Albania in the Eurovision Song Contest 2011
Albania participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 2011 in Düsseldorf, Germany, with the song "Feel the Passion" performed by Aurela Gaçe. Its selected entry was chosen through the national selection competition Festivali i Këngës organised by Radio Televizioni Shqiptar (RTSH) in December 2010. Background. Prior to the 2011 contest, Albania had participated in the Eurovision Song Contest seven times since its first entry in . The nation's highest placing in the contest, to this point, had been the seventh place, which it achieved in 2004 with the song "The Image of You" performed  by Anjeza Shahini. During its tenure in the contest, Albania failed to qualify for the final two times, with the entry being the most recent non-qualifier. In September 2010, the national broadcaster of Albania, Radio Televizioni Shqiptar (RTSH), officially confirmed Albania's participation in the Eurovision Song Contest 2011 in Düsseldorf, Germany. RTSH broadcasts the contest within Albania and organises the selection process for the nation's entry. Since its debut in 2004, it has consistently selected its entry through the long-standing competition Festivali i Këngës. Before Eurovision. Festivali i Këngës. RTSH organised the 49th edition of Festivali  i Këngës to determine Albania's representative for the Eurovision Song Contest 2010. The competition consisted of two semi-finals on 23 and 24 December, respectively, and the grand final on 25 December 2010. Due to technical problems with the orchestra, the basic music was in playback. All three shows were hosted by Jonida Maliqi, Josif Gjinpali and Mirela Naska. The two semi-finals each featured sixteen competing entries performed by established artists and three competing entries performed by newcomers. The votes of a jury panel selected eleven entries from the "established artists" category in each semi-final to advance  to the final, while the votes of an alternate jury panel selected one entry from the "newcomers" category in each semi-final to advance to the final. In the final, the eighteen competing entries were voted upon by a jury panel in order to select the winner. The seven-person jury panel who voted in the "established artists" category and the final consisted of: The five-person jury panel who voted in the "newcomers" category consisted of: RTSH invited interested artists and composers to submit their entries between 12 September and 20 October 2010. The deadline was later extended to  6 November 2010 in order to give more time for the artists participating in "Kënga Magjike 2010" to work on their entries. On 15 November 2010, RTSH announced the thirty-eight artists (thirty-two established artists and six newcomers) and songs selected for the competition by a special committee consisting of Thoma Gaqi, Hajg Zaharian, Zef Çoba, Mefarete Laze, Altin Goci, Kozeta Mamaqi and Fatmir Hysi. Shows. Semi-finals. The first semi-final took place on 23 December 2010 and the second semi-final took place on 25 December 2010. Nine entries from each semi-final, eight established artists and  a newcomer, qualified to the final based on the votes of two separate jury panels. Final. The final took place on 25 December 2010. Nine entries that qualified from each of the two semi-finals, all together eighteen entries, competed. At the conclusion of the show, as voted upon by a seven-member jury panel who each awarded points from 1 to 8, 10 and 12 to their top ten songs, "Kënga ime" performed by Aurela Gaçe was selected as the winner. The interval acts for the final included 2010 Albanian Eurovision Song Contest entrant Juliana Pasha and 2010 Turkish  Eurovision Song Contest entrants maNga. At Eurovision. The Eurovision Song Contest 2011 took place at Esprit Arena in Düsseldorf, Germany, and consisted of two semi-finals held on 10 and 12 May, respectively, and the grand final on 14 May 2011. According to the Eurovision rules, all participating countries, except the host nation and the "Big Five", consisting of , , , and the , were required to qualify from one of the two semi-finals to compete for the grand final, although the top 10 countries from the respective semi-final progress to the grand final of the contest. On 17 January 2011 , a special allocation draw was held that placed each country into one of the two semi-finals, with Albania being placed into the first, to be held on 10 May. Once all the competing songs for the Eurovision Song Contest 2011 had been released, the running order for the semi-finals was decided by the producers of the contest rather than through another draw; the nation was set to perform at position 3, following and preceding . At the end of the semi-final, the nation was not announced among the top 10 entries and therefore failed to qualify for the  final, marking Albania's third non-qualification in the Eurovision Song Contest. Voting. The tables below visualise a breakdown of points awarded to Albania in the semi-final of the Eurovision Song Contest 2011, as well as by the country for the semi-final and grand final, respectively. In the semi-final, Albania finished in 14th place, being awarded a total of 47 points, including 12 from and 8 from both and . The nation awarded its 12 points to Turkey in the semi-final and to in the grand final of the contest. Albania in the Eurovision Song Contest 2011