Festivali i Këngës 64 officially got underway at the Palace of Congresses in Tirana, as the first 14 competing acts took to the stage in the opening night of Albania’s Eurovision selection.
The artists who took to the stage
The first night of Festivali i Këngës 64 saw 14 of the 28 competing entries perform their songs in front of the jury and the public, marking the beginning of four consecutive nights of music at the Palace of Congresses.
The show was hosted by Salsano Rrapi and Arilena Ara, the latter being the winner of Festivali i Këngës 58 and Albania’s intended representative for Eurovision 2020 before the Contest was cancelled.
As previously teased by script author Belioza Çoku, Elhaida Dani, this year’s artistic director and Albania’s Eurovision 2015 representative, opened the evening. The night also featured appearances from Kroni Pula, Albania’s Junior Eurovision 2025 representative who recently placed 6th in Tbilisi.
The first night’s performers
The following artists performed during the first night of Festivali i Këngës 64:
The road to the final
The remaining 14 acts will perform during Night 2, while Night 3, known as Nostalgia Night, will be dedicated to classic Festival songs and special performances. At the end of Friday’s show, the list of finalists will be revealed.
According to the official regulations, up to 18 entries will qualify for the Final Night on Saturday, where the winner of Festivali i Këngës 64 will be crowned and earn the right to represent Albania at the Eurovision Song Contest 2026 in Vienna.
The final results of Festivali i Këngës 64 will be determined by:
- 50% professional jury
- 25% televoting from Albania, Kosovo, Montenegro and North Macedonia
- 25% international online vote
Online voting is expected to take place via the “FiK – Festivali i Këngës” app, which also offers a livestream of the shows with Albanian and English transcriptions.
Votes will be published after the shows, while the official list of finalists will only be confirmed following the third night of the Festival.
If you would like to know what the That Eurovision Site team thinks of this edition’s Festivali i Këngës songs check our article here!
Albania’s Eurovision journey
In 2004, Albania made their debut into the Eurovision Song Contest with Anjeza Shahini with “Image of You”, which placed 7th in the final. Since their debut, Albania has participated 20 times, and made the final 10 times. They achieved their best result in 2012, where Rona Nishliu placed 5th with “Suus”.
Shkodra Elektronike represented Albania in the 2025 Contest in Basel with “Zjerm”. The duo made it to the Grand Final, where they ultimately finished in 8th place with 218 points. 173 of these came from the televote, while the remaining 45 points came from the jury.
Who was your favourite of the night? As always, please let us know what you think by getting involved in the comments below. Also, be sure to follow ‘That Eurovision Site’ on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, TikTok, Threads, tumblr, and Bluesky for more information about Eurovision 2026!
News source: RTSH
Photo credit: RTSH
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