Prior to the 2020 contest, Albania had participated in the Eurovision Song Contest sixteen times since its first entry in. Its highest placing in the contest, to this point, had been the fifth place, which the nation achieved in with the song "Suus" performed by Rona Nishliu. The country's first entry was performed by Anjeza Shahini with the song "The Image of You" and finished in the seventh place simultaneously constituting Albania's second-highest placing to date. Since, Albania qualified for the grand final in both 2018 and 2019, with Eugent Bushpepa finishing in eleventh place with "Mall" and Jonida Maliqi placing in seventeenth place with "Ktheju tokës".
Before Eurovision
Festivali i Këngës
The national broadcaster of Albania, Radio Televizioni Shqiptar, organised the 58th edition of Festivali i Këngës to select their participant for the Eurovision Song Contest 2020. The event consisted of two semi-finals on 19 and 20 December, and the grand final on 22 December 2019. Previously, the broadcaster opened a submission period between May and September for artists and composers to participate in the competition. In October 2019, it published a provisory list of 20 songs shortlisted to compete in the two semi-finals of the contest. After the semi-finals, the votes of an expert jury panel selected twelve songs to advance to the grand final.
Competing entries
Shows
Semi-finals
The semi-finals took place on 19 December and 20 December 2020, and were broadcast live at 21:00, respectively. Ten songs competed in each semi-final with five entries in the first and seven in the second semi-final, each attracting the most points from an expert jury qualifying for the grand final. The qualifying songs were selected by a jury panel consisting of two national and three international members with connections to the Eurovision Song Contest. The jury was composed ofChrister Björkman, Dimitris Kontopoulos, Felix Bergsson, Mikaela Minga and Rita Petro. The first semi-final was opened by the country's Eurovision Song Contest 2019 representative Jonida Maliqi performing her song "Ktheju tokës". The interval act included Mahmood performing his songs "Barrio" and "Soldi". The interval act in the second semi-final featured Agim Krajka and Lindita Theodhori with the song "Kafe Flora".
Final
The grand final took place on 22 December and was broadcast live at 21:00. Twelve songs competed and the winner was determined by the combination of the votes from a five-member jury panel. Each member of the jury voted by assigning scores from 1–10, 13 and 18 points to their preferred songs. The final featured guest performances by Eleni Foureira and Giusy Ferreri. Before the end of the show, Arilena Ara emerged as the winner and was simultaneously announced as the country's representative for the Eurovision Song Contest.
Draw
Artist
Song
Total
Result
1
Valon Shehu
"Kutia e Pandorës"
1
2
7
7
6
23
8
2
Sara Bajraktari
"Ajër"
13
10
10
8
9
50
3
3
Robert Berisha
"Ajo nuk është unë"
9
3
2
3
1
18
10
4
Tiri Gjoci
"Me gotën bosh"
2
4
8
6
3
23
8
5
Bojken Lako
"Malaseen"
3
8
3
18
13
45
4
6
Arilena Ara
"Shaj"
10
13
13
13
18
67
1
7
Gena
"Shqiponja e lirë"
4
7
1
1
5
18
10
8
Kamela Islamaj
"Më ngjyros"
6
6
4
9
10
35
6
9
Albërie Hadërgjonaj
"Ku ta gjej dikë ta dua"
7
5
6
5
4
27
7
10
Elvana Gjata
"Me tana"
18
18
18
2
8
64
2
11
Olta Boka
"Botë për dy"
5
1
5
4
2
17
12
12
Era Rusi
"Eja merre"
8
9
9
10
7
43
5
Promotion
An accompanying lyric video for "Fall from the Sky" premiered on the official YouTube channel of the Eurovision Song Contest on 10 March 2019. For further promotion, Arilena was scheduled to embark on a small tour with live performances at various Eurovision Song Contest-related events, including in Amsterdam, London and Madrid, before the tour was canceled due to the pandemic of the coronavirus disease 2019. The first live performance of the song was broadcast during Arilena's Sounds of Silence concert at the Mother Teresa Square in Tirana on 2 May 2020 as well as the European Broadcasting Union's Eurovision Home Concerts series on 8 May 2020.
At Eurovision
The Eurovision Song Contest 2020 was initially scheduled to take place at Rotterdam Ahoy in Rotterdam, Netherlands, and consist of two semi-finals on 12 and 14 May, and the grand final on 16 May 2020. According to the Eurovision rules, each participating country, except the host nation and the "Big 5", consisting of,,, and the, would have been required to qualify from one of two semi-finals to compete for the final. The top ten countries from each semi-final would have progressed to the grand final. In January, it was announced that Albania would be performing in the second half of the second semi-final of the contest. However, in March, the European Broadcasting Union announced the contest's cancellation due to the pandemic of the coronavirus disease 2019 in Europe. With respect to Arilena and her entry "Fall from the Sky" participating in the Eurovision Song Contest 2021, the EBU announced soon after that entries intended for 2020 would not be eligible for the following year, though each broadcaster would be able to send either their 2020 representative or a new one.
Alternative song contests
The broadcasters who were planned to take part in the Eurovision Song Contest 2020 organised alternative music competitions. Amongst them, Austrian broadcaster, ORF, organised Der kleine Song Contest in April 2020, which saw every entry being assigned to one of three semi-finals. A jury, consisting of ten members that had represented at the contest before, was hired to rank each song, with the highest-placed in each semi-final advancing to the final round. In the third semi-final on 18 April, Albania placed fourth in a field of thirteen participants, achieving a total of 62 points. Swedish broadcaster, Sveriges Television, will additionally organise, in which Albania is scheduled to participate on 9 May 2020.
