In the past two years, Albania has experienced both extremes – getting stuck in the semi (in 2013) after getting a top 5 result (in 2012). However, the majority of Albanian entries have reached the final, so that should be the more likely fate for the Mediterranean country by default.

Once again, the winning song of the traditional Festivali i Këngës has automatically gone forward to be the Albanian entry at Eurovision. Whether Zemërimi i një nate was the most promising choice among the FiK entries or not – who knows? The “Albanian final” once more went by without any noteworthy events, probably other than the fact that audience favourites such as Natë e parë and Me ty once again failed to convince the jury enough.

Hersi Matmuja, also known as Herciana Matmuja, is something of the Sanna Nielsen of Albania. At her fifth attempt in Festivali i Këngës, she finally claimed the victory for herself last December. The now 24-year-old singer was among the top 10 candidates in Albanian Idol back in 2005; nowadays, she lives and studies in Rome, Italy.

Just like most Albanian entries, A Night’s Anger has had a serious makeover for Eurovision. A remake for ESC can often be a dangerous endeavour, because you never know if televoters or (in Albania’s case) the juries would also have gone for that version if it had been competing in the first place. In the case of Albania 2014, it all tastes like a spicy soup that’s been through a filter in order to get rid of the spice. The people in charge might have had the idea of making Hersi’s song more suitable for European ears, but that has just taken away the things that were special, especially the slightly disturbing intro. One of the song’s allures was the contrast between the quite mental intro and Hersi’s lovely voice. Now Hersi’s lovely voice just stands there on its own. But that alone is not what we know Hersi for, is it? Hersi is a very talented singer with a unique sound, but what remains of Zemërimi i një nate lack a lot of the bizarreness that made her past FiK entries so special.

My verdict is that Albania 2014 could have kept the strange intro and got rid of the guitar solo. The people in charge for new Albania versions should know by now that guitar solos are not what the average “European ear” is used to nowadays, and definitely are not what has brought Albania far in the contest. Quite the opposite, in fact: Albania has enjoyed more success recently by playing the exotic card, see Suus.
Still, Hersi should easily make the final, and maybe even end up on the left-hand side of the scoreboard. It’s just a shame how they’ve defused the whole package, so consider my smiley to be not as happy as it might look.

Top 10	Victory	Personal