Lindita translates Albanian Eurovision song into English for Kiev

Lindita will be translating her song Botë into English. She won Albania’s Festivali i Këngës final on the 23rd December and today, on the 26th December, she made the announcement to change the language of her song.

As a result of winning the Festivali i Këngës final, Lindita will be representing Albania in Kiev. During the final, Lindita sung Botë in Albanian, her native language. Despite singing in Albanian, she will instead be singing the entire song in English at the Eurovision Song Contest.

Albania has a tradition of editing & sometimes translating their songs after Festivali i Këngës. Last year, Eneda Tarifa changed both the language and the musical arrangement of her song. Despite all of her hard work, Eneda failed to qualify from semi final 2, ultimately placing 16th with 45 points. The Albanian translation for her song was Përrallë, and the English translation was Fairytale. 

Festivali i Këngës

Festivali i Këngës is broadcast on RTSH since 1962. It has been held in Tirana, at The Palace of Congresses since 1989. It has only been used since 2004, Albania’s debut year, to select their Eurovision participant. The songs in the festival are generally meant for a national audience only, with the winning song then being turned into a potential international hit.

Since 2004, Albania failed to qualify for the Grand final 6 times. These years were 2006, 2007, 2011, 2013, 2014 and 2016. Albania’s best result to date was in 2012. This is when Kosovar-Albanian singer Rona Nishliu and her song Suus, she placed 2nd in her semi final, and 5th over all in the grand final with 146 points.