On 31 October 2020, RTSH released the first details of the interval acts.[2][3][4] The opening act of the first semi-final featured Albanian singer Jonida Maliqi performing "Ktheju tokës".[5] The interval act featured Italian singer Mahmood, who performed "Barrio" and "Soldi".[6] The second semi-final's interval act included Agim Krajka and Lindita Theodhori who performed "Kafe Flora".[7] During the grand final, Italian singer Giusy Ferreri and Albanian-born Greek singer Eleni Foureira performed mashups of several of their songs.[4]
Contestants
Prior to the scheduled event, in October 2019, RTSH published a provisory list of 20 artists shortlisted to compete in the two semi-finals of Festivali i Këngës, with the songs being revealed on 9 December.[8][9] The broadcaster had previously opened a submission period for artists and composers to participate in the competition between May and September 2019.[10]
The first semi-final of Festivali i Këngës took place on 19 December 2019 and was broadcast live at 21:00 (CET).[11][12] The qualifying songs were selected by a jury panel consisting of two national and three international members with connections to the Eurovision Song Contest.[13] 10 contestants participated in the first semi-final, while the highlighted contestants qualified for the grand final.[12][14][15] The first semi-final was opened by the country's Eurovision Song Contest 2019 representative Jonida Maliqi performing her song "Ktheju tokës".[16] The interval act included Mahmood performing his songs "Barrio" and "Soldi".[17]
The second semi-final of Festivali i Këngës took place on 20 December 2019 and was broadcast live at 21:00 (CET).[11][18] The qualifying songs were selected by a jury panel consisting of two national and three international members with connections to the Eurovision Song Contest.[13] 10 contestants participated in the second semi-final, while the highlighted contestants qualified for the grand final.[15][18] The interval act in the second semi-final featured Agim Krajka and Lindita Theodhori with the song "Kafe Flora".[19]
The grand final of the competition took place on 22 December 2019 and was broadcast live at 21:00 (CET).[11][20] The contestants that qualified for the final were announced on 21 December 2019, and the winner was determined by a five-member jury consisting of two Albanian members and three international members with connections to the Eurovision Song Contest.[21][22][23] The five-member jury was made up of Christer Björkman (Sweden), Dimitris Kontopoulos (Greece), Felix Bergsson (Iceland), Mikaela Minga (Albania) and Rita Petro (Albania).[24][25] Each member of the jury voted by assigning scores from 1–10, 13 and 18 points to their preferred songs. Before the end of the show, Arilena Ara emerged as the winner with "Shaj" and was simultaneously announced as Albania's representative for the Eurovision Song Contest 2020.[26][27][28]
Following the results of the competition, mixed reactions followed, with multiple individuals criticising the results itself and attributing the singer's victory to arranged voting.[30] All three international jurors ranked runner-up Elvana Gjata first, whereas the two Albanian jurors placed her performance substantially lower.[31][32][33] Host Alketa Vejsiu expressed her dissatisfaction with the Albanian jury members' votes, stating "I believe in meritocracy and I am deeply sorry that in this platform I could not give voice to the public. I am sorry if I disappointed [the public and Elvana], I understand and respect your sensibility please spare me of accusations. I was not the jury and I did not choose the jury."[30] Jury member Mikaela Minga, who awarded "Me tana" two points, later stated that she down-voted the song due to its "gypsy influence", stating it wasn't "Albanian enough".[34]
