Albania in the Eurovision Song Contest 2010
Introduction Albania participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 2010 in Oslo, Norway, with the song "It's All About You" performed by Juliana Pasha. Its selected entry was chosen through the national selection competition Festivali i Këngës organised by Radio Televizioni Shqiptar (RTSH) in December 2009.To this point, the nation had participated in the Eurovision Song Contest six times since its first entry in . Prior to the contest, the song was promoted by a music video and live performances both in Macedonia and the Netherlands.Albania was drawn to compete in the first semi-final of the Eurovision Song Contest, which took place on 25 May 2010.Performing as number 12, the nation was announced among the top 10 entries of the first semi-final and therefore qualified to compete in the grand final. In the final on 29 May 2010, it performed as number 15 and placed 16th out of the 25 participating countries, scoring 62 points.
Background Prior to the 2010 contest, Albania had participated in the Eurovision Song Contest six times since its first entry in . The nation's highest placing in the contest, to this point, had been the seventh place, which it achieved in 2004 with the song "The Image of You" performed by Anjeza Shahini. During its tenure in the contest, Albania failed to qualify for the final two times, with the  entry being the most recent non-qualifier. The nation's national broadcaster, Radio Televizioni Shqiptar (RTSH), has organised Festivali i Këngës since its inauguration in 1962.Since 2003, the winner of the competition has simultaneously won the right to represent Albania in the Eurovision Song Contest.
Before Eurovision === Festivali i Këngës ===RTSH organised the 48th edition of Festivali i Këngës to determine Albania's representative for the Eurovision Song Contest 2010.The competition consisted of three semi-finals on 24, 25 and 26 December, respectively, and the grand final on 27 December 2009.The four live shows were hosted by Albanian singers Miriam Cani and Alban Skënderaj. After three withdrawals, there were two different categories in Festivali i Këngës, namely the Big Group and the Young Group.==== Competing entries ===='''Key''': Withdrawn+ Participating entries in the Big Group Artist(s) Song Songwriter(s) Anjeza Shahini "Në pasqyrë"  Besa Kokëdhima "Kalorësi i dashurisë" Bojken Lako and Banda Adriatica "Love Love Love"  Claudio La Regina "Ave Maria" Scaravaglione Denisa Macaj "Aria"  Dorina Garuci "Sekreti i dashurisë"  Eliza Hoxha "Në mes" Era Rusi "Fjalë dhe gjunjë"  Erga Halilaj "Party"  Erti Hizmo and Lindita Halimi "Nuk të dorëzohem"  Flaka Krelani "Le të bëhet çfarë të dojë"  Guximtar Rushani "Gëzuar"  Juliana Pasha "Nuk mundem pa ty"  Kamela Islamaj "Gjëra të thjeshta"  Kejsi Tola "Ndonjëherë"  Mariza Ikonomi "Vazhdoj këndoj" Mariza Ikonomi Pirro Çako "Një tjetër jetë"  Rovena Dilo "Përtej kohës" Rovena Dilo Stefi and Endri Prifti "U dogja mrekullisht"  Teuta Kurti "Mall i pashuar" + Participating entries in the Young Group Artist(s) Song Songwriter(s) Amanda Ujkaj and Violeta Lulgjuraj "Vitet më të bukura"  Ardita Tusha "Je larg" Edmond Mancaku Borana Kalemi "Ti"  Brikena Asa "Sa dua unë" Gjergj Jorgaqi Çlirim Leka "Nëna ime" Çlirim Leka Dorina Toçi "Një fjalë të ngrohtë"  Goldi Halili "Tirana Brodway"  Iris Hoxha "Zërin tim ta ndjesh"  Jona Koleci "Stinë dashurië"  Jorida Zaimaj "Për ty"  Kelly "Ajo" Florian Carkanj Lutus "Botë pa sy"  Nazmie Selimi "Mendohu dhe njëherë" Alfred Kaçinari Onanta Spahiu "Dashurisë i erdhi vjeshta"  Selina Prelaj "Të dy e dimë"  Stefan Marena "Retë s'na ndajnë"  Supernova "Gabimi"  Vitmar Basha "Një tjetër jetë" Vitmar Basha Yje Të Panjohur "Si dy të huaj" Florian Zyka==== Shows ========= Semi-final 1 =====The first semi-final of Festivali i Këngës took place on 24 December 2009 and was broadcast live at 20:30 (CET). 