"I'm Alive" | ||||
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Single by Elhaida Dani | ||||
Released | 1 January 2015 | |||
Genre | ||||
Length | 3:06 | |||
Label | ||||
Songwriter(s) | Sokol Marsi | |||
Producer(s) | Darko Dimitrov | |||
Elhaida Dani singles chronology | ||||
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Music video | ||||
"I'm Alive" on YouTube | ||||
Eurovision Song Contest 2015 entry | ||||
Country | ||||
Artist(s) | ||||
Language | English | |||
Composer(s) |
| |||
Lyricist(s) | ||||
Finals performance | ||||
Semi-final result | 10th | |||
Semi-final points | 62 | |||
Final result | 17th | |||
Final points | 34 | |||
Entry chronology | ||||
◄"One Night's Anger" (2014) | ||||
"Fairytale" (2016) ► |
"I'm Alive" is a song by Albanian singer and songwriter Elhaida Dani. It was released as a single on 1 January 2015 by Radio Televizioni Shqiptar (RTSH) and Universal Music. The song was written by Sokol Marsi,arranged by Darko Dimitrov and produced by Zzap &Chriss. The song represented Albania in the Eurovision Song Contest 2015 in Vienna,Austria,after Dani won the pre-selection competition Festivali i Këngës with the song "Diell". The country reached seventeenth place in a field of twenty-six scoring a total of 34 points marking the third year to achieve the seventeenth place.
In order to promote and support the song,Dani made diverse appearances to perform the song and embarked on a small tour in the Netherlands,North Macedonia and the United Kingdom. [1] [2] [3] The accompanying music video for the song was premiered onto the official YouTube channel of the Eurovision Song Contest on 15 March 2015. [4]
In 2014,Elhaida Dani was announced as one of the twenty six contestants selected to compete in the 53rd edition of Festivali i Këngës,a competition for determining Albania's participant for the Eurovision Song Contest 2015. For following the competition's rules,the lyrics of the participating entries had to be in the Albanian language. Dani took part with the song "Diell" composed by Aldo Shllaku and written by Sokol Marsi and Viola Trebicka. [5]
In February 2015,the singer announced through a social media post that the song was withdrawn by the composer,due to personal decisions. [6] "I'm Alive" was simultaneously revealed as the title of the singer's competing entry for the Eurovision Song Contest. The latter song was written in Albanian by Sokol Marsi and translated into English by Lindita Halimi. [7] It was composed and produced by Kosovo-Albanian duo Zzap and Chriss and arranged by Macedonian producer Darko Dimitrov. [8] The song is musically a pop and R&B ballad incorporating modern and ethnic influences. [8] [9] Lyrically,it explores themes of female empowerment and discusses emotions such as love,hope,desire and finding inner strength. [10] [11]
Upon its release,"I'm Alive" received generally positive reviews from music critics. In a review for the song conducted by several Wiwibloggs members,the song's contemporary lyrics,composition and production as well as Dani's vocal delivery were commended. [9] William Lee Adams of the website called the song as the "most expensive-sounding song of the year",while Ramadan Besim described it as "modern,catchy and radio friendly". [9] Overall,the reviewers on the website gave the song a score of 8.02 out of 10 total points. [9]
For promotional and supporting purposes,Dani embarked on a small tour between March and April 2015 with live appearances at multiple events,including in Amsterdam,Athens,Budapest,London and Skopje. [12] [13] [14] The same month,she went on to perform the song live on the fourth season of the Albanian television show X Factor. [15] In April 2017,footage of Nathan Trent,the representative of Austria for the Eurovision Song Contest 2015,covering "I'm Alive" was broadcast during his ESC Acoustic Session. [16] Later that year,she performed the Albanian version of the song on the grand final of the 56th edition of Festivali i Këngës. [17] The song was featured in multiple lists of the Eurovision Top 250 charts,from 2015 to 2018. [18] [19] [20] The song's highest position was at number 19 in 2015. [21]
An accompanying music video for the song was premiered to the official YouTube channel of the Eurovision Song Contest on 15 March 2015. [22] The same day,the video was broadcast on Radio Televizioni Shqiptar (RTSH) at around 20:00 (CET). [23] It prominently makes reference on the diverse role of women in Albanian society,including within highly male-dominated professions. [24] Filmed over three days in Tirana,intercutting scenes portray other females,including a journalist,a doctor,a traffic officer,a firefighter and a flight attendant. [25] The official music video for the Albanian version of the song,"Nëjetë",followed in May 2015 and was premiered on the YouTube channels of the Eurovision Song Contest and Radio Televizioni Shqiptar (RTSH). [26] [27]
