Festivali I Këngës

Festivali i Këngës
Logo of the 54th edition
Genre	Pop music, folk music, classical music, etc.
Location(s)	Albania
Years active	1962–present
Founded by	Radio Televizioni Shqiptar (RTSH)
Website
Official Festivali i Këngës

Festivali i Këngës is an Albanian song contest, organised by the Albanian national broadcaster Radio Televizioni Shqiptar (RTSH). Various singing presentations have been used throughout its history, beginning with radio-only performances in the first few years, live interpretation, playback, remakes and even duets featuring other singers. The winners have traditionally been selected by a jury. However, other voting methods have also been applied, such as televoting or regional juries. At times, the head juror has carried twice the voting power of other jurors. Since 2003 it has been used to select Albania's entry for the international Eurovision Song Contest.

The contest has developed over time, starting with neutrally themed entries to becoming a tool for the governing Communist Party of Albania in promoting its ideals. The 1972 edition was a turning point for the contest, in which dictator Enver Hoxha prosecuted the organisers of Festivali i Këngës 11 after declaring them "enemies of the public". They were accused of endangering the country with "immoral aspects" in their songs and performances. Following this development, the ruling Communist Party imposed numerous sanctions on the contest's creativity, with a strict censorship on anything deemed inappropriate by the government. This ranged from limiting the type of clothes artists could wear, to restricting their range of movement while performing.

After the fall of communism in Albania in 1991 the contest was once again allowed to diversify the themes of its entries, with many competing and winning songs featuring current developments. Entries during this time period featured themes of immigration, travel and religion, all illegal under the communist regime. One of the most distinguished trademarks of the entries competing in Festivali I Këngës remains the strength in lyrics.

Up until 1999, Festivali i Këngës was the biggest music event in Albania. Its popularity began to waver after the introduction of other competitions such as Top Fest and Kënga Magjike, which were more liberal with their entry and singer selections, and eventually began to produce higher ratings. However, with Albania's introduction to the Eurovision Song Contest in 2004, Festivali i Këngës quickly began producing a greater degree of national and international interest.

The incentive for winning a chance to compete at the Eurovision Song Contest did not come without some great controversies. A lack of transparency in jury results has exacerbated an already problematic record of voting that the festival has inherited from the communist and transitional periods. Despite some positive changes that have been made over the years, such as technological improvements and the introduction of a live orchestra, the weak points of the festival remain the structure of the professional juries and the inadequate weight given to the public vote. FIK juries are routinely criticized for their deficiency in a younger generation of music professionals, featuring instead a disproportionate percentage of jurors over the age of 35. This lack of diversity in juror makeup, as well as the low impact of the public vote, are seen as key discouraging factors in the participation of more commercial singers and composers in the contest, constantly raising questions about whether the festival in its current form is a viable producer of qualitative Eurovision entries from Albania.