18 contestants from the Big Group participated in the first semi-final, with all of them progressing to the grand final.+ Semi-final 124 December 2009 Draw Artist(s) Song 1 Anjeza Shahini "Në pasqyrë" 2 Teuta Kurti "Mall i pashuar" 3 Claudio La Regina "Ave Maria" 4 Kamela Islamaj "Gjëra të thjeshta" 5 Bojken Lako and Banda Adriatica "Love Love Love" 6 Pirro Çako "Një tjetër jetë" 7 Dorina Garuci "Sekreti i dashurisë" 8 Juliana Pasha "Nuk mundem pa ty" 9 Denisa Macaj "Aria" 10 Erga Halilaj "Party" 11 Era Rusi "Fjalë dhe gjunjë" 12 Flaka Krelani "Le të bëhet çfarë të dojë" 13 Mariza Ikonomi "Vazhdoj këndoj" 14 Erti Hizmo and Lindita Halimi "Nuk të dorëzohem" 15 Stefi and Endri Prifti "U dogja mrekullisht" 16 Guximtar Rushani "Gëzuar" 17 Rovena Dilo "Përtej kohës" 18 Kejsi Tola "Ndonjëherë"===== Semi-final 2 =====The second semi-final of Festivali i Këngës took place on 25 December 2009 and was broadcast live at 20:30 (CET). 18 contestants from the Young Group participated in the second semi-final, with the highlighted ones progressing to the grand final.+ Semi-final 225 December 2009 Draw Artist(s) Song 1 Stefan Marena "Retë s'na ndajnë" 2 Brikena Asa "Sa dua unë" 3 Onanta Spahiu "Dashurisë i erdhi vjeshta" 4 Jona Koleci "Stinë dashurië" 5 Nazmie Selimi "Mendohu dhe njëherë" 6 Goldi Halili "Tirana Brodway" 7 Iris Hoxha "Zërin tim ta ndjesh" 8 Supernova "Gabimi" 9 Ardita Tusha "Je larg" 10 Selina Prelaj "Të dy e dimë" 11 Vitmar Basha "Një tjetër jetë" 12 Lutus "Botë pa sy" 13 Kelly "Ajo" 14 Dorina Toçi "Një fjalë të ngrohtë" 15 Borana Kalemi "Ti" 16 Amanda Ujkaj and Violeta Lulgjuraj "Vitet më të bukura" 17 Yje Të Panjohur "Si dy të huaj" 18 Çlirim Leka "Nëna ime"===== Semi-final 3 =====The third semi-final of Festivali i Këngës took place on 26 December 2009 and was broadcast live at 20:30 (CET). It featured 20 artists, including 18 from the Big Group and two from the Young Group, each performing a duet with an other Albanian artist.+ Semi-final 326 December 2009 Draw Artist(s) Song 1 Iris Hoxha and Kelly "Zërin tim ta ndjesh" 2 Guximtar Rushani and Agim Poshka "Gëzuar" 3 Era Rusi and Julian Bulku "Fjalë dhe gjunjë" 4 Goldi Halili and Aleksander Gjoka "Tirana Brodway" 5 Erti Hizmo, Lindita Halimi and Redon Makashi "Nuk të dorëzohem" 6 Mariza Ikonomi and Vedat Ademi "La, la, la" 7 Kejsi Tola and Voltan Prodani "Ndonjëherë" 8 Claudio La Regina and Franco Scaravaglione "Ave Maria" 9 Erga Halilaj, Adrian Nini and Ronela Hajati "Party" 10 Teuta Kurti and Malda Susuri "Mall i pashuar" 11 Dorina Garuci and Dr. Flori "Sekreti i dashurisë" 12 Bojken Lako, Banda Adriatica and Ajkuna "Love Love Love" 13 Rovena Dilo and Eranda Libohova "Përtej kohës" 14 Pirro Çako, Rosela Gjylbegu and Eliza Hoxha "Një tjetër jetë" 15 Denisa Macaj and Olta Boka "Aria" 16 Stefi Prifti, Endri Prifti and Burn "U dogja mrekullisht" 17 Juliana Pasha and Soni Malaj "Nuk mundem pa ty" 18 Anjeza Shahini and Eneda Tarifa "Në pasqyrë" 19 Kamela Islami and Kristi Popa "Gjëra të thjeshta" 20 Flaka Krelani and Jonida Maliqi "Le të bëhet çfarë të dojë"===== Final =====The grand final of Festivali i Këngës took place on 27 December 2009 and was broadcast live at 20:30 (CET). Determined by the combination of the votes from a seven-member jury, Juliana Pasha emerged as the winner and was simultaneously announced as Albania's representative for the Eurovision Song Contest 2010.+ Final27 December 2009 Draw Artist(s) Song Points Result 1 Pirro Çako "Një tjetër jetë" 106 4 2 Erga Halilaj "Party" 66 12 3 Denisa Macaj "Aria" 92 7 4 Rovena Dilo "Përtej kohës" 69 10 5 Dorina Garuci "Sekreti i dashurisë" 78 8 6 Anjeza Shahini "Në pasqyrë" 118 2 7 Erti Hizmo and Lindita Halimi "Nuk të dorëzohem" 66 12 8 Juliana Pasha "Nuk mundem pa ty" 133 1 9 Guximtar Rushani "Gëzuar" 43 17 10 Kejsi Tola "Ndonjëherë" 58 15 11 Teuta Kurti "Mall i pashuar" 19 19 12 Flaka Krelani "Le të bëhet çfarë të dojë" 99 5 13 Bojken Lako and Banda Adriatica "Love Love Love" 98 6 14 Goldi Halili "Tirana Brodway" 64 14 15 Stefi and Endri Prifti "U dogja mrekullisht" 45 16 16 Iris Hoxha "Zërin tim ta ndjesh" 67 11 17 Claudio La Regina "Ave Maria" 17 20 18 Era Rusi "Fjalë dhe gjunjë" 41 18 19 Mariza Ikonomi "La, la, la" 76 9 20 Kamela Islamaj "Gjëra të thjeshta" 115 3=== Promotion ===A music video for "It's All About You" premiered via the Eurovision Song Contest's official YouTube channel on 23 March 2010.For promotional purposes, Pasha embarked on a small tour with live performances at various events related to the contest, including in Macedonia and the Netherlands.
