi-finals and only 10 songs qualified to the final. The winner was chosen by an "expert" jury and was announced as Arilena Ara singing "Shaj" (Curse).

Arilena is alone on stage although there is more than generous use of the Festivali i Këngës backing singers, situated within the live orchestra aside the main stage. She is wearing an all-encompassing black catsuit with added details on the top which look like feathers and spikes depending on the angle, belt chain detailing around her waist, black boots, black gloves and her hair is simply scooped back into a ponytail. The staging is black with effective use of white lights above her and surrounding her. The different camera angles from the side and above accentuates their effect. Near the end the background brings up the image of a violin which promptly shatters as the instrumental starts to wind up.

This ballad starts with a short instrumental then Arilena goes straight into the first verse which is in Arilena's lower register. The chorus is much more vocally impressive and uses a lot of repetition and scales in its make up. The song quickly runs into the second verse and chorus which get us up to about 2 minutes in. Here the song breaks down a little bit and loses its way slightly. The structure is much more free form, taking cues from the backing singers and has longer instrumental parts. After a reprise of the chorus the song ends with a rather odd false finish which concludes with some premature clapping, if not just a couple of seconds too early.

Arilena has a very strong and clear voice which works well in both her upper and lower register and she really shines in the first part of the song. She also has great stage presence and takes command of such a big stage with ease. Most of the 'action' is done in the camera work as Arilena barely moves from the spot. She is, however, very good at looking down the camera making good eye contact. She looks genuinely connected with the song, but must ensure she doesn't come across as being too angry or aggressive straight down the camera. I also think the backing singers help give the song extra layers and depth especially in the chorus where they create a link between the singing or Arilena and the tune of the string section.

This entry has a lot of promise. The tune has a familiarity about it as well being in a key that already pulls at your emotions. The tune is simplistic but also dramatic, like an Eastern European Bond theme. Unlike many FiK songs it already in the 3 minute range so won't need much trimming. I do feel, however, that the last minute needs to be given a better structure, with more repetitions of the chorus, and have mucher better orchestration in the dynamics of the false ending. It was also revealed at the time of the national final that that song was originally written in English and the Albanian lyrics were written in order for it to participate in the festival. It will therefore be quite interesting to see which language (or mix of) it is decided on for the contest itself. I think this is a strong starting point and this entry has a lot of early promise and plenty of time to be perfected.

Artist - Ariela Ara
Song - Shaj (Curse)
Composers - Darko Dimitrov, Lazar Cvetkovski
Lyricist - Lindon Berisha