Arilena Ara represents Albania in Rotterdam

Tonight, Festival i Këngës 2019 was won by Arilena Ara with the song “Shaj”. Second prize was for top favourite Elvana Gjata, while Sara Bajraktari became 3rd.

Arilena won season 2 of the Albanian version of the X-Factor in 2013. In 2014 she had her first hit “Aeroplan”. She also topped the Romanian charts, so internationally she is not completely unknown.

It is not known whether “Shaj” will be sung in Albanian or in English. Many Albanian contestants make the choice to sing in English. Jonida Maliqi however, chose to sing in Albanian last year.

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Eurovision 2026
Martijn

🇧🇬 National: Bulgaria chose for Dara

Bulgaria will be represented by Dara. She was chosen out of eight finalists to represent the country in the Eurovision Song Contest. On 28 February, out of three songs, one will be selected as her Eurovision Song.   final date: 31 JanuaryPlace: BNT Studio 1, SofiaHosts: Georgi Lyubenov, Boryana Gramatikova & Vladimira Ilieva (backstage) 1 Roksana Kalimanku Denku 16 1 17 8           2 Mona Sila 17 6 23 3           3 Preyah Edelweiss 18 3 21 5           4 Mihaela Marinova Under pressure 19 7 26 3           5 Molec Vyatura 17 4 21 6           6 Dara Thunder 22 8 30 1           7 Innerglow Znak 16 2 18 7           8 Kerana & Cosmonauts  Nyama 18 5 23 4             semifinal date: 24 JanuaryPlace: BNT Studio 1, SofiaHosts: Georgi Lyubenov, Boryana Gramatikova & Vladimira Ilieva (backstage) * Dara   25 14 39 1           * Dara Ekimova   21 4 25 12           * Dia   18 3 21 13           * Elizabet   18 1 19 15           * Fiki   21 7 28 9           * Innerglow   22 9 31 7           * Kerana & Cosmonauts   23 10 33 6           * Mihaela Fileva   22 6 28 9           * Mihaela Marinova   24 13 37 2           * Molec   24 12 36 3           * Mona   19 15 34 5           * Preyah   24 11 35 4           * Roksana   23 8 31 7           * Vall   19 2 21 14           *  Veniamin   21 5 26 11             The selected artist for Bulgaria sings 3 songs. A combined 5 member jury and an online voting decide who represents Bulgaria at the Eurovision Song Contest in Vienna. The show starts at 20.00 CET and you can watch it at BNT. final date: 28 februaryPlace: BNT Studio 1, SofiaHosts: Georgi Lyubenov, Boryana Gramatikova & Vladimira Ilieva (backstage) *                       *                       *                      

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