The Eurovision Song Contest 2021 took place at Rotterdam Ahoy in Rotterdam, the Netherlands, and consisted of two semi-finals held on the respective dates of 18 and 20 May and the grand final on 22 May 2021. According to the Eurovision rules, all participating countries, except the host nation and the "Big Five", consisting of , , , and the , are required to qualify from one of two semi-finals to compete for the final, although the top 10 countries from the respective semi-final progress to the grand final. On 17 November 2020, the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) confirmed that the semi-final allocation draw for the 2021 contest would not be held. Instead, the semi-finals featured the same line-up of countries as determined by the draw for the cancelled 2020 contest, which was held on 28 January 2020 at the Rotterdam City Hall. Albania was drawn to participate in the second half of the second semi-final, which was held on 20 May 2021.