It’s official the Albanian broadcaster RTSH will hold the 59th edition of “Festivali i Këngës” in December 2020. The broadcaster has committed that the festival will take place anyway without considering the Covid-19 situation in December 2020.
The music festival is being held every year since 1962. In addition, it is being used as the mechanism of selecting an artist and a song for Albania at Eurovision since December 2003. Songs can be submitted in September 2020.
By taking this action, Albania joins to other countries (such as Norway, Sweden, Estonia, Portugal, Finland and more) that have decided to hold a national selection for Eurovision 2021.
And what about Arilena Ara?
The young singer Arilena Ara won “Festivali i Këngës in December 2019 with the song “Shaj” and was selected to represent the country at Eurovision 2020.
Therefore, we can infer that Arilena Ara won’t be internally selected for Eurovision 2021. However, it is possible that the singer will decide to participate in “Festivali i Këngës 59“.
