Anjeza Shahini is an Albanian singer. She is best known for being the first representative of Albania at the Eurovision Song Contest in 2004, after winning the 42nd edition of Festivali i Këngës.
Albania has participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 20 times since its debut in 2004. Festivali i Këngës, a long-standing song contest that takes place every year in Albania since 1962, is used to select the country's entrant for that year's Eurovision Song Contest. Albania participated in the Eurovision Song Contest for the first time in 2004 with Anjeza Shahini placing seventh. It remained the country's highest result in the contest until 2012, when Rona Nishliu finished fifth.
Albania participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 2006 in Athens, Greece, with the song "Zjarr e ftohtë" performed by Luiz Ejlli. Its selected entry was chosen through the national selection competition Festivali i Këngës organised by Radio Televizioni Shqiptar (RTSH) in December 2005. To this point, the nation had participated in the Eurovision Song Contest two times since its first entry in 2004. Due to the non-top 11 result in the previous contest, Albania was drawn to compete in the semi-final of the contest, which took place on 18 May 2006. Performing as number six, the nation was not announced among the top 10 entries of the semi-final and therefore failed to qualify for the grand final, marking Albania's first non-qualification in the contest.
Luiz Ejlli is an Albanian singer, songwriter, actor, musician, ex-diplomat, reality show star and TV personality. A former winner of the 44th edition of Festivali i Këngës, he also represented Albania in the 2006 Eurovision Song Contest. After several years of absence on music, he gained popularity and received significant attention following his participation and victory of the second season of the Albanian reality competition Big Brother VIP on Top Channel. In 2010, Ejlli was appointed by the Albanian Government as First Secretary for Culture, Tourism, and Arts in the Albanian Embassy in Paris, France.
"Zjarr e ftohtë" is a song by Albanian singer Luiz Ejlli. Klodian Qafoku composed the music while Florian Kondi wrote the lyrics. Musically, it is an Albanian-language pop song incorporating a southern Albanian folklore element in its instrumentation. The song represented Albania in the Eurovision Song Contest 2006 in Athens, Greece, after winning the pre-selection competition Festivali i Këngës 44. The country failed to qualify for the grand final in fourteenth place, marking the country's first non-qualification in the contest.
Zilola Bahodirovna Musaeva, most commonly known by her stage name Shahzoda, is an Uzbek singer and actress. Shahzoda has become a highly popular singer in Uzbekistan and other neighboring countries.
Tamara Todevska, also known mononymously as Tamara, is a Macedonian pop singer. She has represented North Macedonia in the Eurovision Song Contest on two occasions; in 2008, she performed the song "Let Me Love You" with Vrčak and Adrian Gaxha and failed to qualify for the final, performing, and in 2019, she placed seventh in the final with the song "Proud", earning North Macedonia its best-ever result in the contest.
Kejsi Tola is an Albanian singer and songwriter. After winning the 47th edition of Festivali i Këngës, she represented Albania at the Eurovision Song Contest 2009.
The Turkvision Song Contest, also known as the Türkvizyon Song Contest, has been a recurring song contest created by Turkish music channel TMB TV, inspired by the format of the Eurovision Song Contest. The first edition took place in Eskişehir, Turkey in December 2013. Countries and regions which were Turkic-speaking and of Turkic ethnicity were eligible to participate in the song contest. The contest was last held on 20 December 2020 as an online event hosted from Istanbul, Turkey. Several cancellations followed, and the future of the Turkvision Song Contest now remains uncertain.
Turkvision Song Contest 2013 was the inaugural edition of the Turkvision Song Contest, held in Eskişehir, Turkey. Twenty-four Turkic regions, which have either a large Turkic population or a widely spoken Turkic language, participated in the contest. The semi-final took place on 19 December 2013, while the final took place on 21 December 2013.
The Turkvision Song Contest 2014 was the second edition of the Turkvision Song Contest, which took place in Kazan in the region of Tatarstan. Twenty-four Turkic regions, which have either a large Turkic population or a widely spoken Turkic language, confirmed their participation, making it the largest contest exceeding the participation number for the 2013 contest whereas four European countries made their debut. Altai Republic, Belarus, Kemerovo, Kosovo, and Northern Cyprus withdrew from the contest. The semi final took place on 19 November 2014 and the final took place on 21 November 2014. The presenters of the contest were Artem Shalimov, Narmin Agaeva, and Ranil Nuriov.
Eugent Bushpepa, also known by his alternative name Gent Bushpepa, is an Albanian singer, songwriter and composer. Regarded as one of the most popular modern rock musicians in the Albanian-speaking world, he is noted for his vocal range, vocal power, high-energy live performances, and is also recognised as an accomplished guitarist.
The Turkvision Song Contest 2015 was the third edition of the Turkvision Song Contest, which took place in Istanbul, Turkey; and organised by Turkish Music Box Television (TMB). A total of twenty-one Turkic regions, which have either a large Turkic population or a widely spoken Turkic language, participated in the contest, as well as one Turkic ethnic groups who do not have a defined region. Several regions of the Russian Federation were on the preliminary participation list for the contest, but were later forced to withdraw due to the Ministry of Culture banning Russian regions from the TURKSOY organisation. There was no semi-final this year, whilst the final took place on 19 December 2015.
Zhanar Dugalova is a Kazakh singer who won the Turkvision Song Contest 2014 representing Kazakhstan with the song "Izin kórem". She is also a former member of Kazakhstani pop group KeshYou. Since August 2014 she has continued her career independently.
Armin Muzaferija is a Bosnian singer. His most popular songs are “Studen vodo”, "Vulkani", "Tvom Resulu" and "Džehva".
The Turkvision Song Contest 2020 was the fourth edition of the Turkvision Song Contest. It took place in Istanbul, Turkey, with performances filmed remotely, and organised by Turkish Music Box Television.
Natalie Papazoglu is a Gagauz-Ukrainian singer-songwriter. She participated in season 6 of the Ukrainian X-Factor, and won the Turkvision Song Contest 2020 with the song "Tikenli yol", representing Ukraine.
Gunesh Alisafayevna Abasova, often known simply as Gunesh, is a Belarusian-Azerbaijani singer-songwriter. She represented Belarus in the Turkvision Song Contest 2013 with the song "Son Hatıralar".
Jiidesh Idirisova, also known as Jeedesh, is a Kyrgyzstani singer and performer. She represented Kyrgyzstan in the Turkvision Song Contest 2015 with the song "Kim bilet", winning the competition.
Ludmila Tukan is a Gagauzian singer from Moldova. She was the debut representative for Gagauzia in the Turkvision Song Contest in 2013.
