Albania's national selection was once again done in an interesting way. The 11 jury members were 100% responsible for the Festivali i Këngës official results while televoters were 100% responsible for who Albania would send from there to Eurovision. Perhaps most bizarre was that an act eliminated in the semifinals could have been chosen for Eurovision. However, that ended up not happening.
The quality of the performances improved throughout the week. The first semifinal's overall quality just wasn't good, in my opinion, which is so atypical for FiK. And the performance that I thought was the worst of that night ended up winning the entire thing, Mal Retkoceri with his song, "Çmendur." (I thought the song was good but that his singing wasn't.)
However, he did perform better, more controlled and polished, in the final. Here's that performance.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3SfaOSRVE-Q
Regardless, he won't be going to Eurovision. In fact, the televoters chose an act to represent Albania in Malmö that didn't finish in the top three. (As is usual for Albania, only the most basic information was released on the results, in this case, the top three official placings and the televote winner.)
Besa Kokëdhima will perform at Eurovision with her song, "Zemrën n'dorë," which translates as "Heart in hand." Although not one of my personal favorites at FiK 62, she does show off impressive vocals, and I feel that this entry does have potential to do well at Eurovision.
Historically, Besa has a No. 1 hit within Albania, a 2020 song titled, "C'est la vie." And, interestingly, she participated in Romania's Selecţia Naţională in 2009 with "Nothing' Gonna Change." There, she performed in a 12-act semifinal but was not amongst the six to advance from it.
Nearly 15 years later, she experienced much more success competing in her native country's national final. Here's her performance there that helped propel her onto the Eurovision stage for the first time.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dEhgzI45Rkk
I also want to say that I'm impressed at all of the work that the backup singers put in throughout FiK 62, appearing to contribute to every performance. And it's so great to be able to enjoy a live orchestra as well.
The four nights of FiK 62 were held in Tirana on Dec. 19, 20, 21 and 22 with the semifinals on Dec. 19 and 20 and a "nostalgia night" on Dec. 21 prior to the final taking place on Dec. 22. Thirty-one acts took part with 22 advancing to the final, including 14 who were designated as automatic qualifiers.
Elsa Lila, who won FiK in 1996, 1997 and 2022 but has never participated in Eurovision due to her not winning the televote a year ago and Albania first entering Eurovision in 2004, was one of the FiK 62 participants as well. She didn't finish in the top three, so it's unknown where she placed in either of the two votes.
On nostalgia night, Eugent Bushpepa, who represented Albania at Eurovision 2018, sang, "S'mund t'jetoj pa ty," with participant Arsi Bako.