Albania in the Junior Eurovision Song Contest 2021
Albania participated in the Junior Eurovision Song Contest 2021 in Paris, France, with the song "Stand By You" performed by Anna Gjebrea. Its entry was selected through the national selection competition organised by Radio Televizioni Shqiptar (RTSH) in October 2021. The country returned to the contest after an absence of one year due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Background. Prior to the 2021 contest, Albania had participated in the Junior Eurovision Song Contest six times since its first entry in 2012, only opting not to participate at the 2013, 2014 and 2020 contests . Albania has never won the contest, with their best result being in 2015, with the song "" by Mishela Rapo achieving fifth place with a score of 93 points. The country did not participate in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, but on 18 August 2021, RTSH announced that Albania will participate at the Junior Eurovision Song Contest 2021 following their one-year absence. Before Junior Eurovision. Junior Fest 2021. The national final, , took place on 23 October 2021. The national final consisted of nineteen competing acts participating in a televised production where the winner was determined by 100% votes of  jury members made up of music professionals. Promotion. On 20 November, Anna Gjebrea travelled to North Macedonia to perform "Stand By You" on MRT 2, along with the Macedonian entrant Dajte Muzika. Artist and song information. Anna Gjebrea. Anna Gjebrea (born 26 January 2009) is an Albanian singer from Tirana. She is the daughter of Ardit Gjebrea, with whom she also released the duet "" in 2017. Stand By You. "Stand By You" is a song by Anna Gjebrea, written by Adam Watts, Gannin Arnold, Sanni M'Mairura and Endi Çuçi. The music video was filmed on 27 October 2021 in a  school, and released two days later. At Junior Eurovision. The Junior Eurovision Song Contest 2021 took place at La Seine Musicale in Paris, France, on 19 December 2021. After the opening ceremony, which took place on 13 December 2021, it was announced that Albania would perform eleventh on 19 December 2021, following Kazakhstan and preceding Ukraine. At the end of the contest, Albania received 84 points, placing 14th out of 19 participating countries.