Albania in the Eurovision Song Contest 2005


participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 2005 in Kyiv, Ukraine, with the song "Tomorrow I Go" performed by Ledina Çelo. Its selected entry was chosen through the national selection competition Festivali i Këngës organised by Radio Televizioni Shqiptar in December 2004.

Before Eurovision

Festivali I Këngës

Festivali i Këngës 43 took place in the Palace of Congresses in Tirana, Albania. There were two semifinals and a final. This contest was used to select the second Eurovision Song Contest entry for Albania. 32 songs competed for the win but only 18 made it to the final. In the end, Ledina Çelo won the first prize and went on to represent Albania in Eurovision. Luiz Ejlli was the runner up. The number of points for each singer was not announced. Instead, only the Top 3 places were made public. The winner was determined by a 50% jury vote and 50% televote. The RTSH orchestra was present, but the option of playback was also available. Last year's winner Anjeza Shahini, and 2004 Eurovision Song Contest winner Ruslana made guest appearances.

Competing entries

Shows

Semi-final 1

Semi-final 2

Final

At Eurovision

The Eurovision Song Contest 2005 took place at the Palace of Sports in Kyiv, Ukraine, and consisted of a semi-final on 19 May, and the final on 21 May 2005. According to the then-Eurovision rules, selected participating countries, except the host country and the "Big 4", consisting of,, and the, were required to qualify from the semi-final to compete for the final; the top ten countries from the semi-final progressed to the final. Due to the top 10 result in the previous year, Albania automatically qualified for the grand final and performed eighth, following and preceding. In the final, the country reached the sixteenth place with 53 points.
At Eurovision, Ledina performed the English version of her song titled Tomorrow I Go. Ledina wore a white and red dress as did her dancers with the fake white violins. She was also accompanied on stage with a male dancer wearing a traditional Albanian costume and beating a drum throughout the song. The song presentation involved Ledina pulling off red sheets to expose her dancers that dance around her and pretend to play their violins. At the end, the drummer wraps Ledina and her dancers together with a red ribbon.

Voting

Below is a breakdown of points awarded to Albania in the contest's final, as well as by the country on the occasion.

Points awarded to Albania

12 points10 points8 points7 points6 points

  • 5 points4 points3 points2 points1 point

  • Points awarded by Albania