Albania in the Eurovision Song Contest 2025
Eurovision Song Contest 2025
Participating broadcaster	Radio Televizioni Shqiptar (RTSH)
Country	Albania
Selection process	Festivali i Këngës 63
Selection date	22 December 2024
Competing entry
Song	"Zjerm"
Artist	Shkodra Elektronike
Songwriters	Beatriçe Gjergji Kolë Laca Lekë Gjeloshi
Placement
Semi-final result	Qualified (2nd, 122 points)
Final result	8th, 218 points
Participation chronology
◄2024 • 2025

Albania was represented at the Eurovision Song Contest 2025 with the song "Zjerm", written by Beatriçe Gjergji, Kolë Laca, and Lekë Gjeloshi, and performed by Gjergji and Laca as Shkodra Elektronike. The Albanian participating broadcaster, Radio Televizioni Shqiptar (RTSH), selected its entry through its traditional national selection competition. Festivali i Këngës.

Albania was drawn to compete in the first semi-final of the Eurovision Song Contest which took place on 13 May 2025 and was later selected to perform in position 12. At the end of the show, " Zjerm" was announced among the top 10 entries of the first semi-final and hence qualified to compete in the final. It was later revealed that Albania placed second out of the fifteen participating countries in the semi-final with 122 points. In the final, Albania closed the show in position 26 and placed eighth out of the 26 participating, scoring a total of 218 points. This marked Albania's highest point total since its debut.

Prior to the 2025 contest, Radio Televizioni Shqiptar (RTSH) had participated in the Eurovision Song Contest representing Albania 20 times since its first entry in 2004. Its highest placing in the contest, to this point, had been the fifth place, which was achieved in 2012 with the song "Suus" performed by Rona Nishliu. It accomplished its second-highest placing when first participating in 2004, with the song "The Image of You" performed by Anjeza Shahini, finishing in seventh place. During its tenure in the contest, it failed to qualify for the final eight times. In 2024, it failed to qualify for the final, ultimately placing fifteenth in the semi-final with the song "Titan" performed by Besa.^[1]

As part of its duties as participating broadcaster, RTSH broadcasts the event in the country and organises Festivali i Këngës, an annual music competition which has been consistently used as its national selection format for the contest since its 2004 debut.^[1] On 30 September 2024, RTSH confirmed its intention to participate in the 2025 contest, and that Festivali i Këngës would select its entry.^[2]

The Albanian representative in the Eurovision Song Contest 2025 was selected during the 63rd edition of Festivali i Këngës, an annual music competition in Albania organised by RTSH at the Palace of Congresses in Tirana. The event took place between 19 and 22 December 2024 and was hosted by Enkel Demi and Ornela Bregu [sq]. The festival featured one category, which also selected Albania's entry for Eurovision.^[3] The broadcaster opened an application period for interested artists and composers to submit their applications on 27 September 2024, lasting until 29 September 2024,^[4] and ultimately selected 30 contestants.^[5][6] After the entries were announced, Olsi Bylyku withdrew, but Klea Dina was designated as his replacement.^[7] The jury selected 15 finalists, with the final result determined by a combination of votes from a professional jury, votes from abroad cast through an online platform (entitled the "diaspora's votes") and SMS voting in Albania and Kosovo.^[8][9]

The grand final of Festivali i Këngës was held on 22 December 2024. Shkodra Elektronike with "Zjerm" emerged as the winner and was thus chosen as the Albanian representative for the Eurovision Song Contest 2025.^[9]

The Eurovision Song Contest 2025 took place at the St. Jakobshalle in Basel, Switzerland, and consisted of two semi-finals held on the respective dates of 13 and 15 May and the final on 17 May 2025. All nations with the exceptions of the host country and the "Big Five" (France, Germany, Italy, Spain and the United Kingdom) were required to qualify from one of two semi-finals in order to compete in the final; the top ten countries from each semi-final progressed to the final. On 28 January 2025, an allocation draw was held to determine which of the two semi-finals, as well as which half of the show, each country would perform in; the EBU split up the competing countries into different pots based on voting patterns from previous contests, with countries with favourable voting histories put into the same pot.^[10] Albania was scheduled for the second half of the first semi-final.^[11] The shows' producers then decided the running order for the semi-finals; Albania was set to perform in position 12.^[12]

In Albania, all shows were broadcast on RTSH 1, RTSH Muzikë and Radio Tirana, with commentary provided by Andri Xhahu live from Tirana.^[13][14]

Albania performed in position 12, following the entry from San Marino and before the entry from the Netherlands.^[12] At the end of the show, the country was announced as a qualifier for the final. It was later revealed that Albania placed second out of the fifteen participating countries in the first semi-final with 122 points, matching its highest ever placing in a semi-final, which was previously achieved in 2012.

Following the semi-final, Albania was drawn to perform in the second half of the final.^[15] The country was later chosen by producers to close the show in position 26, following the entry from San Marino. Shkodra Elektronike once again took part in dress rehearsals on 16 and 17 May before the final, including the jury final where the professional juries cast their final votes before the live show on 16 May. The duo performed a repeat of their semi-final performance during the final on 17 May. Albania placed 8th in the final, scoring 218 points; 173 points from the public televoting and 45 points from the juries. This marked the most amount of points ever scored by an Albanian entry in the contest.