The national broadcaster of Albania, Radio Televizioni Shqiptar (RTSH), organised the 53rd edition of Festivali i Këngës to determine the country's participant for the Eurovision Song Contest 2015 in Vienna, Austria. [28] It opened a submission period for artists, bands and composers between 14 and 15 October 2014, while a jury panel internally selected 28 songs to participate in the competition's semi-finals. [29] [30] During the end of the grand final, Dani and her Albanian-language song "Diell" was chosen to represent the country at the contest, after gathering 82 total points. [5]
The 60th edition of the Eurovision Song Contest took place in Vienna, Austria, and consisted of two semi-finals on 19 and 21 May, and the grand final on 23 May 2015. [31] According to the Eurovision rules, each participating country, except the host country and the "Big Five" including France, Germany, Italy, Spain and the United Kingdom, were required to qualify from one of the two semi-finals to compete for the grand final, although, the top ten countries from the respective semi-final progress to the grand final. [32] On 26 January 2015, it was announced that Albania would be performing in the second half of the first semi-final of the contest. [33]
During the first semi-final, Albania performed fourteenth, following Denmark and preceding Romania, and qualified for the grand final in tenth place with 62 points, ranking tenth by the jury's 61 points and eighth by the televote of 66 points. [34] [35] At the grand final, the country performed twenty sixth, following Russia and preceding the Italy. [36] Albania finished in the seventeenth place in a field of twenty seven with 34 total points, ranking twenty sixth by the jury's 4 points and eighth by the televote of 93 points. [37]
Elhaida Dani's performance begins in yellow and black colours on the LED screens changing throughout his performance to warmer tones consisting of beige and cream colours. [38] [39] The tragedy of the song's message was reflected through broken pieces of glass on the background. The singer was accompanied during her performances by three female backing vocalists.
Chart (2015) | Peak position |
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Iceland (Tónlist) [41] | 46 |
Region | Date | Format(s) | Label | Ref. |
---|---|---|---|---|
United Arab Emirates | 1 January 2015 |
| [40] |
Albania has participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 20 times since its debut in 2004. The Albanian participant broadcaster in the contest is Radio Televizioni Shqiptar (RTSH), which select its entrant with the national competition Festivali i Këngës, a long-standing song contest that organises every year since 1962.
Festivali i Këngës në RTSH, commonly known as Festivali i Këngës and also referred to as simply FiK or Fest, is an annual music competition in Albania organised by the national broadcaster Radio Televizioni Shqiptar (RTSH). Broadcast every year since its inauguration in 1962, the festival has determined the country's representative to the Eurovision Song Contest since 2004.
Albania participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 2008 in Belgrade, Serbia, with the song "Zemrën e lamë peng" performed by Olta Boka. Its selected entry was chosen through the national selection competition Festivali i Këngës organised by Radio Televizioni Shqiptar (RTSH) in December 2007. To this point, the nation had participated in the Eurovision Song Contest four times since its first entry in 2004. Due to the introduction of two semi-finals, Albania was drawn to compete in the second semi-final of the contest, which took place on 22 May 2008. Performing as number six, the nation was announced among the top 10 entries of the second semi-final and therefore qualified to compete in the grand final. In the final on 24 May 2008, it performed as number three and placed 17th out of the 25 participating countries, scoring 55 points.
Albania participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 2013 in Malmö, Sweden, with the song "Identitet" performed by Adrian Lulgjuraj and Bledar Sejko. Its selected entry was chosen through the national selection competition Festivali i Këngës organised by Radio Televizioni Shqiptar (RTSH) in December 2012. To this point, the nation had participated in the Eurovision Song Contest nine times since its first entry in 2004. Prior to the contest, the song was promoted by a music video and a live performance, the latter of which was in the Netherlands. Albania was drawn to compete in the second semi-final of the Eurovision Song Contest, which took place on 16 May 2013. Performing as number 14th, the nation was not announced among the top 10 entries of the second semi-final and therefore failed to qualify for the final, marking Albania's fourth non-qualification in the contest.
