Albania in the Eurovision Song Contest 2015
| Eurovision Song Contest 2015 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Country |
 Albania
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| National selection | ||||
| Selection process |
Artist: Festivali i Këngës 53 Song: Internal Selection |
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| Selection date(s) |
Festivali i Këngës 53: Semi-finals 26 December 2014 27 December 2014 Final 28 December 2014 Song Presentation: 15 March 2015 |
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| Selected entrant | Elhaida Dani | |||
| Selected song | "I'm Alive" | |||
| Selected songwriter(s) |
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| Finals performance | ||||
| Semi-final result | Qualified (10th, 62 points) | |||
| Final result | 17th, 34 points | |||
| Albania in the Eurovision Song Contest | ||||
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Albania participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 2015 with the song "I'm Alive", written by Zzap'n'Chris and Sokol Marsi. The song was performed by Elhaida Dani. In December 2014, Albanian broadcaster Radio Televizioni Shqiptar (RTSH) organised the national final Festivali i Këngës 53 in order to select the Albanian entry for the 2015 contest in Vienna, Austria. After two semi-final rounds and a final, Elhaida Dani and the song "Diell", written by Aldo Shllaku, Viola Trebicka and Sokol Marsi, was selected as the winner by a seven-member jury panel. In February 2015, "Diell" was withdrawn as the Albanian entry at the request of one of the songwriters and it was revealed that Elhaida Dani would perform the English language song "I'm Alive" at Eurovision. The entry was presented to the public in March 2015.
In the first of the Eurovision semi-finals "I'm Alive" placed tenth out of the 16 participating countries, securing its place among the 27 other songs in the final. In Albania's twelfth Eurovision appearance on 23 May, "I'm Alive" finished in seventeenth place, receiving 34 points.
Prior to the 2015 Contest, Albania had participated in the Eurovision Song Contest eleven times since its first entry in 2004. The nation's best placing in the contest was fifth, which it achieved in 2012 with the song "Suus" performed by Rona Nishliu. Following the introduction of semi-finals for the 2004, Albania had, to this point, featured in six finals. In 2014, Albania failed to qualify for the final with the song "One Night's Anger" performed by Hersi Matmuja.
The Albanian broadcaster for the 2015 Contest, who broadcast the event in Albania and organised the selection process for its entry, was Radio Televizioni Shqiptar (RTSH). The Albanian contest Festivali i Këngës has been organised every year since 1964 and has been used as Albania's Eurovision selection method since its debut in 2004. Details regarding the 53rd edition of Festivali i Këngës were announced on 12 September 2014, however the official confirmation that the Albanian broadcaster would participate in the 2015 Eurovision Song Contest only came on 1 November 2014, despite previously announcing they would "most likely" be present.
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