The Eurovision Song Contest 2006 took place at the O.A.C.A. Olympic Indoor Hall in Athens, Greece, and consisted of a semi-final on 18 May and the grand final on 20 May 2006. According to the Eurovision rules at the time, all participating countries, except the host nation and the "Big Four", consisting of , , and the , were required to qualify from the semi-final to compete for the final, although the top 10 countries from the semi-final progress to the final. Due to its non-top 11 result in the 2005 contest, Albania was required to compete in the semi-final. It was set to perform in position six, following and preceding . At the end of the semi-final, the country was not announced among the top 10 entries and therefore failed to qualify for the final, marking Albania's first non-qualification in the Eurovision Song Contest.