Albania participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 2014 in Copenhagen, Denmark, with the song "One Night's Anger" performed by Hersi. Its selected entry was chosen through the national selection competition Festivali i Këngës organised by Radio Televizioni Shqiptar (RTSH) in December 2013. Up until this point, the nation had participated in the Eurovision Song Contest ten times since its first entry in 2004.
"One Night's Anger" is a song by Albanian singer Hersi Matmuja. The track was first released as part of a CD compilation on 11 April 2014 by CMC Records and Universal Music. The English-language rock song was written by Jorgo Papingji and composed by Gentian Lako. An accompanying music video was uploaded on the official YouTube channel of the Eurovision Song Contest on 16 March 2014. The song received mixed reviews from music critics, some of whom praised the singer's vocals, while others described it as a "work-in-progress".
Elhaida Dani is an Albanian singer, songwriter, composer and actress. Born and raised in Shkodër, Dani performed in diverse singing competitions and started to play piano as a child. She rose to national recognition in the Albanian-speaking Balkans, after her victories at Star Academy Albania, Top Fest and Festivali i Këngës. In Italy, she is also prominent for being the winner of the first series of The Voice of Italy. Dani represented Albania in the Eurovision Song Contest 2015 with the song "I'm Alive", after she won the 53rd edition of Festivali i Këngës. She participated in Kënga Magjike for the first time in 2017 with the song "E Ngrirë" whereas she finished second. She rose again great popularity in Italy as well as in France upon her international acting debut in the world renowned musical of Notre-Dame de Paris.
Albania participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 2015 in Vienna, Austria, with the song "I'm Alive" performed by Elhaida Dani. Dani was chosen through the national selection competition, Festivali i Këngës, organised by Radio Televizioni Shqiptar (RTSH) in December 2014. Dani emerged as the winner of contest with the song "Diell"; however the song withdrawn as the Albanian entry at the request of one of the song's songwriters and replaced with "I'm Alive". Prior to the 2015 contest, Albania had participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 11 times since its first entry in 2004.
Albania participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 2016 in Stockholm, Sweden, with the song "Fairytale" performed by Eneda Tarifa. The nation's entry was selected in December 2015 through the national selection competition Festivali i Këngës organised by Radio Televizioni Shqiptar (RTSH). Initially titled "Përrallë", the song was remastered and translated into English for its Eurovision participation.
"Fairytale" is a song by Albanian singer Eneda Tarifa. It was issued as a single on 30 March 2016 by Radio Televizioni Shqiptar (RTSH) and Universal Music. An English-language mid-tempo power rock ballad, the song was composed and written by Olsa Toqi. An accompanying music video was premiered to the official YouTube channel of the Eurovision Song Contest on 13 March 2016. The song represented Albania in the Eurovision Song Contest 2016 in Stockholm, Sweden, after Tarifa's victory at the country's pre-selection competition Festivali i Këngës with the song's Albanian-language version "Përrallë". It failed to qualify for the grand final also marking the country's sixth non-qualification in the contest. During her minimalistic performance, she was accompanied by three backing vocalists while the LED screens showed a variety of gold images.
Albania participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 2017 in Kyiv, Ukraine, with the song "World" performed by Lindita Halimi. Its selected entry was chosen through the national selection competition Festivali i Këngës organised by Radio Televizioni Shqiptar (RTSH) in December 2016. To this point, the nation had participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 13 times since its first entry in 2004. Prior to the contest, the song was promoted by a music video and live performances in Israel, the Netherlands and Spain. Albania was drawn to compete in the first semi-final of the Eurovision Song Contest, which took place on 9 May 2017. Performing as number fourth, the nation was not announced among the top 10 entries of the first semi-final and therefore failed to qualify for the grand final, marking Albania's seventh non-qualification in the contest.
"World" is a song by Kosovo-Albanian singer and songwriter Lindita. It was issued as a single on 29 March 2017 by Radio Televizioni Shqiptar (RTSH) and Universal Music. The song was written by the singer herself together with Gerald Xhari, and composed by Klodian Qafoku. An English-language pop-rock ballad, it is lyrically a manifesto that discuss the challenges within a modern society simultaneously calling for rising up against wars and pleading for peace and love.
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