Albania in the Junior Eurovision Song Contest


The participation of Albania in the Junior Eurovision Song Contest first began in Amsterdam, Netherlands, at the Junior Eurovision Song Contest 2012. Radio Televizioni Shqiptar a member organisation of the European Broadcasting Union have been responsible for the selection process of their participants, since their debut in 2012. The first representative to participate for the nation at the 2012 contest was Igzidora Gjeta with the song "Kam një këngë vetëm për ju", which finished in twelfth place out of twelve participating entries, achieving a score of thirty-five points. There has only been two absences from the competition, the first being in and the second in. Albania returned to the contest in, when Mishela Rapo represented them with the song "Dambaje", achieving ninety-three points and finishing in fifth place out of seventeen participating countries. On 1 June 2016, Klesta Qehaja won the Festivali i Këngës për Femije with the song "Besoj", earning the right to represent Albania at the Junior Eurovision Song Contest 2016, in Valletta, Malta. She received thirty-eight points and therefore finished thirteenth out of seventeen participating countries.

History

In 2005, Albanian broadcaster Radio Televizioni Shqiptar broadcast that year’s contest in Hasselt. On 14 August 2012, the Albanian national broadcaster, Radio Televizioni Shqiptar, announced that they would be making their Junior Eurovision debut at the 2012 contest in Amsterdam, Netherlands on 1 December 2012. The mechanism used at the time in order to select their representative was a national pre-selection show entitled Junior Fest Albania 2012. Child-singer, Igzidora Gjeta, was the first participant to represent Albania with the song "Kam një këngë vetëm për ju", which finished in twelfth place achieving a score of thirty-five points. This was Albania's worst result in their contest history.
On 27 September 2013, RTSH announced that their withdrawal from the 2013 contest, with the EBU stating that the withdrawal was due to financial and organisation issues. Albania continue to be absent from the contest in 2014, and it was not until 13 March 2015 that RTSH announced their return to the competition. The national selection show which was organised in order to select the 2015 participant was entitled Festivali i Këngës për Femije, at which Mishela Rapo won the right to represented Albania in the Junior Eurovision Song Contest 2015, with the song "Dambaje". At the Junior Eurovision Song Contest 2015, Rapo finished in fifth place achieving ninety-three points, and their best result to date.

Participation

YearArtistSongLanguagePlacePoints
Igzidora Gjeta"Kam një këngë vetëm për ju"Albanian12 ◁35
Mishela Rapo"Dambaje"Albanian, English, Imaginary593
Klesta Qehaja"Besoj"Albanian, English1338
Ana Kodra"Don't Touch My Tree"Albanian, English1367
Efi Gjika"Barbie"Albanian, English1744
Isea Çili"Mikja ime fëmijëri"Albanian1736

Gallery

Commentators and spokespersons

The contests are broadcast online worldwide through the official Junior Eurovision Song Contest website junioreurovision.tv and YouTube. In 2015, the online broadcasts featured commentary in English by junioreurovision.tv editor Luke Fisher and 2011 Bulgarian Junior Eurovision Song Contest entrant Ivan Ivanov. The Albanian broadcaster, RTSH, sent their own commentator to each contest in order to provide commentary in the Albanian language. Spokespersons were also chosen by the national broadcaster in order to announce the awarding points from Albania. The table below list the details of each commentator and spokesperson since 2012.
YearCommentatorSpokesperson
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Andri XhahuKeida Dervishi
Andri XhahuMajda Bejzade
Andri XhahuJuna Dizdari
Andri XhahuSabjana Rizvanu
Andri XhahuDaniil Lazuko
Efi Gjika