At Eurovision Juliana Pasha performing in the first semi-final of the Eurovision Song Contest 2010.The Eurovision Song Contest 2010 took place at Telenor Arena in Oslo, Norway, and consisted of two semi-finals held on 25 and 27 May, respectively, and the grand final on 29 May 2010.According to the Eurovision rules, all participating countries, except the host nation and the "Big Four", consisting of , ,  and the , were required to qualify from one of the two semi-finals to compete for the grand final, although the top 10 countries from the respective semi-final progress to the grand final. The EBU split up the competing countries into five different pots based on voting patterns from previous contests, as evaluated by Digame, in order to decrease the influence of neighbour and diaspora voting. On 7 February 2010, an allocation draw was held which placed each country into one of the two semi-finals and determined which half of the show they would perform in. Albania was placed into the first semi-final held on 25 May and was scheduled to perform in the second half of the show. Once all the competing songs for the 2010 contest had been released, the running order for the semi-finals was revealed; Albania was set to perform at position 12, following  and preceding . After qualifying for the final with a sixth-place finish in the semi-final, it was announced that Albania would be performing 15th in the final, following  and preceding . At the final, the nation placed 16th out of the 25 competing entries.=== Voting ===Voting during the three shows involved each country awarding points from 1–8, 10 and 12 as determined by a combination of 50% national jury and 50% televoting. Each nation's jury consisted of five music industry professionals who are citizens of the country they represent. This jury judged each entry based on: vocal capacity; the stage performance; the song's composition and originality; and the overall impression by the act. In addition, no member of a national jury was permitted to be related in any way to any of the competing acts in such a way that they cannot vote impartially and independently.The tables below visualise a breakdown of points awarded to Albania in both the first semi-final and the grand final of the Eurovision Song Contest 2010, as well as by the country on both occasions. In the semi-final, Albania finished in sixth place with a total of 76 points, including 12 from  and , and 10 from . In the grand final, Albania reached the 16th place, being awarded a total of 62 points, including 12 from North Macedonia and 10 from Greece. The nation awarded its 12 points to North Macedonia in the semi-final and to Greece in the final of the contest.====Points awarded to Albania====+ Points awarded to Albania (Semi-final 1) Score Country 12 points  10 points  8 points  7 points  6 points  5 points  4 points  3 points 2 points  1 point+ Points awarded to Albania (Final) Score Country 12 points  10 points  8 points  7 points  6 points 5 points  4 points 3 points  2 points  1 point ====Points awarded by Albania====+ Points awarded by Albania (Semi-final 1) Score Country 12 points  10 points  8 points  7 points  6 points  5 points  4 points  3 points  2 points  1 point + Points awarded by Albania (Final) Score Country 12 points  10 points  8 points  7 points  6 points  5 points  4 points  3 points  2 points  1 point
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