Below is a breakdown of points awarded by and to Albania in the first semi-final and in the final. Voting during the three shows involved each country awarding sets of points from 1-8, 10 and 12: one from their professional jury and the other from televoting in the final vote, while the semi-final vote was based entirely on the vote of the public.^[16] The Albanian jury consisted of Alfred Kaçinari, Shpëtim Saraçi, Ylljet Aliçka, Blerta Ristani and Mikaela Minga.^[17] In the first semi-final, Albania placed 2nd with 122 points, receiving maximum twelve points from the Rest of the World vote. In the final, Albania placed eighth with 218 points, receiving maximum twelve points in the jury vote from France and twelve points in the televote from Greece and Montenegro. This marked the most amount of points ever scored by an Albanian entry in the contest. Over the course of the contest, Albania awarded its 12 points to Cyprus in the first semi-final, and to France (jury) and Greece (televote) in the final.^[18][19]

RTSH appointed Andri Xhahu as its spokesperson to announce the Albanian jury's votes in the final, marking the thirteenth consecutive contest in which Xhahu served as both commentator and spokesperson.^[20]

Points awarded to Albania (Semi-final 1)[18] Score Televote 12 points Rest of the World 10 points  Croatia  Italy  Poland   Switzerland  Ukraine  Sweden 8 points  Portugal 7 points  Belgium  Slovenia 6 points  Azerbaijan  Spain 5 points 4 points  Netherlands  Norway 3 points  Cyprus 2 points  Estonia  Iceland 1 point  San Marino

Points awarded to Albania (Final)[19] Score Televote Jury 12 points  Greece  Montenegro  France 10 points  Croatia  France  Italy Rest of the World   Switzerland  Montenegro 8 points  Germany  San Marino  Slovenia 7 points  Azerbaijan  Belgium  Luxembourg  Sweden 6 points  Austria 5 points  Czechia  United Kingdom  Poland 4 points  Australia  Finland  Malta  Poland  Serbia  Cyprus  Portugal 3 points  Armenia  Georgia  Spain  Italy  Sweden 2 points  Portugal  Greece 1 point  Netherlands  Spain

Points awarded by Albania (Semi-final 1)[18] Score Televote 12 points  Cyprus 10 points  Ukraine 8 points  Estonia 7 points  Netherlands 6 points  Sweden 5 points  Iceland 4 points  San Marino 3 points  Norway 2 points  Poland 1 point  Slovenia

Points awarded by Albania (Final)[19] Score Televote Jury 12 points  Greece  France 10 points  Italy  Spain 8 points  Luxembourg   Switzerland 7 points  Israel  Austria 6 points  Austria  Greece 5 points  Estonia  Israel 4 points  Germany  Sweden 3 points  San Marino  Netherlands 2 points  Sweden  San Marino 1 point  Netherlands  Portugal

Each participating broadcaster assembles a five-member jury panel consisting of music industry professionals who are citizens of the country they represent. Each jury, and individual jury member, is required to meet a strict set of criteria regarding professional background, as well as diversity in gender and age. No member of a national jury was permitted to be related in any way to any of the competing acts in such a way that they cannot vote impartially and independently.^[21] The individual rankings of each jury member as well as the nation's televoting results were released shortly after the grand final.

The following members comprised the Albanian jury:^[17]

• Alfred Kaçinari
• Shpëtim Saraçi
• Ylljet Aliçka
• Blerta Ristani
• Mikaela Minga

Detailed voting results from Albania (Semi-final 1)^[18]

Draw	Country	Televote
		Rank	Points
01	Iceland	6	5
02	Poland	9	2
03	Slovenia	10	1
04	Estonia	3	8
05	Ukraine	2	10
06	Sweden	5	6
07	Portugal	12
08	Norway	8	3
09	Belgium	13
10	Azerbaijan	14
11	San Marino	7	4
12	Albania
13	Netherlands	4	7
14	Croatia	11
15	Cyprus	1	12

Detailed voting results from Albania (Final)^[19]

Draw	Country	Jury							Televote
		Juror A	Juror B	Juror C	Juror D	Juror E	Rank	Points	Rank	Points
01	Norway	24	15	13	20	21	20		12
02	Luxembourg	6	8	20	22	16	16		3	8
03	Estonia	11	14	23	18	25	18		6	5
04	Israel	2	3	8	8	12	6	5	4	7
05	Lithuania	16	25	24	25	15	24		17
06	Spain	5	2	5	7	4	2	10	21
07	Ukraine	19	21	21	12	18	19		14
08	United Kingdom	21	9	12	5	17	15		25
09	Austria	1	4	4	11	14	4	7	5	6
10	Iceland	23	17	19	23	13	22		15
11	Latvia	20	19	14	17	1	11		19
12	Netherlands	8	10	7	4	10	8	3	10	1
13	Finland	18	24	22	24	11	21		13
14	Italy	13	16	10	9	5	13		2	10
15	Poland	14	23	25	19	24	25		16
16	Germany	22	20	2	21	8	12		7	4
17	Greece	3	5	9	3	9	5	6	1	12
18	Armenia	17	13	11	16	22	17		18
19	Switzerland	4	6	18	1	6	3	8	20
20	Malta	25	22	16	15	23	23		22
21	Portugal	7	18	15	14	2	10	1	23
22	Denmark	15	7	6	10	19	14		24
23	Sweden	10	12	1	13	7	7	4	9	2
24	France	9	1	3	2	20	1	12	11
25	San Marino	12	11	17	6	3	9	2	8	3
26	Albania